Myanmar Journal: Stay at Home
The following thread is being written by a vipassana meditator from the tradition of S.N. Goenka who is currently in Myanmar, who has played a pivotal role in the organization’s mission. For his safety, personal details have been obscured, but he has made it his desire that his observations be read by meditators everywhere. Please note that we are now able to ensure donations reach this person as well as the community he is supporting. Please consider making a contribution.
Throughout the world, anytime demonstrations are called for there is always the question in the mind of the organizers as to how much support the action is likely to attract. Here, it is no different. One of the challenges faced here is that with more than 95% of the people without any internet it is always a challenge to get the word out. For the same reason it is nearly impossible to assess how successful a particular campaign has been, and this is all the more so because of the lack of reporting by the media. Many media outlets have been shut down for the past several weeks and the most prominent journalists have been arrested. In most cases the success of a campaign is largely limited to the immediate area we are able to see with our own eyes. Such is the case for me.
Recently a ‘stay at home’ campaign was announced but given the short notice and the limited means of communication I was skeptical of how effective the campaign would be but once again I was proven wrong. In fact, this campaign appeared to be the most successful of all. The streets in our Quarter were largely dead and the quiet was amazing. At any given time I was able to see only one or two persons on the road and with few exceptions those who did venture out did so to walk their dog or to bring there garbage out to the collection points on the road. I was truly amazed. It was a great sight to see (or not see!).
I believe part of the reason or its success was that most people are consumed with feelings of helplessness. Any campaign that calls for visible action can be extremely dangerous and people are understandably fearful of taking part. These days, if a demonstration on the streets is called for the action is usually crushed before more than 5 or 10 people can gather. Anything larger is almost always met with gunfire and deaths. In our Quarter we have both soldiers and police billeted here and to try to take to the streets is nothing short of suicide.