Reforming an Oppressed Society
How does a multi-ethnic country progress from the dark days of oppression under a tyrant to a functioning democracy where human rights are respected and critical dialog can flourish? This is the question that Igor Blaževič brings to his understanding of the situation that Myanmar now finds itself in. In the following excerpt, taken from a recent podcast with Igor, he describes the difficulties that are present when a “sick society” is trying to become healthy. These are very powerful words to keep in mind when understanding the nature of the current conflict.
“We need freedom; we need critical dialogue, critical reflection, to heal to overcome the deep prejudice. And when you have dictatorships, you don’t have these critical mechanisms.”
“The transitions of multi-ethnic societies are really complex. Transitions of the extremely diverse societies which have a bad history of dictatorship, but also back history of communities inflicting heavy wounds on one of another, it's really always complex, always uneasy. You do it better if you have a wise and responsible political leadership. You will do it very badly if you have political and power leadership which misuses the people's prejudices, the people's fears, the people people's angers.
My explanation, more specifically, on Myanmar involves the following two things: One thing is the military and military intelligence have terribly misused the genuine Buddhist tradition of that country. They have infiltrated, with the military intelligence, the Buddhist Sangha. As we know, in Myanmar, ever since you were two years old, when you see a Buddhist monk, what you do? You bow. This is the most ultimate authority in the life of every single Buddhist person in the country.
When you look around the country, nothing functions… but the Buddhist monastery is something that functions! It is the place where people go for venues, to get an understanding of the world, to get food when they are in need, to get some education, because the state doesn't give them education. So, you have the most respected institution in a country which has been terribly misused by the by the military in order to basically spread fear and anger in the society.
I was once in one small village, with one family, and there was a sick person; there is, of course, no doctor. So, what is the family doing? They brought two Buddhist monks there to do all the all the mantras to save the sick person.
Then in the evening, I was talking with these monks. And their first question was, ‘Where are you from?’ I said, ‘From the Czech Republic.’ The second question was, ‘Do you have Muslims there?’ I said, ‘No, we don't have them there.’ ‘Lucky country,’ was their response. In that moment I realized, ‘Oh, my God. If all around the country you have thousands of these monks, who are saying this to their parishes and their villages that they will be the lucky country if there will be no Muslims in that country, we are in a deep problem.’
That was what the military has done. The military intelligence, they have done it purposely, internationally, intentionally. And it's very hard. It's hard for any society, particularly for these societies, which have been for a long time under dictatorships, and they are always sick. Societies which have been a longtime under dictatorship, they are deeply, deeply sick societies!
We need freedom; we need critical dialogue, critical reflection, to heal to overcome the deep prejudice. And when you have dictatorships, you don't have these critical mechanisms. So these societies are deeply, deeply, deeply sick. And that has been one reason.
Then another reason is that societies which have suffered a lot carry in themselves such a deep frustration that they very often don't have an easy way of how to overcome it in a positive way. But there is always the opportunity to do it another way, that is to blame somebody who is weaker than you, to blame somebody who is a little bit different than you, and who is a very, very vulnerable. So, in a certain way - and the bad politicians know how to do it - they've so often in Myanmar, and in other places, misused this really collective psychological need to get rid of your own frustration by mistreating somebody else who is more vulnerable than you.”