NJ Thakuria
One should not forget that the military rulers have so far killed at least 945 people, arrested over 7,026, detained (sentenced) nearly 5,474 and displaced over 230,000 ethnic minorities since the coup.
Guwahati: Providing humanitarian aid to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic should not strengthen the ruling military junta of the south-east Asian nation regionally and internationally, which had toppled the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi’s government on 1 February 2021.
One should not forget that the military rulers have so far killed at least 945 people, arrested over 7,026, detained (sentenced) nearly 5,474 and displaced over 230,000 ethnic minorities since the coup. Meanwhile, the junta has arrested no less than 98 journalists, where 43 scribes are still behind bars and almost crushing the free press.
Debates have lately emerged in the public domain as Myanmar is presently facing a pandemic with fewer vaccinated citizens and low-quality medical care for its 60 million population, stated the Progressive Voice and Asian forum for human rights and development in a joint statement issued on 4 August from Thailand’s capital Bangkok.
Both the organisations, however, emphasised on providing humanitarian assistance to the Burmese people and urged the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to continue the service through the corona task force set up by the present regime in NayPieTaw.
One hundred days have passed since ASEAN leaders and the military boss Min Aung Hlaing reached the consensus over Myanmar during the ASEAN leaders’ meeting on 24 April 2021, but on the ground, little progress has been achieved towards realising the agreement, added the statement.
Meanwhile, human rights and humanitarian disasters have been further compounded in the poverty-stricken country following the latest wave of floods. The military junta has weaponised both the corona and flood for its own political gain. It starts calling the international community to support the relief efforts as a ploy to gain legitimacy.
“On the ground, the junta continues to arrest and harass the healthcare workers with expertise on Covid-19,” said Khin Ohmar, chairperson of Progressive Voice, while speaking to this correspondent, adding that the international aids including medical ventilators, oxygen concentrators, vaccines doses, etc. should reach the Burmese people, but it should not offer an opportunity for the junta to get its due legitimacy.
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