Paying the price for freedom
On 14 February - Valentine's Day - the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Burma's largest ethnic resistance forces, was assassinated in his home in Thailand. Padoh Mahn Sha was a courageous, humble, wise, principled leader. He was also the father of four children, including Zoya Phan, the brave Karen activist who has spoken twice at Conservative Party Conferences. You can see his children's statement at www.zoyaphan.com and you can see further information at www.csw.org.uk
I spent an entire morning, from 8am until 1pm, with Padoh Mahn Sha in his home just three days before gunmen came to kill him. I sat on the veranda where he was shot. I had lunch with him. He was not only someone I greatly respected - he was someone I could call a friend.
Earlier in the week, East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta was shot. Thankfully he has, so far, survived, although he is still on hospital and has undergone multiple operations. East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, was shot at too, although thankfully he escaped unharmed. I know Jose Ramos Horta and Xanana personally too, and have sat in their homes on several occasions chatting with them.
The year began with the assassination of Pakistan's democracy leader Benazir Bhutto. While I did not know her personally, I work on Pakistan and have a good friend who was with her at the rally at which she was killed.
It has been a dreadful start to the year. But it reminds us how valuable freedom is. When brave people - friends of mine - pay the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom, democracy, human rights and justice, then we absolutely have to continue their fight. We owe it to them not to take our freedom and our material comforts for granted, but rather to use them to promote freedom for those who are denied it.
I was very sad to hear of the news about Mahn Sha. I only hope that such cruelties serve to stiffen the resolve of those campaigning against this despicable regime.
Posted by: Deputy Editor | February 17, 2008 at 18:11
It is certainly very true that personal liberty can disappear by degrees, almost unnoticed. It is a great worry to see the way individual rights have been slowly eroded under the Labour government. Would we have believed it ten years ago if someone told us that our children would be fingerprinted in school and that the genetic data of innocent people would be held by the government? What else is to come if Labour were to win a fourth term?
Posted by: Tony Makara | February 17, 2008 at 19:24
It's going on all over the World.
http://www.nineeleven.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?p=109543
http://www.infowars.com
2hr Documentary
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5948263607579389947
Posted by: Adrian Peirson | February 17, 2008 at 23:56
Tony, while I agree with you, your remarks seem wholly inappropriate in this context. Keep them for a different occasion, when discussing our domestic troubles which, by comparison with Burma, Pakistan and East Timor and many other countries, are trivial.
Posted by: Ben Rogers | February 19, 2008 at 08:10