Narinjara news
(1)
Forced labour in road repair
(2)
A Rahhine musician suffers
FORCED LABOUR IN ROAD
REPAIR AND FAMINE IN WESTERN PART OF MYANMAR
Maungdaw, 11th December 01: The State Law and Order Restoration Council
junta of Myanmar have once again adopted forced labour in road repair, harvest
of rice in the military-owned rice paddies, and repair of military barracks and
outposts as the dry winter is about to set in Rakhine
State, the western part of Myanmar, according to our correspondent from Maungdaw, the border town on the Naf
river.
The Maungdaw Taungbro Aung-cheik-prung road, which was badly damaged because of the monsoons was repaired using forced labour from Aung-cheik-prung village. The 220 villagers who were forced to
work for nearly one month starting from the last week of October, 2001, in the
road were given 226 bags of rice as wages. Though the quota of rice was far
below the actual wages for the amount of work, the villagers had no other
alternative since work was scarce and there were reports of famine in many
parts of
A RAKHINE MUSICIAN SUFFERS FROM THE
PHYSICAL TORTURES IN MYANMAR PRISON
Sittwe, 11th
December 01: A noted drummer and head of a Rakhine
Cultural Troupe, Sandra Tee-wun (Sandra
Orchestra), have been taken very ill as he suffers from the after-effects
of his imprisonment in Sittwe, according to our
correspondent from Sittwe.
Kyaw Zan Maung from Shwebra
quarter of Sittwe, the capital of
During the visit in 1996 of Khin Nyunt, the secretary one of SPDC junta, to Sittwe, he was ordered to play the tune of traditional Rakhine welcome, but he played the tune of the traditional
funeral procession. When Khin Nyunt was informed about the matter, he got
furious and ordered the Military Intelligence to take immediate action. He was
instantly arrested and charged with sedition, and sentenced for nine months in
prison. When the intelligence made investigations he was found not to be
involved in any political activities, for which his sentence was considered to
be light. But all the physical tortures he had to suffer during the
interrogations rendered him vulnerable to long-term illness, the report said.
Among the artists who were plucky enough to defy the military junta, he ranks
high with the other Burmese artists like Jagana, U Lu
Zaw, and Pa Pa Lay. But Kyaw Zan
Maung has never been brought to the spotlight as other artist-intellectuals,
our correspondent added. He has been living in utter poverty since his release
from the prison as he had lost his job as the headmaster of a government
primary school. #
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Mrat Kyaw and Mg Seing Phrue
Narinjara news