The response of the Burmese regime to the Cyclone Nargis disaster is now acknowledged to be the worlds worst response to a disaster by any state or regime. The Burmese generals, including Senior General Than Shwe, are deliberately avoiding contact with world leaders and other organisations who want to assist the two and half million people in Burma who are in dire need of water, basic food and health care. The most conservative estimates of the death toll so far is between 80,000 to 130,000 persons, but the worlds leaders are unable to even contact General Than Shwe or any of the other generals. It was reported that when some world leaders tried to reach General Than Shwe by telephone the calls were not answered.
The world must now come to grips with the situation in which the leaders of a regime think that even providing basic materials for survival such as water, food and medicine is a threat to their power. The cost in human lives on such a large scale is no matter of concern to them. Can world opinion and the political will of the rest of the world defeat this completely irresponsible and immoral action of such a regime?
The indifference to the plight of the people in Burma is not new. It has been over 40 years since the military takeover in which the generals isolated themselves from the world for the preservation of the military rule for the benefit of a few, regardless of the consequences to the rest of the nation. The will of the people expressed by way of the 1988 election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi was elected, was thwarted. The election results were not recognised by the generals and the international efforts to deal with any of the countrys problems since then have been successfully resisted by the regime.
Now the very survival of millions of people is treated by the generals through this very same strategy of ruling which is the only style of rule they know. Whatever be the consequences to the people facing dire need for water, basic food and medicine is of little concern to a regime since the only disaster they might recognise is the threat to their power.
Emissaries from outside the country have visited Burma, like the prime minister of Thailand, carrying the messages of others to convince the military regime to take a flexible approach. However, this has been to no avail. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has also been making desperate attempts to get through with some aid. However, that also appears to have lead to no positive actions.
For many decades the world has met the obstinate resistance of the Burmese regime on all matters that relate to the wellbeing of the people of Burma. The regime has set itself so completely against the people in such a comprehensive manner that perhaps there are very few examples of such behaviour in the history of the modern world. Certainly the reaction to this present disaster is the worst ever.
But the question is: how will the rest of the world, including the ASEAN countries, India, China and others face this tremendous political and moral challenge. Will the world just watch another humanitarian disaster of the worst magnitude take its toll on the people of Burma?
A decisive strategy is now needed either to persuade the generals to give access to assistance by aid agencies or to coerce these leaders to do so.
