FEATURE
‘Since the NLD got in, people are
quieter,’ she says, even on trivial issues.
She believes some are embarrassed to
have campaigned for a party that hasn’t
delivered and have disengaged to save
face, but others fear that expressing dis-
content with the NLD could result in
the country reverting back to a military
government. ‘Nobody wants the USDP in
power,’ Zahau says.
She laments that progressive move-
ments have lost their focus. ‘It was so easy
to organize people under the umbrella
of “let’s go get the military dictatorship”.
Now there’s no one thing that draws
people together.’ Many activists saw it as
their role to get their leader elected, but
not to hold them to account.
Engagement rapidly dwindled when
the Rohingya crisis escalated in 2017.
People who once stood for human
rights now argue that the Rohingya are
a ‘national security threat’, says Zahau.
Those who would give Suu Kyi the benefit
of the doubt regarding her position on
the Rohingya don’t want the crisis to
destroy her chances of a second term.
Caught between international pressure to
stop the genocide and an agitated, nation-
alist public, they believe Suu Kyi has been
trapped by the military in a crisis it engi-
neered to discredit her.
Zahau says activists have some ‘soul
searching’ to do. ‘If I stand for freedom,
justice and equality, and I want that for
myself and my communities, then I cannot
deny them to other people,’ she says.
The rise of the NGO
As political activism gets harder to navi-
gate, another path has opened up for
those looking to contribute to society,
but with the options of a stable salary and
without upsetting anyone.
After the sham elections of 2010,
which the junta claimed marked the
beginning of a civilian democracy, the
space for NGOs in Myanmar expanded.
Exiled groups were allowed to return
and international NGOs were able to set
up shop when in the past they had been
banned or severely restricted.
Matthew Sheader, who has worked for
the British Council in Yangon for 13 years,
has recently completed a PhD on activism
in Myanmar and the impact of NGOs.
New laws allowing civil society organ-
izgations (CSOs) to operate have created
a ‘safe zone’ for certain types of politi-
cal activity, he says, but at the same
time they have delegitimized forms of
organizing that don’t fall within param-
eters set by the government. Allowing
some groups to register makes it appear
legitimate for the state to crack down
violently on others.
Effectively, the Burmese government
now has a veto on activism: it can outlaw
challenging dissent, while encouraging
less-threatening forms of civil society
engagement. Vying to secure funding
and just to exist, groups now water down
their politics to fit within the new, narrow
sphere of acceptability dictated by the
government. Radical political activists
are pushed to the periphery.
Sheader labels what is happening as
‘NGOization’, linking it to a phenome-
non that has defused activism across the
developing world.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi concurs. ‘Getting
into an institution is safer,’ she says. ‘It
has a future, it has a guarantee.’
According to Maung Saungkha, ‘Even
the people who were widely considered
as very active became silent when they
joined the NGO community.’Stirrings of change
Cheery Zahau is not completely pessi-
mistic. She senses a stirring in politics,
a new movement starting to form on the
margins, in Myanmar’s border states
where ethnic minorities who had long
been promised increased autonomy and
local self-determination under a federal
constitution have been let down yet
again. This demographic elected Suu Kyi
in 2015 believing she would champion
equal rights for all.
Zahau doesn’t think Suu Kyi will
ever win an overwhelming majority
again, particularly not in ethnic areas,
where local parties are organizing. In
some states, several smaller parties havealready merged, determined to win a
state-level majority. The idea is then to
form a coalition at national level.
Zahau thinks ethnic parties could
‘spark the light again’ for people who are
disillusioned with Suu Kyi. However, this
ethnic movement is very embryonic, she
cautions, pointing out that ethnic parties
have been suppressed for seven decades,
many are dealing with the army and
armed groups operating in their states,
and their capacity is limited. ‘There’s a
lot of work to do with the very limited
resources they have.’
Thinzar Shunlei Yi says activists in
Yangon have also considered establish-
ing a political party or organization to
‘check and balance’ the NLD as they head
towards the 2020 elections, but they feel
they’re not ready yet.
She believes change needs to be fought
for outside the political system and
established institutions which have con-
sistently failed to serve the population.
‘When you enter a political party you
are likely to be less powerful,’ she says.
‘When you are independent as an activist
it’s easier for you to raise your voice.’ She
argues for activists to build strength by
consolidating their efforts.
However, she acknowledges a vacuum
where an opposition party that actually
stood for human rights and democracy
used to be.
Her wish? ‘We really need a move-
ment, a vibrant movement.’ OCHARLOTTE ENGLAND IS A MULTIMEDIA
JOURNALIST BASED BETWEEN LONDON AND
YANGON. SHE EDITS ARTICLES FOR NOVARA MEDIA
AND WRITES FOR THE GUARDIAN, VICE AND THE
INDEPENDENT.62 NEW INTERNATIONALIST
People who once stood for
human rights now argue
that the Rohingya are a
‘national security threat’