Stand up to Burmese bullyboys and boycott Beijing Olympics

I HAVE read that the feet of the protesting Burmese Buddhist monks were bruised and bloodied after several days of marching.

This is testament to their sincerity and heartfelt dedication to the cause of democracy.

These brave men seek justice in a country long held down by a brutal dictatorship, one that has no mandate of any kind to govern — or misgovern — more than 50 million people.

Some onlookers found the sight of those bloodied feet obnoxious and unbearable.

But I would suggest there is a lot more blood on the hands of the Burmese junta leaders and on those of the unelected leaders of communist China who back them than you’ll find on the feet of those humble monks who want nothing more than the freedom we in the west take for granted.

The freedom to organise politically … the right to vote … to elect the government of one’s choice in a free election … to express one’s opinion without fearing a knock on the door from secret police … the freedom to protest peacefully without fearing the batons and tanks and machineguns of a ruthless nest of glorified thugs and killers.

The Chinese regime that backs the Burmese despots cares nothing for human rights.

They have their eyes trained on the potential for building lucrative gas and oil pipelines across the oppressed territory of their neighbouring dictatorship.

Politicians in the west are wringing their hands and hoping China will exert its influence to rein in these generals. What they overlook is that China is also an undemocratic authoritarian state. Like the Burmese junta, it has suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations with crushing military might, killing, maiming or imprisoning unknown thousands of democrats.

Business people from many of the nations that condemn the undemocratic Burmese system of government are jet-setting to China to close multi-billion deals that are completely outside any ethical consideration of human rights violations and ongoing state repression.

When hands joined in peace and prayer are met with troops, tanks, and guns, you know that a ‘democracy versus dictatorship’ contest is underway. And there can be no doubting who is in the right.

Those of us who enjoy the fruits of freedom need to speak out on Burma’s behalf. We need to send a clear signal to the dictatorship and its ally, China, that we don’t do business any more with nations involved in human rights abuses.

In 1936, western nations saw nothing wrong with facilitating the Third Reich by sending athletes to participate in the Berlin Olympics. We now realise how wrong that was, with the benefit of hindsight. We have no excuse when it comes to deciding how to approach the forthcoming Beijing Olympics. They must be boycotted for the sake of the oppressed millions of Burma, China and Tibet.

John Fitzgerald

Lr Coyne Street

Callan

Co Kilkenny