{"id":115520,"date":"2021-06-25T16:28:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T23:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115520"},"modified":"2021-06-25T16:28:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T23:28:08","slug":"g7-and-myanmar-elephants-trumpet-democracy-while-an-ant-remains-trampled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/25\/g7-and-myanmar-elephants-trumpet-democracy-while-an-ant-remains-trampled\/","title":{"rendered":"G7 and Myanmar; Elephants trumpet democracy while an Ant remains trampled"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

It\nwas always known that the self-appointed icons of democracy only pay lip\nservice to democracy and that self- interest and the singular desire to control\na global agenda of their choosing takes precedence over everything else. The\nrecent G7 meeting confirmed this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G7 countries and their invitees gathered in the UK to\nsend warning signals to both China and Russia that the high powered democratic\nalliance of the world, the G7 was back in business. In reality however, this\nwas more about trade than democracy as all these countries do substantial trade\nwith the countries they sent warning signals to. All G 7 countries and their\nfriends will continue trading with China irrespective of what China does. So\nthey will with Russia. This dichotomy will ensure that poorer, less privileged States\nlike Myanmar, and stateless people like the Palestinians will always be ignored\nby political bigamists like the G7 and their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is no surprise therefore that while trumpeting (no pun\nintended) the common values, democracy, freedom and liberty, that binds this\nclub together, not a word was said about a country whose democracy, freedom and\nliberty was snuffed out by a Military takeover, and the country\u2019s democratic\nicon, Aung San Suu Kyi languishing in jail and is facing a bogus trial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least in hindsight, the G7 and their democratic friends\nshould see why Aung Sung Su Kyi took the stand she took during the Rohingya\ncrisis, and the eventual price she paid even after not voicing her concern and\nopposition to the Military led offensive against the Rohingya\u2019s. Her failure to\nspeak against the treatment of the Rohingya people cannot be overlooked, as a\nleader of her stature should have done so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with the Military almost at her throat, she would\nhave been toppled long ago had she expressed a view in opposition to the\nMilitary stance. She no doubt realises now that it would have been better to have\nbeen toppled for a principled humanitarian reason then, rather than being\ntoppled for a cause she fought for, spent time in prison for, and for a cause\nshe may have mistakenly imagined, the democratic power houses in the world\nwould take note and come to safeguard what they professed so loudly to the\nworld, the democracy and democratic rights of a small country which had fought\nso relentlessly to restore what they profess as an important human value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the world, especially the democratic high powers\nsleep, the people of Myanmar have not. Nearly 1000 people have died since the\nMilitary takeover for a cause they fought for decades. The open as well as rear\nguard action continues from within to win back what they lost. In an article\ntitled Resistance to coup bleeds Myanmar by Ashok K Mehta in the Sri\nLanka Guardian\n(http:\/\/www.slguardian.org\/2021\/06\/resistance-to-coup-bleeds-myanmar.html),\nthis resistance and the ongoing battle against the Military has been well\narticulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of Myanmar have fought for and won their democratic\nrights in democratically conducted elections. In the 1990 elections<\/a>, NLD won 81% of the seats in Parliament,\nbut the results were nullified, as the military government refused to hand over\npower. Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained before the elections and remained\nunder house\narrest<\/a> for\nalmost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, becoming one of the world’s most\nprominent political prisoners<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her party boycotted the 2010 elections<\/a>, resulting in a decisive victory for the\nmilitary-backed Union Solidarity and\nDevelopment Party<\/a> (USDP). Aung San Suu Kyi became a Pyithu\nHluttaw<\/a> MP<\/a> while her party won 43 of the 45\nvacant seats in the 2012 by-elections<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2015 elections<\/a>, her party won a landslide\nvictory<\/a>,\ntaking 86% of the seats in the Assembly of the Union<\/a> \u2013 well more than the 67% supermajority<\/a> needed to ensure that its preferred\ncandidates were elected president<\/a> and second vice president<\/a> in the presidential electoral\ncollege<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although she was prohibited from becoming the president due to a\nclause in the\nconstitution<\/a> \u2013 her late husband and children are foreign citizens \u2013 she\nassumed the newly created role of State Counsellor of Myanmar, a role akin to a\nprime minister or a head of government<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The democratic elephants have allowed the Military to impose Military\nrule in Myanmar, imprison Aung San Suu Kyi and subvert democracy and take away\ntheir freedom and human rights, something they had fought for decades. Nothing\ntangible has been done to date to take action against the Military and to\nrestore democracy in Myanmar. Although they all trumpeted anti- Chinese\nsentiments during their summit and professed to form a united front to\nsafeguard democracy\u201d and democratic values\u201d, they have given a virtual free\nhand to the Myanmar military and for China, the main backer of the Military, to\ndo as they please in Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this is not rank duplicity what is?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The sorry situation faced by Palestinians since a few people sat in\nLondon and decided to carve up a State for Israel in 1948 throwing the\nPalestinians to a virtual dustbin since, is another example of this duplicity.\nIn this case, a people who deserved a State were not given one, and more than\n70 years later, they remain stateless, and the land they lived in for centuries\nhas been encroached by Israel, while those who profess democracy,\nfreedom and liberty have done the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are enough and more examples one can cite to illustrate this\nduplicity when it comes to people in States whose democracy, freedom and\nliberty has been overrun by forces practising the opposite, and of Stateless\npeople like the Palestinians who have been ignored as a consequence of this\nduplicity and whose democratic rights have been denied to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, there are democratic countries like Sri Lanka, which are\nconstantly under the microscope of clubs like the G 7 and their friends who\nmeasure human rights progress by standards even they do not subscribe to in all\ninstances and more universally in their own countries. While Sri Lanka could do\nbetter in some areas of human rights, it certainly could teach a lesson or two\nto some in countries like the USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights in the USA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights Watch World Report 2021 states the following in regard\nto the human rights situation in the USA in its introductory section (https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/world-report\/2021\/country-chapters\/united-states<\/a>). Other reports citing the level of gun\nviolence the level of poverty in the US, does not demonstrate that the USA is\nexactly the ideal preacher who should be lecturing other countries on human\nrights failings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HRW reports says, quote Important human rights failings of\nthe United States were laid bare in 2020.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grossly disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Black, brown,\nand Native people, connected to longstanding disparities in health, education,\nand economic status, revealed the enduring effects of past overtly racist laws\nand policies and continuing impediments to equality. The police killing of\nGeorge Floyd in May, and a series of other police killings of<\/em> Black people, sparked massive and\nlargely peaceful protests, which in many instances were met with brutality by\nlocal and federal law enforcement agents.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration of President Donald Trump continued to dismantle\nthe United States asylum system, limit access to women\u2019s health care, undermine\nconsumer protections against predatory lenders and abusive debt collectors, and\nweaken regulations that reduce pollution and address climate change. After\nelection officials across the US tallied the votes for the presidential\nelection, determining that Joe Biden was the president-elect, Trump made\nbaseless allegations of voter fraud<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its foreign policy, the United States worked on several fronts\nto undermine multilateral institutions, including through the use of sanctions\nto attack the International Criminal Court. It flouted international human\nrights law as it partnered with abusive governments\u2014though it did sanction a\nnumber of individuals and governments for committing human rights abuses\u2019<\/em>, unquote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gun violence in the USA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A BBC report cited There were 14,400 gun-related homicides in 2019.\nKillings involving a gun accounted for nearly three quarters of all homicides\nin the US in that year. Compared to 22 other\nhigh-income nations, the U.S. gun-related homicide rate is 25 times higher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it has half the population of the other\n22 nations combined, among those 22 nations studied, the U.S. had 82 percent of\ngun deaths, 90 percent of all women killed with guns, 91 percent of children\nunder 14 and 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with\nguns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poverty in the USA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The\nwebsite Poverty USA (https:\/\/www.povertyusa.org\/facts<\/a> states, quote In 2018, 38.1 million\npeople lived in Poverty USA. That means the poverty rate for 2018 was\n11.8%.  to take a closer look at poverty statistics in the United\nStates. Poverty does not strike all demographics equally.\nFor example, in 2018, 10.6% of men, and 12.9% of women lived in poverty in USA.\nAlong the same lines, the poverty rate for married couples in 2018 was only\n4.7% – but the poverty rate for single-parent families with no wife present was\n12.7%, and for single-parent families with no husband present was 24.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the poverty rate for people living with a\ndisability was 25.7%. That\u2019s nearly 4 million people living with a\ndisability\u2014in poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children\nin Poverty<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, 16.2% of all\nchildren (11.9 million kids) lived in Poverty. \u2014that\u2019s almost 1 in every 6 children.\nIn 2015, the National Centre on Family Homelessness analysed state-level data\nand found that nationwide, 2.5 million children experience homelessness in a\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poverty by\nEthnicity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to 2018 US Census\nData, the highest poverty rate by race is found among Native Americans (25.4%),\nwith Blacks (20.8%) having the second highest poverty rate, and Hispanics\n(of any race) having the third highest poverty rate (17.6%). Whites had a\npoverty rate of 10.1%, while Asians had a poverty rate at 10.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the context of hypocrisy, China does not profess to say\nsomething and do something else. Their people do not have the democratic rights\nthat democracies profess their people do have. A philosophical argument could\nbe had about authoritarianism and democracy, and no doubt democracy would win\nsuch an argument. It is always a difficult proposition in such an argument, to\nconsider issues such as poverty, security of people, standard of living, income\ninequality, racism, all falling within the realm of basic human rights denials,\nto judge what is more important, all of these, or a compromise with democracy, freedom\nand liberty in order to provide citizens of a country their basic entitlements\nfor a decent livelihood, education, health and other social and societal fundamentals.\nMany democratic countries have shown that such compromises are not needed or\ndesired, and not many authoritarian regimes have shown that compromising has\nworked. What is perhaps important is for hypocrisy to end and for democracies\nto save each other in order to prevent authoritarianism from taking hold on\naccount of such hypocrisy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale It was always known that the self-appointed icons of democracy only pay lip service to democracy and that self- interest and the singular desire to control a global agenda of their choosing takes precedence over everything else. The recent G7 meeting confirmed this. The G7 countries and their invitees gathered in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115520\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}