Myanmar Poet Arrested for Critical Poem
January 24, 2008 - 5:24am
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A Myanmar poet known for his odes to love was arrested after penning a Valentine's Day poem that carried a hidden message criticizing the leader of the country's military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, colleagues said Thursday.
The poet, Saw Wai, was arrested Tuesday, a day after his poem "February 14" was published in the popular weekly entertainment magazine "A Chit," or "Love," according to friends and colleagues who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
The eight-line poem in Burmese is about a man brokenhearted after falling for a fashion model, whom he thanks for having taught him the meaning of love.
But if read vertically, the first word of each line forms the phrase: "Power crazy Senior General Than Shwe."
Than Shwe, 74, who has headed the junta since 1992, has little tolerance for criticism. He keeps himself sequestered in his remote, newly built capital, Naypyitaw, deep in the countryside.
The junta regularly arrests dissidents and critics, and drew the world's condemnation after turning its troops on peaceful anti-government protesters last September. More than 30 people, including Buddhist monks who led the protests, were killed in the crackdown.
Saw Wai regularly writes innocuous love poems for Burmese-language magazines and journals. He is also a member of an organization of local artists and actors called White Rainbow which helps HIV-infected orphans.
"You have to be in love truly, madly, deeply and then you can call it real love," reads the poem for which he was arrested.
The verse ends with a call for unity in the name of love: "Millions of people who know how to love please clap your hands of gilded gold and laugh out loud."
The Burmese word for million is "Than" and the word for gold is "Shwe."
News vendors in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, also called Burma, said authorities had removed the magazine from their newsstands.
Saw Wai's poem is the latest attempt by artists and others to circumvent the junta's muzzle on expression.
A comedy troupe known as "The Four Fruits" has recently become popular for satirical jokes about the September crackdown.
A well-known comedian who uses the stage name Zarganar was arrested during the crackdown and held for three weeks for providing food and other necessities to the monks who spearheaded the protests. He had earlier been imprisoned twice and his comedy routines were banned for their jokes about the regime.
Several monks have gained strong followings for delivering sermons with anti-government messages thinly cloaked in religious language, such as one stating that, "Those who kill monks will go to hell." There is high demand for CDs of the sermons, which are circulated among friends and families.
The junta took power in 1988 after crushing a democracy movement led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory. Suu Kyi has been in detention for 12 of the last 18 years.
(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A Myanmar poet known for his odes to love was arrested after penning a Valentine's Day poem that carried a hidden message criticizing the leader of the country's military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, colleagues said Thursday.
The poet, Saw Wai, was arrested Tuesday, a day after his poem "February 14" was published in the popular weekly entertainment magazine "A Chit," or "Love," according to friends and colleagues who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
The eight-line poem in Burmese is about a man brokenhearted after falling for a fashion model, whom he thanks for having taught him the meaning of love.
But if read vertically, the first word of each line forms the phrase: "Power crazy Senior General Than Shwe."
Than Shwe, 74, who has headed the junta since 1992, has little tolerance for criticism. He keeps himself sequestered in his remote, newly built capital, Naypyitaw, deep in the countryside.
The junta regularly arrests dissidents and critics, and drew the world's condemnation after turning its troops on peaceful anti-government protesters last September. More than 30 people, including Buddhist monks who led the protests, were killed in the crackdown.
Saw Wai regularly writes innocuous love poems for Burmese-language magazines and journals. He is also a member of an organization of local artists and actors called White Rainbow which helps HIV-infected orphans.
"You have to be in love truly, madly, deeply and then you can call it real love," reads the poem for which he was arrested.
The verse ends with a call for unity in the name of love: "Millions of people who know how to love please clap your hands of gilded gold and laugh out loud."
The Burmese word for million is "Than" and the word for gold is "Shwe."
News vendors in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, also called Burma, said authorities had removed the magazine from their newsstands.
Saw Wai's poem is the latest attempt by artists and others to circumvent the junta's muzzle on expression.
A comedy troupe known as "The Four Fruits" has recently become popular for satirical jokes about the September crackdown.
A well-known comedian who uses the stage name Zarganar was arrested during the crackdown and held for three weeks for providing food and other necessities to the monks who spearheaded the protests. He had earlier been imprisoned twice and his comedy routines were banned for their jokes about the regime.
Several monks have gained strong followings for delivering sermons with anti-government messages thinly cloaked in religious language, such as one stating that, "Those who kill monks will go to hell." There is high demand for CDs of the sermons, which are circulated among friends and families.
The junta took power in 1988 after crushing a democracy movement led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory. Suu Kyi has been in detention for 12 of the last 18 years.
(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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