Speaking at a ceremony held in their honor, two recently released leaders of the 88 Generation Students group told their supporters in Pegu on Tuesday that they welcome recent political changes in Burma, but hope for more far-reaching reforms in the future.
Echoing National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi's oft-repeated refrain, former student activist Min Ko Naing—widely regarded as second only to Suu Kyi in terms of his political influence in Burma's pro-democracy movement—emphasized the need for a return to rule of law in the country after half a century of military rule.
“Without the rule of law, there is no security. Citizens can be arrested at any time, and they never know when there will be a knock on their door in the middle of the night,” he said, speaking at an event in Pegu that was also attended by his long-time colleague, Ko Ko Gyi.
The two leaders, who were among hundreds of political prisoners freed under a presidential order on Jan. 13, also applauded the cooperation they have received from local authorities since their release.
Citing their press conference in Rangoon last weekend, which they held with permission from Rangoon Division authorities, they said they are now ready to cooperate with any level of government to achieve further progress.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Ko Ko Gyi said the fact that plainclothes Special Branch officers and local traffic police facilitated their trip to Pegu, about 80 km northeast of Rangoon, was another sign of the more cooperative relationship that is possible between dissidents and the authorities.
The trip to Pegu—their first outside of Rangoon Division since their release from prison less than two weeks ago—was made at the invitation of local supporters and political groups, including the NLD and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, an officially outlawed group that reformed in 2007 at the height of the Buddhist monk-led Saffron Revolution.
“You are our witnesses when we say that we are willing to work with the authorities without hesitation,” Ko Ko Gyi told an audience of about 500 people on Tuesday, adding that he hoped to see more “meaningful change” in the months ahead.
Referring to his recent status as a political prisoner, he said: “We don't want to be prisoners of the past or prisoners of doubt. We want to look forward to a beautiful future.”
However, in a grim reminder of the dark shadow that abuses of power continue to cast over the country, the two returned to Rangoon immediately after the ceremony in Pegu to attend the funeral of another former political prisoner who died on Sunday.
Thet Nwe, 54, was also among the prisoners released on Jan. 13. Relatives say he died nine days later of complications from a medical condition that went untreated while he was in prison, where he was serving a life sentence for high treason. His health problems were believed to stem from torture he received while under interrogation.
After the funeral, a group of 88 Generation leaders were expected to meet with Suu Kyi at her home in Rangoon. It will be the first time in more than 20 years that Suu Kyi and the former student activists who spearheaded Burma's 1988 pro-democracy uprising have been able to meet.
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