Is there a thaw emerging between Burma’s (Myanmar) Aung San Suu Kyi and the military Government? A latest news report says that detained pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has expressed her readiness to work with the military Government in the process aimed at bringing political reconciliation.
“In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the Government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and welcome the necessary good and welcome role of the United Nations to help facilitate our efforts in this regard,” Suu Kyi said in a statement which was released by United Nations Envoy Ibrahim Gambari on her behalf.
According to The Times of India: “The statement was given to Gambari by Suu Kyi during their meeting in Yangon yesterday. Gambari read out the statement on arrival in Singapore.
“In an encouraging sign that the military junta might be softening its stand, it invited Gambari for another visit which, a United Nations spokesperson said, would take place within the next few weeks. It also allowed Suu Kyi to meet with her party leaders.”
A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for four years, and has spent 11 years in detention since her party – the National League for Democracy – and its allies won the 1990 election with over 80 per cent of the parliamentary seats. But the military junta refused to recognize the elections.
Another news report says that similar apparent breakthroughs have occurred in the past and optimists have been proved wrong each time. For details click here…
The IHT reports: Aung San Suu Kyi met Friday with members of her party, the National League for Democracy, for the first time in three years and held talks with Aung Kyi, the general appointed as a liaison by Myanmar’s military government, news agencies reported from Yangon.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.