Sir, - I welcome the three articles on Burma in last week's Irish Times (July 29th, 30th, 31st) about the refusal by the military government to allow freedom of movement to Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and leader of the National League for Democracy.
Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962. On August 8th, 1988, millions of people took to the streets in peaceful protest at the killings, torture and slave labour they had endured. The army reacted brutally, murdering 10,000 of its own people, including schoolchildren, students and Buddhist monks.
So great was the slaughter that fire engines had to be employed to clean the blood off the streets. Soldiers brought bodies to the crematorium, burning not just the dead but also the living wounded.
Burma Action-Ireland is holding a commemoration of the tenth anniversary of this uprising next Saturday, August 8th, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the corner of St Stephen's Green and Grafton Street, Dublin. I invite all your readers to join us in a show of solidarity for Burma, and that remarkable woman, Aung San Suu Kyi. - Yours, etc., Kathleen Forde, Secretary,
Burma Action Ireland,
Iveragh Road,
Dublin 9.