The Spirit of Satyagraha

Hey everyone,

I've changed my blog around a bit to include my grassroots activism here in the states and beyond Kenya. I will post pictures from, and a description of, my "house arrest" party that I am holding tonight to raise awareness about the undeserving arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize laureate in Burma. I am also accepting donations to go to the U.S. campaign for Burma and their efforts to free Suu Kyi.

For those who don't know, Suu Kyi is the head of the National League for Democracy (NLD) a human rights supporting political party in Burma that advocates democratization and compliance with international law. She was placed under house-arrest in 1989 prior to the upcoming elections, which her party ended up winning with 82% of the parliamentary seats. The brutal military Junta of the country ignored the will of the people and brutally cracked down on peaceful protests that resulted from their refusal to recognize the election results. Suu Kyi has been placed under defacto house-arrest ever since that date. While Suu Kyi has been imprisoned the military Junta has burned down some 3,300 ethnic minority villages and brutally killed peaceful Buddhist monks- destroying or defiling their sacrosanct monasteries and other holy buildings in the process. The ethnic minorities in the eastern portion of the country are being especially persecuted, women are targets of horrific sexual violence and children are abducted into the largest child-soldier containing army in the world, which numbers approximately 70,000 children.

Suu Kyi has been called a modern day Gandhi for her avocation of peaceful, non-violent resistance (Satyagraha) and her unyielding dedication to democracy and human rights. Gandhi may be a fitting allusion, but when I think of Suu Kyi, another remarkable human being comes to mind: Benazir Bhutto. Benazir had to suffer through numerous years of detention in the most despicable conditions solely for advocating human rights, rule of law, and democracy in repressive Pakistan. She was repressed by the brutal military dictatorship lead by Zao as Suu Kyim is repressed by the Burmese military Junta. Aung San Suu Kyi is a true inspiration for all of those around the world who are being threatened, or indeed punished, for valuing the noble ideals of human dignity and the inherent right of happiness and equality for every member of the human family. I urge all of you to research this remarkable woman and learn from her paragon example of the modern day practice of Satyagraha.

Also, I've been following the pro-democracy, anti-fraud, demonstrations in Iran very closely. I am heartened by their love of democracy and yearning for better relations with the west, a remarkable occurrence in a country that has been ruled by a hardline Islamic theocracy since 1979. The protesters are showing incredible courage by defying no-assembly laws and protesting peacefully against the seemingly rigged elections. Protesters are marching by the hundreds of thousands in near silence to shed light on ubiquitous voting irregularities and government repression. We, as citizens of the greatest democracy in the world, must reach out to the demonstrators through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and let them know that are hearts are with them in their quest for essential human rights and democracy.

Other events in the world that have caught my attention are, amongst others:

Sudan: The NY Times reports that the U.N.'s special rapporteur for Human rights has documented that aerial attacks on Darfuri citizens is still occurring, a finding which contradicts claims that the Genocide is over. In fact, I think that the GOS has slowed down the genocide in order to disrupt the CPA mandated elections in the south- report have roiled in that the GOS is helping to fuel inter-tribal warfare in the south in order to bring chaos to the region.

Somalia: Al-shabab, the Islamic terrorist group, continues to wreck havoc in Somalia, killing hundreds and displacing thousands. Current Vanguard documents that 50,000 people fled Somalia to Yemen in 2008, a journey which killed 2,000 or more.

USA: Obama continues to receive heat for everything, despite his hard-work on multiple projects at once: Gitmo, health-care, 2 wars, the economy, foreign relations with Iran and N. Korea. I applaud Obama's efforts at helping to lead the passage of clean energy bills and comprehensive health-care while giving the LGBT community more rights, not enough, but more. Well done Mr. President.

This is all for now, more later.

With optimism,
Cameron Morgan