dangerous dissidents

Fourteen Burmese activists arrested for organizing anti-government rallies last year had their sentences handed down today: 65 years in prison each. Surely, you might think, some violence took place at these rallies — a stone thrown, at the very least. Sixty-five years in prison for peaceful protest? Unheard of.

As it turns out, the 65 years break down as follows: four counts of illegal use of electronic media, 15 years each; one count of forming an illegal organization, 5 years. The rallies in question were protests against drastic rises in fuel prices last August. The facts speak for themselves.

Burma’s recent history offers a stunning display of black-and-white morality: cruel, mindless, and dictatorial junta versus peaceful protesters (often monks), including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent thirteen of the last nineteen years under house arrest. The protesters who were sentenced today were part of the 88 Generation Students group, named for a 1988 massacre of protesting students in Rangoon. It’s hard to imagine a more clear-cut case of right and wrong, or at least to my sensibilities, and I think to those of most breathing, feeling human beings. However, Burma is of little importance on the global geopolitical map (unlike, say, Iraq), so the chances of the junta feeling serious international pressure to shape up anytime soon? Not so great.

“gay india does exist”

On Saturday, for the first time ever, three Indian cities held major gay pride parades. Nearly 1,000 gay activists and supporters took to the streets of New Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata in the biggest gay pride demonstration in India’s history.

Homosexuality is illegal in India under the colonial-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which outlaws sexual activity “against the order of nature” with a penalty of up to ten years in prison. Other former colonies have repealed similar laws, but India’s remains in effect. The Delhi High Court is set to hear a case this week filed by human rights groups that wish the provision to be repealed for consenting adults.

Anti-gay societal pressures play an enormous role in Indian life, and joint suicides by desperate gay couples are not uncommon. The best known recent case is that of Christy Jayanthi Malar (38) and Rukmani (40), both married women, who immolated themselves in May due to the reactions of their families to their relationship.