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10th Anniversary of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's
Nobel Peace Prize
San
Francisco Free
Aung San Suu Kyi Demonstration
San
Francisco Free Burma activists and Burmese
American Democratic Alliance (BADA) held a demonstration in
San Francisco on December 8, 2001. It was held in support of the
international Nobel Peace Laureate Campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi and the People of Burma.
December, 2001 marks the 10th
Anniversary of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize. The
campaign calls Burmese military regime to: release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
all political prisoners; to stop all forms of Human Rights violations; and to
agree to join Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, her party and ethnic nationalities for
meaningful dialog.
The demonstration
was started at 1 PM and lasted two
and a half hour until 3:30 PM. It was held
at the corner of Market and Powel street in San Francisco. Activists from various organizations and
Universities in San Francisco Bay Area participated the event. At 1:30 PM,
our
demonstration was in full swing. The fifteen
feet banner bearing the text, "Free Burma," "Free Aung San Suu Kyi,"
"10th
Anniversary of Nobel Peace Price," in three seperate lines was up.
Six
children were standing under the banner each holding photo of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi. Some were distributing fliers, which explains the purpose of the event in
detailed.
About every five minutes, we chanted, "Free Free.. Free Burma; Free
Free.. Free Aung San Suu Kyi." As it is the crowded area surrounded by
shops, and also next to the San Francisco's famous cable care turn around, we
were all surrounded by people. Every time we chanted, the crowd looked at
us. Some came and took the flier; others came and talked to us. We had many
one on one discussions with those came to us. Two police men showed up at the
event. They stayed sidelined and watched. Each time we chanted, they smiled at
us. After half an hour, they just simply disappeared realizing that it was an
peaceful and organized event.
Through
out the demonstration, we were asked various questions about the event. One asked, "Who is
Burma?" as
he thought Burma is a person. Other one asked, "Is America doing something
bad in Burma?" as he thought we were demonstration against American
Government. In fact, most people do not quite understand what "Free
Burma" means. May be we should write, "Help Burma overcome
Dictatorship." Of course we had some encounters with very knowledgeable
people too. Most of them were activists of their own or people from Burma's neighboring
country such as Thailand. At one point, a man claimed that Aung San Suu Kyi came
to United States few years ago, and went back with a lot of money. At first, we
tried to argue
with him, but then we realized that he is mentally unstable. Few rather funny moments
during our two and a half hour long demonstration. We were happy
doing what we can supporting this international campaign.
The
demonstration was ended at 3:30 PM by chanting, "Free Free...Free Burma; Free
Free... Free Aung San Suu Kyi; Long Live Aung San Suu Kyi; and God Bless America," three times each.
Clearly, such actions around the world on December 8, have sent a strong
message to Burma's military regime that the world is standing by the oppressed,
and will not relent until Democracy is achieved. We all
went home knowing that we were part of world wide action for Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and people of Burma.
We like to thank those who participated,
especially Free Burma activists from San Francisco. They helped us locate the best
spot in town. We also thank relocated student activists from Oakland. Members from various organizations participated too; notably: Bay
Area Burma Round Table, Burmese American Women's Alliance (BAWA), Burmese Students Organization (City College of San Francisco),
Association of Burmese Students San Francisco Bay Area (ABSSF). Special thanks to two students, who bought fast food for all
demonstrators.
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