A Facebook revolution.

Contrary to my beliefs, it appears as though the Burmese are following in the footsteps of Egypt, and protesting against their oppressive leader, as Burmese activists have tried to start their own 'Facebook revolution'.

The 'Just do it against military dictatorship' page was started only two days after Egyptian president Mubarak resigned, and is calling for military general Than Shwe to leave the country, and for the army to leave the side of the government and join the protest. Approximately 400,000 people in Burma are on facebook, and it is the second most popular website, after gmail. Twitter however, is banned.

The activists have also been handin out pamphlets in some of Burma's major cities, and training people in rural areas to use the internet, so they could join the protest.

Recently, security in Rangoon has also been tightened significantly, although there is no link between the facebook group and the added security.

I think that this facebook group shows that the Burmese are willing to try anything if it will gain there freedom, especially as they have been going out of their way to get information on the recent protests, due to the censorship laws, and i will most definately be 'liking' this page.

Egypt and Libya, why not Burma?

2011 has been an interesting year so far, with pro-democracy protests in countries all over the world, including Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, and many others. However, this drive for democracy makes one wonder, why have there been no protests in Burma, one of the most repressive and undemocratic countries in the world?

It is evident that the Burmese people are almost too scared to protest, as past protests have resulted in vicious crackdowns and killings. Also, the Burmese government is well adapted to dealing with protests as soon as they start, not showing the slightest bit of sympathy or weakness, and not caring how the international community feels about their actions. Also, the last successful protest in Burma, which resulted of the ousting of  General Ne Win, only led to another dictator, general Than Shwe, who was even more oppressive and ruthless than Ne Win, to seize power.

One expert, Roland Watson who writes for dictatorwatch.org, believes that the Burmese government may not be as harsh this time if the people were to protest, as the government is facing claims of war crimes, and a brutal crackdown would only strengthen those believes. Also, it has been suggested that during the Saffron Uprising in 2007 some generals were against the harsh retaliation. He also believes that after the events in Egypt, it would lead to a slightly more relaxed take on a protest. He and many other experts believe that a peaceful protest (like the Saffron Uprising) is not the way to go, and that a rally similar to the ones in Egypt are the only way forward. However, this article was written before the massacre's in Libya, and when has international opinion and sanctions ever stopped the Burmese junta from doing exactly what they pleased? Even if there are war crimes facing them, they have never once considered the consequences of their actions towards the international community, and i don't see why they would start caring now.

An interesting side note on this issue is that the book that started many of these revolutions across the globe, 'From dictatorship to democracy' by Gene Sharpe, was actually written primarily to overthrow the dictatorship in Burma.