Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

Magic of ‘Tooth Relic’

-
by Dr. Tint Swe
Monday, 16 November 2009 15:34

Mizzima News - Burma and Sri Lanka have some shared facts such as colonialism, Theravada Buddhism, Non-Aligned Movement, and protracted armed resistance by the minority.

Apart from that Than Shwe’s trip to the Venerable Island is not significant like General Aung San’s visit to Kandy to sign an agreement with Lord Mountbatten in September 1945.

His visit is somewhat noteworthy. A Burmese military dictator rarely goes out of his den as he has very limited friends who are willingly to lay out the red carpet. The timing is also shrewd because his counterpart President Mahinda Rajapaksa has completed his use of military might to vanquish LTTE. That impresses Than Shwe, who is yet to be successful on this score. The difference between the Tamil resistance and ethnic nationalities’ fighting in Burma is use of terrorist means. Hereditarily Burmese people are not like Tamils or Al-Qa’ida. Throughout history there are no suicide bombers or assassins who conduct missions outside Burma. All armed resistant groups in Burma chose only armed targets not civilians.

Than Shwe’s visit to Sri Lanka was reciprocal of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s June visit marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations. It was preceded by Thein Sein visit in August 2007 and Nyan Win in March this year and all were after Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka’s Burma trip in 2006. In fact, between Burma and Sri Lanka it is elephant tusker diplomacy. So not only leaders but elephants will also be travelling from Burma to Sri Lanka.

There are reports that Sri Lanka received humanitarian as well as military hardware assistance through Burma waters. Therefore just after that historic victorious operation against the LTTE, Mahinda Rajapaksa flew to Naypyidaw to express his gratitude to senior General Than Shwe and visited Shwedagon Pagoda. Then Burmese tyrant got an opportunity to go abroad after five years and to visit the Temple of the Tooth where the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha is being enshrined. Thanks to Buddhism the two heads of state from Buddhist dominated nations have become real friends in need.

General Than Shwe also needs fresh air as he has been occupied with the exit strategy as 2010 is drawing near. While the western bloc though engaging directly is not going to accept the junta’s election next year as it is, so Than Shwe has to collect signatures from possible allies. Sri Lanka is one of them.

The visit is also significant because it is shortly after Burmese Buddhist monks have pronounced a religious boycott against the regime people for the third time. Than Shwe wants to show that he has Buddhist monks and a Buddhist president on his side in a foreign country. This is outrage to Burmese Buddhist monks.

While Than Shwe enjoyed traditional dances here and there, Mangala Pinsiri Samawareera, former Foreign Affairs Minister and the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party called Than Shwe the dictator who killed over 138 Buddhist monks in cold blood. Thanks to Sri Lanka democracy.

The coincidence or similarity of the two countries was news reports of top level military leaders of both countries. Lt. General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the Secretary 1 and Minister of Military Affairs of Burma was clipped of his intelligent chief status and Sri Lanka General Sarath Fonseka, Chief of Defence Staff was permitted to retire.

It can be concluded that Than Shwe is trying to seek the blessings of the most sacred Tooth Relic for the 2010 election as he knows by hook or by crook is not enough. In Burmese it is called use of both ‘Superior and Inferior means.’

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more