ဘဘဦးဝင္းတင္အတြက္ Free Burma Campaign (South Africa) ဝမ္းနည္းေၾကာင္း သဝဏ္လႊာ..
From People of South Africa to People of Burma
STATEMENT ON PASSING OF U WIN TIN
On
the passing of Sayyar U Win Tin the Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
wishes to extend it’s heartfelt condolences to his family, Daw Suu, his
friends, his comrades, the National League for Democracy and to all the
peoples of Burma to whom he dedicated his life.
We would like to give examples from South Africa to illustrate to the world what sort of person he was.
Prominent
social activist and veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, well known
education researcher Salim Vally remarked upon learning of U Win Tin
passing away:
“Sad indeed. He remained principled and courageous to the end.”
A
very famous South African is Ela Gandhi. Ela Gandhi is not only a
granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi but also played a prominent role in the
struggle against apartheid. She was banned and spent almost nine years
under house arrest. Ela Gandhi was very impressed when she heard the
story of how U Win Tin continued to wear his blue prison shirt after his
release from prison in solidarity with those still imprisoned and that
he refused to return it when prison authorities demanded it back. She
said:
“What a wonderful person he is. Such dignity and courage! We pray for [him].”
U
Win Tin’s determination to continue to wear his prison shirt in
solidarity with those still inside reminds us of a famous incident in
Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment. When he was he refused to wear the
regulation prison short pants that African prisoners had to wear and
when the authorities allowed him to wear long pants but not the other
prisoner he continued to refuse until all the prisoners were allowed to
wear long pants.
The example of Sayyar U Win Tin reminds us of Nelson Mandela.
We
hope that the younger generation of activists learn from his example
and become like him. We think that is the best way that they can honour
his memory and help build a peaceful and prosperous Burma.
As we say in South Africa:
“Hamba Kahle1, U Win Tin” (“Go in Peace, U Win Tin”)
Dated 23the April 2014
Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
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