NLD

(NLD)
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(Myanma

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Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/bur/index.php/news/6553-2011-06-08-12-31-36

Govt. Pressure Wrecks NLD Study Program

Foreign scholars withdrew from a planned study meeting at the National League fo
r Democracy (NLD) headquarters after pressure from the Burmese government, accor
ding to sources.
Win Htein, of the NLD, told The Irrawaddy that many scholars were very keen to c
ome and meet the opposition party's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and train its member
s, but their planned visit had to be been canceled.
The group were due to lecture students at the Bayda Institute from June 6 to 25
before addressing NLD members from June 20 to 28, but now even the first session
has been moved to pro-government NGO Myanmar Egress instead.
“I think Kyaw Yin Hlaing, who currently works in Hong Kong, is afraid the governme
nt will revoke his passport if he speaks to NLD members. If Kyaw Yin Hlaing came
to visit the NLD he could get into trouble, but he should still take the risk t
o find out what the result would be,” said Win Htein.
Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing is director of Myanmar Egress and also assistant professor o
f the Department of Asian and International Studies at the City University of Ho
ng Kong.
Myanmar Egress is controversial for being closely associated with individuals co
nnected to the Burmese Chamber of Commerce, and Kyaw Yin Hlaing also supported l
ast year's sham election in Burma.
Htike Zaw Oo, from Tavoy Township, Tenasserim Division, is studying at the Bayda
Institute and says he feels cheated by the renowned foreign-based professors wh
o have shunned the seat of learning.
“At first we were very happy that professors from foreign countries would be teach
ing us. We have been preparing for the training for nearly three months. But whe
n the fixed date arrived they [professors] canceled these plans very easily,” said
Htike Zaw Oo.
The NLD study course on “the principles of political science” was the first offered
by the party for two decades and was scheduled to be taught by almost a dozen fo
reign scholars. Young NLD members from across Burma have already arrived in Rang
oon to attended the session.
“The teachers did not arrive at the opening ceremony of the Badya Institute and it
is hard for them to come to the NLD. Although they did not come to the opening
of the Bayda Institute, they are still teaching at Myanmar Egress. It is like a
balloon which has been pierced with a needle,” said Win Htein.
“We have been planning this tuition since March but Kyaw Yin Hlaing said on the ph
one that he cannot give the lecture because the government put pressure on him.
The professors would be teaching at Myanmar Egress and Bayda at the same time,” sa
id Myo Yan Naung Thein of Bayda Institute.
The Irrawaddy contacted Kyaw Yin Hlaing but he refused to comment.
Burmese scholars Kyaw Yin Hlaing, Tin Maung Maung Than and US attorney Thi Han M
yo Nyun will all contribute to the training program.
They will be joined by foreign scholars Robert Taylor, Robert Gregory, Martin Pa
inter, Mark Thompson, Federico Ferrara and Brad Williams from City University of
Hong Kong; Michael Montesano from Singapore's Institute of South East Asia Stud
y; Eric Thompson from the National University of Singapore; and N. Ganesan from
the Hiroshima Peace Institute in Japan.
Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21454