145;Sanctions no answer to Myanmar crisis146;

Myanmar is going through a rare phase of being in the spotlight. But ask Thant Myint-U, the grandson of U Thant, the first Asian to become UN Secretary General...

Myanmar is going through a rare phase of being in the spotlight. But ask Thant Myint-U, the grandson of U Thant, the first Asian to become UN Secretary General, and he says the Junta is 8220;unmoved8221; by the recent protests and to some extent, its crackdown has been 8220;successful8221;.

At the same time, Myint is clear that sanctions may not be the right way forward in dealing with the crisis. A day after the US announced fresh sanctions, Myint had different views. 8220;Sanctions at the very least will be ineffective and at the worst, counterproductive, that may harden the isolationist regime of Myanmar,8221; he told The Indian Express in an interaction.

A historian and a serving UN official, Myint had recently written a book on the history of Myanmar, The River of the Lost Footsteps, which seeks to tell the story of modern Burma. Despite the fact that his grandfather was denied any honours by the military regime of Ne Win when he passed away on 1974, Myint is still objective about the current situation.

According to him, the emphasis must be to use all the leverage and get the military regime headed by Than Shwe to undertake some economic reform measures and to 8220;focus on health and education8221;.

On that count, he also hopes that the pro-democracy supporters of Ang San Suu Kyi, too, draw up an economic agenda looking at 8220;economic opportunities8221; that will help lift 8220;the large mass of poverty8221; in a country where there is a 8220;very thin middle class8221;.

Myint8217;s concern is that the absence of proper education, backed by an isolationist policy and lack of professional institutions has resulted in the Army emerging as the 8220;only institution which works8221;. He describes the military as a 8220;professional and highly disciplined Army8221; which is largely inspired by the 8220;Japanese model of the 1940s based on extreme loyalty8221;.

Explaining why Myanmar slipped into such isolation, Myint feels that this has to do with Ne Win8217;s concept to bring the entire country under the control of the military. 8220;Let8217;s not forget that the Burmese military was confined to Rangoon at one point with various ethnic groups fighting and controlling large parts of the country.8221;

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According to him, the military sought to bring under control all these conflicting groups and extend its influence. He concedes that to some extent, the military has been successful but in the process, Myanmar has become impoverished and cut-off from the rest of the world as Ne Win, the military ruler, expelled half a million non-Myanmarese. In this context, he feels that Suu Kyi remains the sole rallying point. 8220;She is in a box, practically incommunicado. And because of that she is indispensable and enjoys a high level of credibility internationally.8221;

On the role that neighbouring countries can play, Myint is practical saying that Indian leverage is 8220;limited8221; and on that count, even China cannot effect any major change despite its healthy relations. He, however, feels that some sort of regional effort involving other neighbouring countries may be helpful.