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June 4, 2008
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What to do with your used panties
Tim Wees
While the people starve and suffer, the self-serving generals of Burma (also known as Myanmar)
stubbornly soldier on, throwing up roadblocks to international aid for victims of the cyclone which
ravaged the country a month ago. Conservative estimates say 78,000 people are dead and 56,000
missing. There are 2.4 million people in need and it is estimated that foreign aid has only been allowed
access to 40% of the affected population. The Burmese generals have gone into denial and have been
trying to declare the emergency over. They stand accused of forcing people out of emergency shelters
for fear, they say, that people will become too dependant on government generosity.
Some have wanted to simply move in and do what needs to be done, with force if need be. But some
aid is being allowed in through Thailand, and that seems to have been enough to defuse the situation.
Reportedly the generals have a 500,000 strong army at their disposal and that might make an invasion
more costly in human life than even the catastrophe now in play. Add to these that Burma has a friend
and ally in China and the thought of invasion becomes more complicated than it’s worth.
However there is now a new element to the discussion, and this may be just the ticket to a solution.
Burmese women in Thailand are exposing the generals to some of their own dirty laundry, and the
generals, being a superstitious lot I am told, are loath to look.
The Burmese women are calling to their sisters around the world to gather up their used panties, with
the emphasis on “used,” and send them off to Burmese embassies, consulates, trade missions,
whatever. The superstition says, and this is for important Burmese male generals and their ilk, that if
one touches a woman’s used underwear one’s personal energy is sapped.
Zap the generals. Sap their energy. Ladies, send them your used panties. Yes!
Lanna Action for Burma is an activist group based in Thailand and focused on bringing democracy to
the country. The panty war is but the latest in an ongoing salvo aimed at the junta. On their website
they speak of the recently held day-long tri-panty dialogue, deep in the golden triangle, and that due to
the popular demand, the panties are back.
“Make sure your panties reach the intended target. You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the
closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often!”
Rights & Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development) have taken
up the cause in Canada. In a press release last Friday they said, “Starting today, women in Quebec
and across Canada are invited to donate their panties to a unique international effort to bring an end to
Burma’s brutal military regime and the profound suffering it is inflicting on the population of Burma.”
Women in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brazil and across Europe have responded to the call to
post their panties to local Burmese embassies to protest against the regime’s massive violations of
human rights, especially those committed against Burma’s women.
“The horrible aftermath of Cyclone Nargis has helped remind us all of the military regime's corruption
and tyranny,” says Lanna Action. “The regime is now in a weakened state and we must use every
power at our disposal to see it toppled once and for all.”
“The Rights & Democracy Student Network will see to it that Lanna Action’s message is heard across
Canada through our delegations on more than 30 Canadian campuses,” said Sophie Rondeau, the
Network’s coordinator. “We welcome this opportunity to show our solidarity with the courageous women
of Burma.”
And Mika Levesque, also a spokesperson told Siffy News, “We appeal to every Canadian woman to
clean up her drawer, choose one piece of panties, glue a picture of the military rulers on it or scribble
some slogan or message for the junta and then register it with us before sending it to the Myanmar
embassy in Ottawa.”
The mailing address for the Myanmar (Burma) Embassy in Ottawa is 903-85 Range Road
Ottawa, ON. K1N 8J6, Canada.
“New underwear never worn has no power,” said Levesque, “So don't rush out to buy panties. Women
can choose whether to wash their used panties or not before sending them.”
This story brought a smile to my day, but for the Burmese women who started it all there is probably a
ruthless intention at the root. Mika Levesque said, “Myanmar women have suffered the most at the
hands of the military junta. They bring women to barracks, rape and brutalize them and then dump
them back in their villages. The world should enforce sanctions on them and try them for human rights
violations.”
A deluge of used panties is a fine idea.
The Owen Sound Sun Times June 4, 2008
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