In partnership with the Open Society Institute, Asia Society sponsored a special Emergency Town Hall Meeting on Burma—Monks, Media, and the Military: The Saffron Revolution—at its New York headquarters on Friday, October 5, 2007. The official speakers included the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Burmese activist leaders, and Burmese monks, some appearing via live teleconferencing from within Burma and the Thai border.
Speakers
Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar;
Ashin Nayaka, Founding Director, Buddhist Missionary Society in New York;
Ashin Cando Bhasacara, Burma American Metta Buddhist Association;
Aung Din, U.S. Campaign for Burma and former political prisoner;
Nay Tin Myint (via teleconference), National League for Democracy Youth leader and political prisoner (released in 2005);
Patrick Shank, Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, who just returned from Burma last weekend;
"U Gambira," (via teleconference) leader of the monks in Burma;
Maureen Aung-Thwin, Director, Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative, Open Society Institute (moderator);
Suzanne DiMaggio, Director, Asian Social Issues Program/Asia Society (introducing the event).
Video
Burma Emergency Town Hall (October 5, 2007)
Monks' and other eyewitnesses' accounts of the Burmese crisis at Asia Society. With live call-in from the leader of the monks in Burma, and dramatic video.
Thich Nhat Hanh on Burma (October 13, 2007)
Renowned Buddhist peace activist and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh talks about Burma and "engaged Buddhism," which he has advocated since the war in Vietnam. Interviewed by TIME religion correspondent David Van Biema; produced by Asia Society.
Asia Society Podcasts
The Weekly Fix 10/09/07
An all-Burma podcast featuring Asia Society's Emergency Town Hall Meeting—with a special live call-in from one of the leaders of the monks in Burma. Also featuring Aung Din of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Patrick Shank of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, and Maureen Aung-Thwin of Open Society Institute.
The Weekly Fix 10/02/07
A special edition of The Weekly Fix focusing on the crisis in Burma/Myanmar. Featuring Jamie Metzl, Suzanne DiMaggio, and Orville Schell; with excerpts from an address by Thailand's Prime Minister, General Surayud Chulanont, criticizing the situation on the ground and that of Aung San Suu Kyi, and discussing the role of ASEAN.
