One Indonesian MP got under the junta’s skin, and a series of five unhinged columns appeared in regime newspapers accusing the entire country of being ungrateful, disloyal, disgusting and reprehensible.
Indonesia also discriminates against its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, one of the enraged reporters wrote – blood boiling to such a degree that he or she forgot to mention that sex between people of the same gender is illegal in Myanmar.
Junta propaganda can be so enlightening, even when it isn’t.
Late last year, columnists in fatigues went on a crusade against the Gambia, describing the nation as a land of former slaves that is now an impoverished sex-tourism hub.
The column followed the West African country’s lawsuit at the International Court of Justice against Myanmar for alleged genocide of the Rohingya in western Myanmar. The following month, it was East Timor’s turn. Its president, José Ramos-Hortam, had the temerity to suggest that the regime will not win the war. It responded by sponsoring a protest against him outside Yangon City Hall.
The anti-Indonesia onslaught that began on Jan. 5 followed statements by MP Achmad Hafisz Thohir, who is assistant chairman of Indonesia’s House of Representatives Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation. He called for the junta to be shunned at international meeting.
It already is.
He also said the regime has turned a blind eye to the basic human rights of Rohingya people and called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take specific and harsh action to end these violations.
One MP speaks out and the junta targets an entire country.
A report in regime media entitled “Ungrateful Country Under Someone Else’s Influence” suggests that Indonesia is a mouthpiece for another entity. The report does not say exactly who, but it does say that it is the job of two international bodies – the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – to exaggerate Myanmar’s problems.
The report also revives the “Bengali” specter. It says that Indonesia shares the same faith as Rohingya people do, but refers to them as “Bengalis” to suggest they are interlopers from Bangladesh. It goes on to accuse Indonesia of putting pressure on Myanmar without remembering the help it had received from Myanmar in the past.
This shows that no matter how high their living standards have risen, the minds of Indonesians remain low, one report said.
The raging reports repeatedly accuse Indonesia of lacking one of the most military of all virtues – loyalty.
Myanmar showed goodwill when it helped Indonesia during its dark days, but Indonesians are now behaving reprehensibly by not returning the favor to Myanmar when it is in trouble, one report says. Indonesia is a disgusting country that looks pleasant on the outside but is rotten inside, reads another.
Indonesian President Suharto admitted to Myanmar’s former dictator Than Shwe that Myanmar helped Indonesia attain independence, another says. One was an attempt at a deep dive. Myanmar allowed Indonesia to install a communications system to broadcast its independence struggle globally, raised funds and supplied arms for its independence fighters and allowed Garuda Indonesia to operate flights to Myanmar, it said, before labeling the country’s current leaders “ungrateful.”
Another article criticizes Indonesia for making any accusation against Myanmar when it has blood on its hands for the millions who died in mass killings in 1965 and 1966. It also highlighted the discrimination faced by members of Indonesia’s LGBT community and alleged that non-Muslim women and girls are forced to wear veils when they venture outside their homes in Indonesia.
In Myanmar, women who join the civil disobedience movement are more likely to be jailed or killed.
The junta’s propaganda can be funny, except when it isn’t.
