(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 15 May 2006, prominent Burmese comedian and writer Ko Thura was banned from pursuing his profession, a punishment that apparently resulted from critical remarks about the military government that he had made over the Burmese-service radio program of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). According to the Delhi-based Burmese online news publication Mizzima […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 15 May 2006, prominent Burmese comedian and writer Ko Thura was banned from pursuing his profession, a punishment that apparently resulted from critical remarks about the military government that he had made over the Burmese-service radio program of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
According to the Delhi-based Burmese online news publication Mizzima News, the artist, who is best known to Burmese as “Zargana”, was summoned by the Ministry of Information and told that he had violated state censorship rules. He was then ordered to indefinitely refrain from taking part in all types of performance art. He was also stripped of his rights to write and publish.
Mizzima quoted Zargana as telling exiled Burmese media groups that he had angered the authorities by speaking his mind. He added that banning someone from his profession and preventing him from earning a living is a violation of his human rights.
In 1988, Zargana, a former dentist, was arrested for taking part in a pro-democracy uprising. He was released a year later but was rearrested in 1990 for campaigning during the general election. He was released again in 1994 but banned from performing between 1996 and 2000 after holding shows that were critical of the military.
Zargana’s father, Nan Nyunt Shwe, who is a famous Burmese poet and supporter of the Burmese opposition party the National League for Democracy, was also banned from writing in 1988 for being critical of the government.
