Searching for Burmes General, Than Shwe

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Benedict Rogers, the deputy chairman of the human rights commission for the Conservative Party in the UK, is also a journalist and human rights advocate who is coauthor of a biography about Burmese dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe. He spoke to The Irrawaddy's correspondent Zarni Mann in New Delhi about his soon-to-be-publishe d book.

Benedict Rogers

Question: How did the idea of writing a biography of Than Shwe come to mind?
Answer: Both myself and co-writer Jeremy Woodrum from US Campaign for Burma felt that there are many biographies of other dictators from around the world––Kim Jong-il, Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe and others––but there was no biography available about any of the Burmese dictators.
We felt that a biography of a dictator is a good way of telling the story of what is happening in the country under his rule. So, we thought it was time to let the world know something about Than Shwe and about what is happening in Burma.

Q: How do you collect the required facts and data about him while there is no freedom of press in Burma? How difficult is it?
A: We are facing a number of difficulties. Firstly, we could not speak to or get access to Than Shwe himself, so that makes it difficult to write a biography about him. We could not get access to people close to him either. And another difficulty was that neither Jeremy nor I speak Burmese. So even though there's a lot of material in Burmese, we found difficulties in accessing it. However, we were able to interview a number of defectors from the Burmese army who have known Than Shwe at different times in his career, so we do have some first-hand information. Also, we interviewed diplomats who met Than Shwe.

Q: Do you think this book will help the democracy movement in Burma?
A: I hope it will. That's the aim of the book. It is to shed light on the situation, on the nature of the regime and the nature of Than Shwe. And I think, by exposing what kind of person he is, what kind of people the regime are, it will help inform the international community better and help raise awareness. And that, hopefully, will help the Burmese democracy movement.

Q: By writing about Than Shwe, what did you find out about the kind of the man he is?
A: It seems that he is a more intelligent person than people give him credit for. I think he is very skilled at dividing people, dividing his rivals within his army and dividing his opponents. He is also skilled in tactics; you know, he is trained in psychological warfare and I think he uses that to some extent.
It is also clear that he is quite a boring person. But, in many ways, that was the secret of his success––he kept quiet until he got to the top. He didn't show any great ambition or any particular skills. His superiors didn't feel threatened by him and so he kept getting promoted until he got to the top.
Also, many people say that early on in life, he had quite a simple lifestyle and he was not as corrupt as he is today. And so clearly this is a person who has been corrupted by power.
I think he is someone who believes in only one thing––holding onto power and protecting his family and his legacy. He is clearly inspired by the ancient Burmese warrior kings. That's why he built Naypyidaw, and he has a statue of three kings in Naypyidaw. So, on the one hand, he is quite boring and quite simple; on the other hand, he has been influenced by history and astrology and psychological warfare.

Q: Do you have any remarkable or memorable moments from your time collecting data and writing this book?
A: I was told that one night about midnight in Maymyo, he suddenly felt the desire for a particular type of cake. So, he ordered his soldiers to go out and find that cake. They couldn't find a cake like that anywhere in Maymyo at all. So they had to go all the way to Mandalay. They woke up a shopkeeper in the middle of the night to buy a cake, and took it back to him.
This is an amusing story for me.

Q: When will the book be released?
A: We just finished writing it. It will take some months to get it ready for publishing. We definitely want to publish it before the election, because I think––after the election––we don't know what Than Shwe's position will be and people might lose interest in him. I would like it to be published sooner. It's currently in the hands of the publisher, so it's up to them to get it out as soon as possible.