Local Authorities in Myanmar Censor Satire During New Year Celebrations

Authorities in Myanmar have formally charged four leaders of a traditional satirical performance team for failing to submit their script to censors prior to performing at Burmese New Year Celebrations.

The charges were filed Monday at Mayangone township police station against Su Zeyar Lwin, Paing Ye Thu, Dee Yay and Su Yadanar Myint, under Section 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Act. Their troupe, Peacock Generation Thangyat, had taken satirical shots at the country’s powerful military.

The performances, called thangyat have been described as similar to modern slam poetry. Their roots lie in the 19th century, but they were banned for about two decades in 1988, when the ruling military junta crushed a pro-democracy protest and instituted two decades of harsh rule.

The ban was lifted in 2016 when Aung San Suu Kyi’s government took control of the country after winning general elections in late 2015, raising expectations of a more liberal system that have largely been disappointed, three years into Aung San Suu Kyi’s rule.

“The four of us were summoned to the police station. They asked us our names and biographies and wanted to discuss the charges with us, but we wanted to continue performing. They let us go but asked us to come back when we were done,” said Su Yadanar Myint.

A police officer confirmed they were charged under 66 (d), but refused to answer any other questions about the case.

Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law prohibits use of the telecom network to defame people and carries a jail sentence of up to three years and a fine.

Myanmar journalists and domestic and international rights groups have called on the civilian government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi to repeal vaguely worded laws such as Article 66(d), which have increasingly been used by those in power, including the military, during the current administration to silence their critics.

There have been 53 cases filed under Article 66(d).

The dispute over the censorship of the thanyat emerged the same day as a Pulitzer Prize was awarded to two Myanmar journalists employed by Reuters news agency who have been jailed for 490 days for their role in uncovering mass killings of Rohingya Muslims in tecountry’s western Rakhine state.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced last September to seven years imprisonment for violating the country’s Official Secrets Act.

Prior to this year’s performance competition, the regional government of Yangon instructed thangyat troupes to submit their lyrics ahead of the holiday. Four groups scheduled to perform during a competition at a pandal (temporary stage) in North Okkalapa township on Monday night failed to comply, and were told they would not be allowed to perform.

Political activists, however, believe that the censorship goes against the spirit and purpose of thangyat and invited them to perform anyway.

Thangyat is a chance for young people to voice their opinions during the New Year,” said Tin Htut Paing, a political activist, in an interview with RFA’s Myanmar Service.

“[They] make satire, ridicule and spoof our society and politics from the previous year,” the activist said.

“But this is more about freedom of expression, which is a democratic right. The authorities are trying to silence these young people from proceeding with their performances. That’s why we have invited these four Thangyat groups to perform at our pandal, and we will take a stand together with them,” he said.

In previous years, thangyat groups that did not submit to the censorship rules were not allowed to join in any competitions, but they were allowed to perform in other pandals in the neighborhood, but this year, the government forbids the performances entirely unless the group complies.

“This year we can’t perform at the pandals that give prizes, but unlike last year, we are not allowed to perform in other neighborhoods,” said Kyaw Ko Ko of the Doe Athan thangyat team.

“[The government] made a threat that if any of the pandal owners allow a non-complying team [to perform], they will shut them down and forbid them from building pandals in the future. Even when individual households invited us to perform in front of their homes, the authorities stopped us and asked for the ID or registration number of the host families for records,” he said.

“The authorities are intimidating local residents so that nobody in the neighborhood would dare have us perform for them,” he said.

Meanwhile Paing Ye Thu of the Daung Doe Myo Set thangyat team said that they were banned from performing in all townships.

“When we got to a pandal to perform, the local authorities showed up, accompanied by police. They said we couldn’t perform because we didn’t submit our lyrics beforehand,” the performer said.

“After we had an intense debate with them we performed anyway. We have had so many similar experiences in every township we went to today.”

Censorship of thangyat is not only the domain of local government officials. The military has filed charges against a thangyat team.

On Tuesday, three teams who didn’t comply with the censorship rules and another team led by workers unions were slated to perform in Tharkata Township despite pressure from the authorities

Reported by Kyaw Lwin Oo for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.