Through a Baby’s Eyes

By MIN LWIN

Sixteen-month-old Phyu Nay Kyi Min Yu has not seen her mother for more than a year and it could be several more years before her mother holds her again. Her father is not at home either and it’s been left to her aunt and uncle to look after her.

“She is a clever baby,” said her uncle, Myo Min Yu. “She points at her father in photos.”

Of course, Phyu Nay Kyi does not understand that her mother and father are both in prison.

Her mother is prominent anti- government activist Nilar Thein, who had been on the run for more than one year until her arrest in Yankin Township in Rangoon on September 10.

Her father, Kyaw Min Yu (aka Jimmy) is a prominent leader of the 88 Generation Students group. He was arrested on August 21, 2007, along with 12 other activists, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Win Aung, Min Zeya and Mya Aye, after leading a protest against sharp increases in the price of fuel and other commodities.

“We have taken Phyu Nay Kyi Min Yu to Insein prison to visit her father. But she hasn’t touched her mother since she went into hiding,” Myo Min Yu said.

Nilar Thein has been to jail twice already—once in 1991 and once in 1996—for participating in student demonstrations. She was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in 1996.

“It is a tragedy for the baby—her mother detained in one place and her father in another,” one of the relatives said.

According to a close relative, Nilar Thein was arrested at the house of another activist’s mother, who is in her 70s, who was subsequently interrogated by Burmese military authorities, the day after they arrested Nilar Their at her house.

Meanwhile, London-based human rights group Amnesty International released a statement on Saturday confirming that Nilar Thein had been arrested on September 10 and was at risk of torture and other ill treatment.

On Monday, the 88 Generation Students group also released a statement calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Nilar Thein, and demanding an end to torture and ill treatment of prisoners.

Caption: In happier times—Kyaw Min Yu, his wife Nilar Thein and their baby daughter Phyu Nay Kyi Min Yu.