By MIN LWIN
Burmese veteran politician Kyi Oo, 84, mother of political prisoner Zarganar, recently underwent surgery for gallbladder cancer at a private hospital in Rangoon, according to a family member.
Her son Teza told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that Kyi Oo is in “serious condition” after returning to her home following her surgery at Rangoon’s Bahosi Medical Center.
“She had a tumor in her gall bladder,” he said, adding that she has lost a lot of weight and her skin has turned yellow.
Zarganar, a popular comedian and well-known pro-democracy activist, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last November for criticizing the Burmese regime’s slow response to the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck last May.
In the first few weeks after the cyclone wiped out a wide swath of the Irrawaddy delta, Zarganar played a prominent role in the private relief effort to help survivors, who could not be reached by international aid workers because of the regime’s obstruction.
According to Teza, Kyi Oo has been in poor health for the past three months and has eaten little since her son received his 35-year prison sentence, which he is currently serving in Myitkyina Prison, in northern Burma’s Kachin State, about 950 km from Rangoon.
“She really wants to meet Zarganar,” said Teza, who added that prison authorities have not allowed members of Kyi Oo’s family to visit Zarganar since December.
Now that her health is deteriorating, members of the family are appealing to the Burmese authorities to allow Kyi Oo to meet her imprisoned son.
“We are asking the Minister of Home Affairs, the Prisons Department and Myitkyina Prison to allow Zarganar to meet his mother,” said Teza.
Kyi Oo was an independent candidate for Yankin Township during the 1990 election.
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