Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Burmese comedian Zarganar told journalists in Bangkok this week he will leave for the United States on January 30 for three months, where he will also “study at the [President Bill] Clinton foundation.”
One of the most well-known political prisoners in Burma, the recently released comedian said his Thailand visit was his first trip to a foreign country. He told members of the Foreign Correspondent’s Club on Monday that being outside his home country was full of “shocking” experiences, such as a huge, busy international airport, large bridges, tall buildings and a booming economy. Released from prison on October 12, he said Burma is starting to come out of decades of repression by a brutal military regime. In 2007, he was imprisoned for “public order offences” such as cracking jokes about government mismanagement of the relief effort to aid the victims of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
An article in the Asian Sentinel by Richard Ehrlich quoted Zarganar as saying prison conditions improved slightly during his most recent stint in Myitkynia Prison. “I had a chance to read a lot of books. For example, 'On China' by Kissinger,” he said, referring to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s book published in May.
A versatile performer, poet, film director and writer, Zarganar said he had no plans to enter politics.
“I don’t want to go to Naypyitaw, and I don’t want to participate in the by-election,” he told the packed audience. “Aunty is aunty, Zarganar is Zarganar,” he said referring to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi is a good leader, he said, but her National League for Democracy (NLD) party lacked intellectuals. “Our country has no intellectual people in the political area. For example, in the NLD. Where are the intellectual people in the NLD?”
Zarganar is the third son of two writers. Following graduation from college and dental school, he started entertaining full-time, forming his own comedy group and performing biting satire against the former junta, which didn’t see the humor. The 50-year-old comedian was sentenced to 35 years in his latest imprisonment before his release under a presidential amnesty order.
