The arts and research festival cohosted by @GRNPP1 and @EMReF_Myanmar continues on day 3 with a book launch and discussion by Dr Myint Zaw about mass violence in Myanmar history. Follow EMReF on FB where the event is being live streamed 
Dr Myint Zaw says that genocide starts with the thought that ‘they’ are not like us, followed by the conviction that ‘they’ can’t live amongst us, culminating in the decision that ‘they’ must not live. Human violations become a habit. They occur again and again.
Our social and individual responsibility is to acknowledge the horrors that are committed against the other, and to reflect on the causes and effects of such atrocities.
This means surrendering our desire to maintain a positive self-image, not excusing ourselves, being critical of ourselves and our role in creating and supporting human atrocity and suffering.
Only through self-reflexivity can we come to terms with genocide, move towards peace, and create conditions for equality. Equality means simply the ability to live in dignity, and to allow others to live in dignity.
The book launch by Dr Myint Zaw continues with a panel discussion and a poetry reading by the poet-activist Maung Saungkha
Myat Thet Thitsar says of Dr Myint Zaw’s book that it offers an enlightened expression of the injustices and suffering facing people in Myanmar, and is a great embodiment of our hopes about the power of arts and research to bring justice to the country.
Sai Sam Kham of Metta Development Foundation talks of the significance of the event happening in the former seat of Myanmar govt. He asks whether it is sufficient to pursue a smooth transition for the country & it’s people; or whether we wish to pursue transition with justice
A packed room for today’s discussions and reflections on how Myanmar might move out of the darkness of its turbulent history and ongoing injustice and suffering
Myint Zaw concludes that genocide does not happen by accident. We need to bring empathy to our thoughts, practices and interactions
The session ends with a rousing poet recital
The afternoon sees Stan Jagger introduce the findings of the ‘Border Lives’ project, before members of the team give readings from non-fiction short stories.
The theoretical framework for the project is three-fold: how borders are conceived, perceived, and lived. When we look at borders we see them as lines on a map, through checkpoints, and as lives lived
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