Putting Green Sunglasses on Other People’s Eyes

How Propaganda, Defamation and Repetition Can Turn Lies into “Truth”

By Dr. Ko Ko Gyi Abdul Rahman Zafrudin

There is an old saying that if you repeat a lie often enough, many people will eventually believe it to be true.

In Myanmar, we have witnessed this phenomenon for decades. Governments, political organizations, extremists, propagandists and online cyber-troopers have repeatedly attempted to place what I call “green sunglasses” on the eyes of the public.

When someone wears green sunglasses, everything they see appears green. The world itself has not changed, but their perception has been altered.

The same thing happens in politics, religion and social conflicts.

If people repeatedly hear that a certain ethnic group is dangerous, they begin to see danger everywhere. If they repeatedly hear that a religious minority is disloyal, they begin to suspect every member of that community. If they repeatedly hear that a person is a criminal, a traitor, or an extremist, many will accept those accusations without demanding evidence.

The purpose of propaganda is not to prove something. The purpose is to shape perception.

The Age of Social Media

In the past, rumors spread slowly.

Today, social media can spread a lie to hundreds of thousands of people within hours.

Many users no longer ask:

“Is this true?”

Instead, they ask:

“How many people shared it?”

“How many likes did it receive?”

“Who posted it?”

Truth becomes less important than reach and engagement.

A carefully organized propaganda campaign can create an illusion of public opinion. Thousands of accounts may repeat the same message until it appears to be common knowledge.

This is how character assassination works.

A single false accusation may not succeed.

A thousand repetitions might.

My Personal Experience

I learned this lesson through painful personal experience.

For many years, I openly defended the rights of Myanmar Muslims, Rohingyas and other vulnerable communities. At the same time, I consistently advocated peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and people of all backgrounds.

One incident particularly changed my life.

Following the Letpadaung Copper Mine crackdown, many Buddhist monks suffered severe burn injuries. Through contacts and humanitarian networks, a proposal emerged to arrange free medical treatment in Australia for injured monks.

I supported that humanitarian effort.

I did not ask whether the victims were Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Hindu.

As a doctor, I saw injured human beings who deserved treatment.

Ironically, it was this act of humanitarian concern for Buddhist monks that triggered some of the most vicious attacks against me.

Soon afterward, defamatory articles and fabricated stories began circulating online.

I was falsely portrayed as a dangerous individual involved in activities that had absolutely no connection to my real life.

The accusations were absurd.

Yet many people believed them.

Not because evidence existed.

But because the lies were repeated.

Again and again.

And again.

The Machinery of Defamation

One of the most effective propaganda techniques is to create a fictional version of a person and then attack that fictional character.

The real person disappears.

The manufactured image remains.

In my case, numerous false allegations were published and shared.

Some individuals appeared determined to portray me as an enemy of Myanmar, despite the fact that I was born in Myanmar, educated in Myanmar and had devoted my professional life to helping fellow human beings regardless of race or religion.

Others simply repeated the accusations without checking the facts.

Some may have acted out of prejudice.

Others may have been motivated by political objectives.

Many probably never bothered to verify anything.

That is the danger of propaganda.

People become judges before examining evidence.

When Authorities Wear the Green Sunglasses

History shows that propaganda becomes especially dangerous when it is adopted by authorities.

Once officials, state institutions or powerful organizations accept a distorted narrative, innocent people can become targets of investigations, surveillance, discrimination and punishment.

In my own experience, complaints, investigations and official scrutiny followed these campaigns.

The burden fell upon me to prove my innocence against allegations that should never have been taken seriously in the first place.

The most painful aspect was not merely the attacks themselves.

It was the realization that those responsible faced no consequences.

No accountability.

No punishment.

No apology.

The victim must carry the burden while the perpetrators move on.

A Blessing in Disguise

Looking back, however, I no longer view those experiences solely as tragedies.

The campaigns against me contributed to my growing disillusionment with a system that repeatedly targeted minorities, particularly Muslims and Rohingyas.

Eventually, I made the difficult decision to leave behind my Myanmar citizenship and become a Malaysian citizen.

At the time, it felt like a loss.

Today, I see it differently.

Those who sought to harm me unintentionally opened the door to a better future for my children and grandchildren.

What they intended as punishment became a blessing in disguise.

As Muslims, we believe that Allah sees what human beings cannot see.

We believe that injustice may prevail temporarily, but it never has the final word.

The Lesson

The lesson is simple.

Whenever you hear accusations against an individual, an ethnic group, or a religious community, ask questions.

Demand evidence.

Verify sources.

Do not allow others to place green sunglasses over your eyes.

Think independently.

Examine facts carefully.

Refuse to become part of a mob.

In today’s world, anyone can become the next target of propaganda.

If we defend truth only when we agree with the victim, truth itself will eventually disappear.

The real struggle is not between Buddhists and Muslims, or between one political group and another.

The real struggle is between truth and falsehood.

Between critical thinking and blind obedience.

Between seeing reality as it is and seeing reality through somebody else’s green sunglasses.

And that struggle continues every day.

“Some activists and political observers later speculated that the rise of anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim campaigns coincided with the political fallout from the Myitsone Dam controversy. Whether there was any direct connection remains a matter of debate, but the timing led many to suspect that communal tensions were being exploited to divert public attention.”

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