Rumbling protests worry Burma's leaders

Many people in Burma have been surprised by the sheer persistence of the protests in recent weeks.

In a country where the authorities show zero tolerance of even the slightest criticism, such public displays of defiance have not been seen for almost 20 years.

These protests stem from a decision by the military government to suddenly raise the price of fuel by up to five times on 15 August. Transport fares rose and that triggered a sharp rise in the price of consumer goods, hitting poor people particularly hard.

The generals must have hoped that the momentum of the demonstrations would eventually die down, but more marches keep taking place across the country.

A group of monks have now warned Burma's leaders that if they do not offer an apology for beating the monks in Pakokku, and free detained pro-democracy activists by 17 September, they will not perform any religious duties for the generals.

The act itself may be symbolic, but being shunned by the monks is the highest form of punishment for a Buddhist.

It's about time ! I for one cannot understand how any self respecting monk could perform any religious ceremonies for any of these evil murdering bastards anyway . They should all be excommunicated to the lowest of Buddhist hells.

1 posted on 09/14/2007 12:56:00 AM PDT by LeoWindhorse

"They should all be excommunicated to the lowest of Buddhist hells"

Camden, New Jersey ?

2 posted on 09/14/2007 1:03:52 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~~~Jihad Fever -- Catch It !~~~ (Backup tag: "Live Fred or Die"))

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