Shwedagon Pagoda
Posted on 09/22/2007 1:17:18 AM PDT by Wiz
YANGON, Myanmar - About 10,000 Buddhist monks marched through Myanmar's central city of Mandalay on Saturday, witnesses said, in one of the largest demonstrations against the country's repressive military regime since a democratic uprising in 1988.
Monks from various monasteries started their march in Mandalay — a hotbed for activist monks — while about 1,000 Buddhist monks began marching from Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most revered shrine and a historic center for protest movements. From there, witnesses said, they planned to march to downtown Yangon, which is the nation's largest city.
It was the fifth straight day the monks have marched in Yangon and the numbers showed the anti-government protest were growing in size. The monk's activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after the government raised fuel prices, sparking demonstrations against policies that are causing economic hardship.
Meanwhile, Buddhist monks in the country urged the public for the first time to join in protesting the "evil military despotism," stepping up their campaign against the junta after days of peaceful marches.
"In order to banish the common enemy evil regime from Burmese soil forever, united masses of people need to join hands with the united clergy forces," The All Burma Monks Alliance said the statement, received by The Associated Press Saturday.
"We pronounce the evil military despotism, which is impoverishing and pauperizing our people of all walks including the clergy, as the common enemy of all our citizens," the statement read, which was translated from Burmese by Burma Net, a news site that covers Myanmar.
A day earlier, some 1,500 barefoot Buddhist monks marched through the rain-flooded streets of Myanmar's biggest city, drawing even more public sympathy to ongoing anti-government protests that have put the ruling military on the defensive.
The protest movement began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices, but has its basis in long pent-up dissatisfaction with the repressive military regime. Using arrests and intimidation, the government had managed to keep demonstrations limited in size and impact, but they gained new life when the monks joined.
The government has been handling the situation gingerly, aware that forcibly breaking up the monks' protest in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar would likely cause public outrage.
The protests at the Shwedagon pagoda resonate with many people, as it is best remembered as the site of a vast Aug. 26, 1988, rally where independence hero Gen. Aung San's daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, took up leadership of a pro-democracy movement.
The 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed by the military, and Suu Kyi has spent nearly 12 of the past 18 years in detention.
“t smells like count down to revolution...”
Yep.
Shwedagon Pagoda
Generally...you can almost anyone protest and it really doesn’t matter. Having monks show up...is an entirely different matter. Most soldiers aren’t going to beat up on monks...which would be the typical opposite if it were college students or the poor.
The worrisome problem is that the various Burma juntas have shown no qualms in the past about shooting down large numbers of unarmed protestors in cold blood.
The elephant sneezed and fell on its knees, and that was the end of the
I understand what you’re saying...but maybe a sort of democracy is rising here.
Time will tell.
September 22, 2007
Bahan, Rangoon; 11: 30 a.m.
About 1,000 monks marched peacefully from Shwedagon Pagoda in Bahan Township on Saturday morning, witnesses said.
Mandalay; Mid-day
About 10,000 monks marched peacefully in Mandalay on Saturday, the largest city in upper Burma, The Associated Press reported.
“...that was the end of the...” ?????
Thank you for the update angkor.
Other than an end to the military junta, what do the monks want? What does “democracy” amount to in the Burmese context? I know little or nothing about Burma/Myanmar, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Buddhists want Buddhism to be the official religion there, and that other religions should be suppressed, or at least rendered second-class, disadvantaged. Maybe that would be necessary to counter Muslim militance, but, if true, it hardly matches up with Buddhism’s image as peaceful and unworldly. Can someone who knows more tell me if what I read is correct?
The protest began with the anger of the control of fuel price, but I am not sure that was the reason for the monks to rise up, but now the monks have finally concluded the regime evil in public. In Thailand, Buddhism is part of the citizens’ life, and has strong influence, but I am not how much influence it has on the people of the entire South East Asia.
I am expecting too much, but I hope this will be the beginning of dominoes of democracy flipping all over South East Asia, including Laos and Vietnam. That will be a kick in the belly of China.
ping
How do you see the influence of Buddhism of the entire South East Asia region, excluding Thailand? Does it have more weight than the government?
Sounds like a great news!
bump
I dont know many countries where Buddhism has suppressed any religion. Buddhism may well be the official religion (just like Christianity is the official religion in many countries) but they tend to be far less radical or theocratic.
As for Burma, the choice is between a Communist China backed military junta and Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratic forces backed by Buddhist monks. Or between a nominally Buddhist state and a Chinese proxy.
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
And that was the end of the monk
The monk, the monk, the monk.
Of course....
B
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