Posted on 09/23/2007 3:36:44 AM PDT by nuconvert
20,000 march against Myanmar government
About 20,000 people led by Buddhist monks demonstrated against Myanmar's military junta Sunday, in what has quickly become the largest anti-government demonstrations since the failed democratic uprising in 1988.
The 10,000 monks marched from Yangon's famous Shwedagon Pagoda to the nearby Sule Pagoda before passing the U.S. Embassy, witnesses said. Monks shouted support for detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while the crowd of 10,000 protected them by forming a human chain along the route.
It was the sixth straight day monks have marched in Yangon, and came a day after they were allowed to walk past Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi's compound in a symbolic gesture of support. Their activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after the government raised fuel prices.
A monk gave a speech Sunday calling for Suu Kyi's release and national reconciliation before the monks set off from the Shwedagon Pagoda, the witness said.
The protest was the largest in the latest series to erupt in Yangon.
Earlier Sunday, the government had deployed about 20 pro-junta thugs and 20 riot police on the road leading to Suu Kyi's compound, witnesses said. A fire truck was parked nearby.
While authorities had not intervened in Sunday's march, plainclothes police trailed behind the marchers and some with shotguns were posted at street corners along the route.
By linking their cause to Suu Kyi's pro-democracy struggle, which has seen her detained for about 12 of the last 18 years, the monks increased the pressure on the junta to decide whether to crack down or compromise with the demonstrators.
"This was a very important gesture," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at Georgetown University in Washington, who is monitoring events from Singapore. "It's significant because the military allowed them to pass (Suu Kyi's house). That and other images indicate the military is not prepared, unless things get worse, to directly confront the monks in their uniforms."
Steinberg said this was in contrast to 1990, when the military put down a protest by hundreds of monks in Mandalay, arresting and defrocking some and closing monasteries linked with the demonstration.
So far, the government has been handling the monks' disciplined but defiant protests gingerly, aware that forcibly breaking them up in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar would likely cause public outrage.
But Steinberg said the military's lack of force should not be seen as a sign of weakness, given that it remains the largest and most powerful institution in the country.
"Any change (in the government) will have to be approved by elements of the military if there is to be change," he said. "They are far too powerful to be resisted if the military acts in unison."
A U.N. official agreed, saying that while Myanmar dissident groups he had met in Bangkok this week were optimistic about the outcome, they had failed to take into account the military's history of brutally suppressing uprisings in 1988, 1990 and 1996.
"They were very optimistic and expectant and seemed to believe that there was one outcome possible — which was a popular uprising that brings Suu Kyi to the forefront," said the official, who requested anonymity, citing protocol. "I'm not as confident that is the only outcome possible. I would think massive repression and violence on a significant scale is not to be discounted."
The monks on Saturday stopped briefly in front of Suu Kyi's house and said prayers before leaving at the other end of the street, said witnesses, who asked not to be named for fear of being harassed by the authorities.
"Today is extraordinary. We walked past lay disciple Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house today. We are pleased and glad to see her looking fit and well," a 45-year old monk told about 200 people at Sule Pagoda.
"Daw" is an honorific used in referring to older women in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi, 62, is the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won a 1990 general election but was not allowed to take power by the military. She has been under detention continuously since May 2003.
The latest 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.
pong
The socialist military government as I’ve heard it described in the past has never been good.
A democratic country would be better but I assume that the opposition leader educated in the West has a few socialist- humanist ideas of her own for Myanmar (Burma).
Last time I checked, the max was 10,000. Now it’s 20,000 on the sixth day. It doubled!
Yup. There were a reported 10,000 yesterday; 20,000 today.
We’ll see how the gov’t steps in to handle this growing protest.
I hope it keeps increasing till the corrupt ChiCom puppets in Myanmar give up and resign.
I was in Myanmar 2 years ago...very scary.
I’ll bet!
ping
I hope they take down the junta. But they had better be careful not to listen to any promises about free elections. They will just pull the same trick twice (holding elections to calm the people down and then annulling the results when they are better prepared).
thanks for saving the trouble of posting same ;^)
However the BBC piece has great photos !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7009323.stm
I like the one of them marching thru the flooded street and of the nuns ( mae chee)
Thank you for the link to the story and pics. I liked those pics too. The nun's pink robes are unique. I'm pretty certain Tibetan nuns (ani) don't wear pink and I haven't seen that in pics of Thai nuns. Or else I have missed them.
it must be the film , or the light ...Thai and Burmese
mae chee (nuns) wear pure white. They are notactually ordained ,as Theravada does not recognize ordination for women .
Tibetan nuns wear the combinations of red(burgandy) and yellow , they are nuns they are ordained. This is a difference between Mahayana and Theravada .
Great pictures on both links , essentially the same story.
I wish them luck!
a Thai monk friend of mine commented this to me today :
“Good to hear from you again. Even the Buddha marched for peace, I don’t
think there is anything wrong with that. But I think it is important
that the monks refrain from political ideology; they should be marching
only for peace, happiness and freedom. Best wishes “
Standard....the Burmese monks are marching for FREEDOM !
One doesn't have to support an ideology to stand for freedom. After all, liberation is the goal in Buddhism. : )
actually , looking agin, they DO appear to be pink....
Could Burmese nuns have joined Code Pink !?
Buddha forbid
Bite your mala!
It was just a twisted figure of speech though. Save your teeth and make an auspicious wish instead that Code Pink doesn't spread and infect any other countries.
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