Rangoon Monks' protest swells
Monks' protest swells
Rangoon - Up to 15,000 Buddhist monks and laymen marched through the streets of Rangoon Sunday in the sixth day of escalating peaceful protests against the Burmese military regime.
The dictatorship has thus far refrained from cracking down on the saffron-robed rebellion.
More than 3,000 monks, joined for the first time by 300 nuns, from various townships marched to the Shwedagon Pagoda, and then continued to Sule Pagoda and wove their way north, drawing more followers as they proceeded.
There is speculation that the protesters are bound for the Rangoon compound of Aung San Suu Kyi, whom they visited on Saturday. The Nobel peace laureate appeared in public for the first time in years.
Eyewitnesses said Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May, 2003, repeatedly told the monks "sandu," or "well done," and shed tears of joy when they departed.
On Sunday the monks carried banners reading "Untruth will be overcome by truth," and "Injustice will be overcome by justice," giving their protest more of a political tone than previous marches.
They were joined by more than 10,000 laymen, making Sunday's protest march the largest anti-government gathering in more than a decade.
Some of the laymen followers shouted political slogans such as "Free Aung San Suu Kyi." Others stressed economic issues."Lower commodity prices, that is our cause," was one popular chant.
Burma's military rulers last month unleashed pent-up frustration with the deteriorating economy when they more than doubled fuel prices on August 15.
Peaceful demonstrations against the fuel hikes started in Rangoon on August 19, but were quickly suppressed by authorities who arrested more than 100 protest leaders.
The protest movement was picked up by Burma's revered monkhood earlier this month, and has now spread nationwide, and the monks are getting more daring in their tactics.
The monks' protest movement appears to have caught the military junta off guard, and seasoned Burma-watchers are unsure where the rebellion is heading.
"It's hard to know," said Professor Robert Taylor, author of The State in Burma. "But I don't see the regime is tottering," said Taylor, who is currently in Rangoon.
The junta has kept a tight lid on discontent for the past 19 years, cracking down on all shows of student-led protests and dissent from opposition politicians such as Suu Kyi's supporters.
Thus far, none of Burma's Buddhist leaders have come out openly in favour or against the protests.
It is estimated that anywhere between 5,000 to 50,000 of Burma's 400,000-strong monkhood has joined the non-violent movement to protest the country's deteriorating economic conditions.
The monks' movement has put the regime in an awkward position. If the rulers do not crack down on the protests, the demonstrations are likely to spread, but if they attack the monks, they would enrage the people.
Buddhist monks have a long history of political activism in Burma, a predominantly Buddhist country.
The monkhood played a prominent role in the struggle for independence from Great Britain, which came in 1948, and joined students in the anti-military demonstrations that rocked Burma in 1988 and ended in bloodshed.
Like the recent protests, the 1988 mass demonstrations were sparked by rising discontent with the military's mismanagement of the economy and refusal to introduce some semblance of democracy.
On September 8, 1988, the army cracked down on the pro-democracy movement, leaving an estimated 3,000 dead.
The generals at the time vowed to never allow a repeat of 1988, a vow they have carried out through the suppression of any show of unrest in the country.
Although the military allowed a general election in 1990, it ignored the outcome when 80 per cent of the votes went to the National League for Democracy, Suu Kyi's party. Its reaction made the junta a pariah in the West. (dpa)
Yangon Monks refuse to return to temples
Monks refuse to return to temples
Yangon - More than 30,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and laymen marched through the streets on Yangon Monday in a swelling display of barefoot rebellion against the country's military regime.
For the seventh consecutive day thousands of monks marched first to the Shwedagon Pagoda, in the heart of Yangon, by noon before spreading out to other holy spots in the former capital.
Up to 5,000 of the monks passed by the headquarters of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which is headed by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. NLD officers cheered the monks as they passed.
The road to Suu Kyi's house, where she has been kept under arrest since May, 2003, was heavily barricaded to prevent the monks from visiting her as they did on Saturday, eyewitnesses said.
A sea of monks and their followers had surrounded the Sule Pagoda, in the heart of downtown Yangon, by Monday afternoon, and another 15,000 protesters gathered around the Kyimyindine Pagoda, in the northern part of the city.
It was the seventh straight day of Burma's maroon-robed rebellion which has thus far been without violence. But on Monday, there were signs that a clash was looming.
Laymen who joined the monks carrying placards with political slogans were roughed up by pro-government thugs and had their posters taken away, eyewitnesses said.
The monks marched in the streets Monday despite an order by the military-controlled Buddhist clergy, the Sangha Nayaka Committee, to city temples to send all visiting monks back to their provinces.
Many of the participating monks are from temples outside of Yangon, visiting the former capital for religious studies during Buddhist lent.
Monday's protest was bigger than Sunday's, when more than 10,000 laymen joined approximately 3,000 marching monks and 300 nuns, many of whom shouted political slogans for the first time, calling on the ruling regime to free opposition leader Suu Kyi.
A confrontation between the military and monks seems inevitable, Western diplomats said.
"We expect some kind of a resolution in the next few days," said one Western diplomat. "Either the protests go up or go down, but it can't go on like this."
Burma's military, which has ruled the country since 1962, has killed protesting monks before, most recently in the 1988 anti-government demonstrations.
But this is the first time Myanmar's 400,000-strong Buddhist monkhood has taken a lead in the protest movement, pitting rifles against robes in a looming confrontation that could easily spark an uprising if mishandled.
The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has a long history of mismanagement. It was their decision on August 15 to more than double local fuel prices overnight, without a system of gradual hikes and no prior warnings to the public, that has led them to the current predicament.
Peaceful demonstrations against the fuel hikes started in Yangon on August 19, but were quickly suppressed by authorities who arrested more than 100 protest leaders.
The protest movement was then picked up by Burma's monkhood earlier this month, and has now spread nationwide.
Myanmar's junta has kept a tight lid on discontent for the past 19 years, cracking down on all shows of student-led protests and dissent from opposition politicians such as Suu Kyi's supporters.
The monks' movement has put Burma's regime in an awkward position. If the rulers do not crack down on the protests, the demonstrations are likely to spread, but if they attack the monks, they would enrage the people.
Buddhist monks have a history of political activism in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country.
The monkhood played a prominent role in Burma's struggle for independence from Great Britain, which came in 1948, and joined students in the anti-military demonstrations that rocked Burma in 1988 and ended in bloodshed.
Like the recent protests, the 1988 mass demonstrations were sparked by rising discontent with the military's mismanagement of the economy and refusal to introduce some semblance of democracy.
In September 1988, the army cracked down on the pro-democracy movement, leaving an estimated 3,000 dead. (dpa)
Monks beaten and taken away in Burma
Monks beaten and taken away in Burma
Rangoon - Hundreds of riot police and soldiers used batons and teargas to beat back monks and laymen from entering the Shwedagon Pagoda.
At least 30 monks and 50 civilians were beaten and then taken away in military vehicles to an unknown destination.
Police and soldiers manned barricades erected on the road to the east gate of the Shwedagon Pagoda, preventing marching monks from using the shrine as a launch pad for their ninth day of peaceful protests.
About 5,000 monks who had gathered outside the pagoda shifted tactics and marched down Kanpatlan Road, rimming Kandawkyi Lake, with about 1,000 laymen followers in tow.
The Burmese military, after issuing several warnings to the monks for the past two days, deployed its troops against the protest for the first time in nine days of protest marches in Rangoon.
At least 12 truckloads, each carrying about 40 police and soldiers, were dispatched Tuesday night to City Hall after tens of thousands of monks defied a government order to end their protest marches and return to their temples.
Dozens of military trucks and jeeps were seen parked outside the City Hall compound, but the troops were out of sight Wednesday morning. Police and military personnel were guarding the four gates of the Sule Pagoda, which sits in the centre of a traffic circle in front of City Hall.
The pagoda in the centre of downtown Rangoon has been where the monks have congregated, joined by thousands of laymen, over the past four days in a show of defiance against the military junta.
The marching monks appeared determined to take to the streets again Wednesday despite signs that a confrontation is looming. As on past days, they were to first meet about noon at the Shwedagon Pagoda and then march on Sule Pagoda.
"We are even ready to die," one Rangoon temple abbot told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Various human rights groups and crisis-management organizations have called on Burmese allies such as China, India and South-East Asian nations to intervene to prevent a bloodbath in Rangoon.
"The Burmese military has shown in the past a willingness to kill peaceful protestors to end demonstrations," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "If the military government is going to listen to anyone, it will be countries with which it has close military and economic ties. Now is the time for these countries to show that they care about the health and welfare of the Burmese people."
Rangoon's barefoot rebellion, which started September 18, drew up to 100,000 followers Monday and Tuesday and have proceeded so far without reprisals from the regime.
But signs indicated that the junta is ready to spill blood as it did in September 1988 when the army unleashed its fury on pro-democracy mass demonstrations, killing up to 3,000 people, including hundreds of protesting monks.
Around midnight, the government announced via public loudspeakers that a 60-day curfew had been imposed in the city from 9 pm to 5 am.
Rangoon General Hospital has been instructed to clear wards in preparation for an influx of patients, hospital sources said.
In 1988, Burma was rocked by nationwide rallies against the military regime's incompetent rule, which had dragged the country down from one of the wealthiest in Asia prior to World War II to an economic basket case by 1987.
Economic hardships are partly behind the latest protests.
Without warning or consultations, the government more than doubled fuel prices on August 15, exacerbating overnight the plight of their impoverished people. The country has suffered double-digit inflation since 2006.
Anti-inflation protests started building on August 19 in Rangoon, led by former student activists and opposition politicians. Last week, the movement was taken up by the monks.
Burma's 400,000-member Buddhist monkhood has a long history of political activism in Burma, having played a pivotal role in the independence struggle against Great Britain in 1947 and the anti- military demonstrations of 1988. (dpa)
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Pressure mounts on Burma's allies to intervene
Bangkok (dpa) - International human rights and crisis-watch groups Wednesday called on the United Nations and Burma's allies to help persuade the junta to avoid bloodshed in Rangoon where a clash looms between troops and monks.
"United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should hold urgent talks with the foreign ministers of China, India and Singapore, the current ASEAN chair, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and lead a joint attempt to encourage peaceful dialogue in Burma," said the International Crisis Group out of New York.
The Brussels-based think tank urged China, India, and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to back Ban Ki-moon's call on Burma's junta to exercise restraint in the face of growing peaceful protests and put their full weight behind UN efforts to find a solution to the country's political crisis.
"The regime has a long history of violent reactions to peaceful demonstrations," said Gareth Evans, president of the International Crisis Group. "If serious loss of life is to be averted, those UN members with influence over the government are going to have to come together fast."
Rangoon has been seized by monk-led peaceful protests since September 18, which swelled to include up to 100,000 Buddhist clergy and laymen followers on Monday and Tuesday.
The regime looked poised to crack down on the barefoot rebellion Wednesday. Truckloads of troops have been posted at City Hall, opposite Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon where the protests have congregated in the past week.
A 60-day curfew was imposed on the city Tuesday night, and regulation 144 which prohibits gatherings of more than five people, has been enforced.
Rangoon General Hospital has reportedly been put on alert.
New York-based Human Rights Watch also appealed to Burma's allies including China, Thailand, India and Russia, to put pressure on the regime to avoid violence.
"The Burmese military has shown in the past a willingness to kill peaceful protestors to end demonstrations," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "If the military government is going to listen to anyone, it will be countries with which it has close military and economic ties. Now is the time for these countries to show that they care about the health and welfare of the Burmese people."
Observers have been amazed that Burma's military rulers have waited so long to suppress the monks' rebellion and attribute it to China's influence on the pariah state.
"I can see no other explantion for their restraint," one European diplomat said. "They've shot monks in the past." dpa
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Earlier report:
Burma showdown: Rifles vs robes
Rangoon - At least 12 truckloads, each of about 40 police and soldiers, were dispatched Tuesday night to City Hall after tens of thousands of monks defied a government order to end their protest marches and return to their temples.
Hundreds of riot police and soldiers were stationed Wednesday at Rangoon City Hall, prepared for what is likely to be a crackdown on a monk-led rebellion that has seized the city for the last week.
City Hall is near the Sule Pagoda in the centre of downtown Rangoon, where the monks have congregated, joined by thousands of laymen, over the last four days in a show of defiance against the Burmese ruling junta.
The marching monks appeared determined to take to the streets again Wednesday, despite signs that a confrontation is looming. As on past days, they are to first meet about noon at the Shwedagon Pagoda and then march on Sule Pagoda.
"Most monks will march," one Rangoon temple abbot told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "We are even ready to die."
Rangoon's barefoot rebellion that started September 18 drew up to 100,000 followers Monday and Tuesday, without reprisals from the regime.
Now, the signs are looming that the junta is ready to spill blood, as they did in September 1988 when the army unleashed its fury on pro-democracy mass demonstrations, killing up to 3,000 people including hundreds of protesting monks.
Around midnight, the government announced via public loudspeakers that a curfew had been imposed in the city from 9 pm to 5 am, until the situation returned to normal.
Rangoon General Hospital has been instructed to clear wards in preparation for an influx of patients, hospital sources said.
In 1988, Burma was rocked by nationwide rallies against the military regime's incompetent rule, which had dragged the country down from one of the wealthiest in Asia prior to World War II to an economic basket case by 1987.
Economic hardships are partly behind the latest protests.
Without warning or consultations, the government more than doubled fuel prices on August 15, exacerbating overnight the plight of impoverished Burmese. The country has suffered double-digit inflation since 2006.
Anti-inflation protests started building on August 19 in Rangoon, led by former student activists and opposition politicians. Earlier this month, the movement was taken up by the monks.
Burma's 400,000-member Buddhist monkhood has a long history of political activism in Burma, having played a pivotal role in the independence struggle against Great Britain in 1947 and the anti- military demonstrations of 1988, which ended in bloodshed.
Observers have been amazed that the Burmese military rulers have waited so long to suppress the monks' rebellion and attribute it to China's influence on the pariah state.
"I can see no other explantion for their restraint," one European diplomat said. "They've shot monks in the past." (dpa)
