Burma’s military junta has tightened security in several cities around the country this week as it seeks to prevent a revival of the monk-led protests that led to a massive pro-democracy uprising two years ago.
Sources in Rangoon said that the city was quiet but tense, as security forces were deployed along main roads and near major monasteries and pagodas. They also reported an increase in security checks at homes, as local authorities searched for unregistered out-of-town guests.
A monk in Pakokku, the city in central Burma where the first protests by monks took place on September 5, 2007, also noted a heavy security presence in recent days.
In the Arakan State capital of Sittwe, another flash point of the 2007 uprising, monks reported an increase in the number of government informers posing as visitors to the city’s main monasteries.
“They appear whenever there is talk of protests,” said the monk. “They have been watching us like we are rebels ever since the Saffron Revolution.”
The Saffron Revolution, as the uprising has come to be known, began after a brutal crackdown on monks in Pakokku who had refused to accept alms from the families of regime officials. Outrage at the attacks on the monks, who are revered figures in Burma, spread to Rangoon and Mandalay, the country’s two largest cities, as well as to other urban areas.
In the ensuing weeks, the number of monks swelled, as did the crowds who gathered around them in a show of support and to defend them against further assaults. By late September, thousands of monks were in the streets chanting the Metta Sutta—the Buddhist discourse on loving-kindness—joined by tens of thousands of supporters.
However, on September 26, security forces turned on the protesters, beating and shooting monks and others in the crowds, including Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, who was shot and killed by a Burmese soldier while trying to document the uprising.
This was followed by a series of raids on monasteries and a manhunt for leaders of the protests. According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), 237 of Burma’s 2,211 political prisoners are monks.
Ashin Gambira, one of the most prominent leaders of the demonstrations, is currently serving a 63-year prison sentence in Kalay Prison, located in a remote area of Sagaing Division. He was captured on November 4, 2007, after evading arrest for more than a month.
The regime continues to regard monks with suspicion. On Friday, AAPP reported that 14 monks were arrested in various locations around the country in August.
Last month, as the anniversary of the Saffron Revolution approached, some exiled monks said that Buddhist monks across the country were preparing to stage another boycott of military personnel and their families.
However, residents of Rangoon said that the monks were not likely to mark the anniversary with renewed protests, as they would face immediate arrest and lengthy prison sentences if they did.
The 2007 protests began as an attempt to highlight the hardships imposed on Burma’s largely impoverished population by a drastic increase in fuel prices announced in August of that year, but they soon grew into the largest demonstrations against military rule in nearly two decades.
The Saffron Revolution marked the second time in recent history that Burmese monks have boycotted the military regime and their cronies. In 1990, they overturned their alms bowls to protest the junta’s refusal to recognize the outcome of elections won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
According to official data, there are more than 400,000 monks in Burma. The monastic community has always played an important role in Burma’s social and political affairs, often in opposition to oppressive regimes.
irrawaddy
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