Wednesday - September 19, 2007
Monks Protest for Second Day in Myanmar
Burmese monks have staged protests against the military government of Myanmar for a second straight day.
Stepping up their challenge to the military government, Buddhist monks staged a second straight day of protests Wednesday, briefly occupying a landmark pagoda in Myanmar's largest city during one of several marches around the country.
In the western city of Sittwe, some 5,000 monks reportedly turned out for an anti-government demonstration despite having a protest a day earlier cut short by authorities shooting tear gas and warning shots.
The saffron-robed monks have become the spearhead of a movement launched on Aug. 19, when a few hundred ordinary citizens marched to protest a government increase in fuel prices.
The protests reflect long pent-up opposition to the repressive military regime, and have become the most sustained challenge to the junta in at least a decade.
Tuesday marked the 19th anniversary of the 1988 crackdown in which the current junta took over after violently crushing vast pro-democracy demonstrations. The junta held a general election in 1990, but refused to honor the results when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party won. Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest for more than 11 of the past 18 years.
Some monks have started a religious boycott of the junta, holding their black begging bowls upside down as they march in a symbolic demonstration that they will refuse alms from authorities and their supporters. Ostracizing the junta carries strong significance for the country's mostly Buddhist population, which tends to be very devout.
In the Myanmar language, the word for ``boycott'' comes from the words for holding the bowl upside down.
Monks are highly respected, and abusing them in any manner could cause public outrage. In an effort to limit bad publicity, some journalists covering the monks' march had their cameras confiscated by the authorities. Read more....
Author: The Machiavellian
Technorati Tags: Myanmar Monks
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