The best coverage of the current protests in Burma is unsurprisingly coming from The Irrawaddy team. Their rolling update of events across the country is available here.
Tuesday, 18 September, is the day the “The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks” has specified for commencing the “patam nikkujjana kamma“ (refusal of alms) from members of the country’s military government. There are also new reports of large protests at monasteries throughout Burma. From north to south, from Kachin state to the Mon territories, the Sangha appears to be restless.
This is, of course, not the first time that Burma’s monks have demonstrated against the current military government. For a scholarly account of the last major period of monastic agitation see this 1993 article by Professor Bruce Matthews. New Mandala readers hoping to learn more about the history of monastic protests in Burma may also find these references useful.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Awzar Thi // Sep 19, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Interested readers should not overlook the Democratic Voice of Burma news site, which although it does not translate all contents to English still has good coverage updated daily, with photos and video.
2 buddh•ism ad•junkt › Monks Unions - No More Merit For Burmese Military // Sep 20, 2007 at 2:07 am
[...] Monks in Burma have collectively announced their decision (via the Alliance of All Burmese Monks) to stop receiving donations from the military regime, in response to repression of monks by the regime, including forcible defrockings, imprisonment, and other forms of harassment and assault. The military government has called these monk organizations ‘unions’ in the past, and I think that’s an excellent word to describe a group of people who take decisive collective action in defense of themselves as a class. In the West, it is a common misperception that the primary activity of Buddhists is meditation and the quest for nirvana. While this is the ultimate goal for most Buddhists, it is far from the dominant activity. Enlightenment is a long-term goal that takes uncountable lifetimes to achieve, and while meditation is useful, most of us are more likely to benefit from the making of merit. [...]
3 James Haughton // Sep 24, 2007 at 10:16 pm
CNN is now reporting protests of 100,000 people! Is this a realistic estimate?
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/24/myanmar.protest.ap/index.html
4 Awzar Thi // Sep 25, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I have started posting photos from various sources here:
Saffron Revolution
5 Gibbs A Williams Ph.D // Sep 27, 2007 at 2:49 am
Slave Revolts
“You can’t fool all of the people all the time.” Every so often abusive authority stirs a “slave” revolt wherein the people rise up against their oppressors. This process happens when the balance of forces shifts from fear of the oppressors to appropriate collective rage resulting in an unstoppable revolution.
At such times the people most affected by this process cannot reasonably hope to enlist the aide and succor of surrounding countries who se leaders more often than not have their own abusive authoritarian governments to protect.
For example, if China was to come to the aide of the people revolting there would be an understandable and predictable concern by the Chinese government that those in favor of democracy might well use this support as encouragement to stage their own protests. (Note the history of Tibet.}
Thus those who participate in open rebellion against rulers who abuse their authority must be aware that they can be and often are slaughtered. But it is equally true that those who govern do so at the collective consent of the governed.
Human beings prefer freedom to oppression except for those who prefer to control everyone else except themselves. Those who rule by fear initially have the upper hand but only so long as the “slaves” cower. Let the “slaves” unite and the oppressors will eventually and inevitably be crushed.
6 Grasshopper // Sep 27, 2007 at 11:11 am
Dear Dr Williams, do you assume liberty is thrust onto man by default? *Star Wars death star music begins to play ominously*
The CCP might not necessarily be supporting ‘democracy’ in Burma remember. The CCP has always maintained that they would support stability and wherever it comes from. You totally disregard the ‘two systems one country’ philosophy. The issue of Tibet is not one of democracy, it is one of national self determination; much the same as Taiwan (who function democratically)….
7 buddh•ism ad•junkt › Burmese Days // Oct 3, 2007 at 8:41 am
[...] written study of the uses and abuses of meditational practice, in the service of political goals. This piece from New Mandala was one of the first blog articles I read noting the aspect of Buddhist refusal to [...]
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