Junta Urges Monks Not to Protest

Burma’s military leaders have been trying to persuade monks in Mandalay not to take part in protests that began last week in response to a sharp rise in fuel and commodity prices, according to local monks.

Novice monks in Mandalay prepare to receive alms for the morning meal [Photo: victorianweb.org]

Maj-Gen Khin Zaw, commander of Mandalay Division, requested abbots of several monasteries in Mandalay not to join protesters, according to War So Sayadaw, the abbot of War So Monastery.

The abbot told The Irrawaddy that military authorities came to his monastery and requested that monks and novices don’t take part in any demonstrations. The abbots usually hold considerable influence with junior monks and novices.  
 
So far, monks have not participated in the sporadic demonstrations that began in major cities across Burma on August 19. During the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988, monks played a major role in the demonstrations.

U Kavarinda, the abbot of Ma Soe Yein Monastery in Mandalay, said authorities made the same request of him.

“If the public demonstrates, we will support them until they reach their goal,” U Kavarinda told The Irrawaddy by phone from Mandalay on Monday. “We are also supporting current demonstrations in Rangoon. They are demanding their own rights.”

Since last week, small groups of protesters led by the 88 Generation Students group and some members of the opposition National League for Democracy have staged demonstrations against the steep increase in fuel and commodity prices in Rangoon and other cities. 

In 1988 when the military regime launched a heavy crackdown on the nationwide uprising, more than 3,000 protesters are believed to have been killed—among them, many monks and novices. 
 
Following the government’s crackdown on monasteries, monks across Burma refused to accept alms from military leaders. Hundreds of monks and young novices who participated in the movement were later arrested and given lengthy prison terms.

Mandalay residents say that some of the city’s monasteries have been under surveillance by pro-government civilian groups such as the Union Solidarity and Development Association.

Security forces have also been tightened around monasteries in Rangoon, according to residents in the former capital.

Many monasteries in Rangoon and elsewhere served as rallying points during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.