Monk Leaders Call for Third Sangha Boycott

Several exiled Buddhist monk leaders have told The Irrawaddy that Burmese monks across Burma are preparing to launch another boycott of military personnel and their families due to ongoing abuses against Buddhist doctrine and clergy by the ruling military junta.

Known as a “pattanikkujjana” in Pali, a Buddhist monks’ boycott involves refusing morning alms from those said to have violated religious principles.

A Burmese monk living in Thailand speaks outside the UN office during a rally calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's release in Bangkok in May. (Photo: Reuters)

Burmese monks have declared a pattanikkujjana against the military regime and their cronies twice in recent history: the first time in 1990 following the suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, after they had won a national election by a landslide; and again in 2007, the so-called “Saffron Revolution,” when monks led demonstrations against price hikes in Rangoon that turned into a national uprising against the government.

Burma’s monasteries, some housing as many as 1,000 practicing monks, have been largely silent since the junta ordered a crackdown on the monk-led protests in August and September 2007. But several sources say that the simmering resentment could come to a head again in the lead-up to the regime’s election planned for 2010.

A monk in Rangoon who asked to remain anonymous told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “The local authorities are closely watching the monks and their monasteries. Moreover, there are plainclothes security forces keeping an eye on them.”

The military authorities closed and sealed Maggin monastery in Rangoon's Thingankyun Township in November 2007 after its abbot, Sayadaw U Indaka, was arrested for his involvement in the demonstrations. The monks and novices were evicted along with several HIV/ AIDS patients who were receiving treatment in the monastery at the time.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Ashin Issariya, one of the leaders of the exiled All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA), said, “I want to call on all people and organizations to take part in a third monks’ boycott for the sake of peace and the welfare of all Burmese people.

“The Lord Buddha said that the sangha (Buddhist monkhood) had to carry out their religious duties by sacrificing their lives.

“Therefore, all members of the sangha must act to protect the Buddhist religion and the welfare of our people,” he said.

Currently, Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is effectively controlling and curtailing the nations’ Buddhist monks under an order by the Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (the state- sponsored Buddhist monks’ organization), which has restricted monks’ travel and gatherings.

Ashin Issariya said that the junta’s troops and loyalists had committed many religious crimes, such as killing and arresting monks and nuns, raiding and destroying monasteries, and defiling Buddha images.

He added that there is no freedom of religion under the military junta and that all religions are affected.

“Therefore, if the military authorities do not apologize for their abuses and crimes, it is the responsibility of all monks, nuns and laypersons to boycott the junta,” he said.

Some activists in Burma told The Irrawaddy that currently many monks’ organizations and monasteries are trying to organize themselves and set up cooperation and communication with monks’ groups in other parts of the country.

Ashin Thavara, a secretary of the India-based All Burma Monks’ Representative Committee (ABMRC), told The Irrawaddy: “Nowadays, the ABMRC is cooperating with the ABMA to not only carry out our religious duties, but to help the people and achieve peace in Burma and throughout the world.

“It is high time that all the people of Burma and around the world take action and boycott Burma’s military dictators,” he said.

Ashin Thavara claimed that during the September uprising, the junta’s soldiers and loyalist thugs raided and destroyed more than 60 monasteries, and beat, arrested and killed several hundred monks and nuns. He said that there are currently more than 250 monks and more than 20 nuns in prison in Burma for their political activities.

“Some of them were sentenced to hard labor,” he added.