Burmese Monks makes presence felt again!

Back in February 1986, thousands marched through EDSA to stand up for what they believed in. For four days, the Philippines was on center stage as democracy was regained. Those days became to be known as “People Power.”

A few weeks ago, Burmese monks started to make their presence felt by participating in a peaceful rally in the central town of Pakokku. Later, a group called the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks emerged to co-ordinate the protests. On 21 September (the anniversary date of martial law), the group issued a statement describing the military government as "the enemy of the people".

By the 24th of September, Rangoon saw the sight of thousands of people. They responded to a call from the monks and joined a massive protest. (Photo courtesy of Yahoo news.)

Outside communication was cut. Violence resulted. On 27 September 2007, the military junta said nine people had been killed. But the whole world knows that more people had been killed. Thousands were also arrested. Monks were rounded up, held in make-shift detention compounds and transported to prison camps in the north.

All these events in Burma was happening while I was in Hanoi, Vietnam.

According to a BBC Report by Sarah Buckley, “There are 400,000-500,000 professional monks in a country of about 50 million people, but many more laymen worship alongside the monks for a few weeks at a time throughout their lives in order to earn spiritual credit.”

She also reports that “Burmese monks not only play a spiritual role, but also have a history of political activism. They have been at the forefront of protest against unpopular authorities, from British colonial power in the 1930s to the last pro-democracy campaign in 1988.”

Unlike those four days in 1986, the Filipinos had media on their side, plus the military had been part of the clamor for change.

The BBC report also says that “only about 10% of Burma's monks are politicized, and many of the monasteries may be unaware of the scale of the agitation currently under way in the country.”

While here in the country, almost everybody seems to be “politicized.”