Buddhist Monks Defy Assembly Ban
Wednesday September 26, 2007 9:31 AM
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas canisters while hauling Buddhist monks away in trucks Wednesday as they tried to stop anti-government demonstrations in defiance of a ban on assembly.
The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country, including the biggest protests in nearly two decades.
A march toward the center of Yangon followed a tense confrontation at the city's famed Shwedagon Pagoda between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots into the air, beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks. Tear gas also was used.
The latest developments could further alienate already isolated Myanmar from the international community and put pressure on China, Myanmar's top economic and diplomatic supporter, which is keen to burnish its international image before next year's Olympics in Beijing.
But if the junta backs down, it risks appearing weak and emboldening protesters, which could escalate the tension.
When faced with a similar crisis in 1988, the government harshly put down a student-led democracy uprising. Security forces fired into crowds of peaceful demonstrators and killed thousands, traumatizing the nation.
The potential for a violent crackdown already had aroused international concern, with pleas for the junta to deal peacefully with the situation coming from government and religious leaders worldwide. They included the Dalai Lama and South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates like detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Wednesday, about 5,000 monks and 5,000 students along with members of the party headed by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi set off from Shwedagon to the Sule Pagoda in the heart of Myanmar's largest city but were blocked by military trucks along the route.
Other protesters at the Sule Pagoda were confronted by warning shots.
Some carried flags emblazoned with the fighting peacock, a key symbol of the democracy movement in Myanmar. The march proceeded quietly with protesters praying rather than chanting.
About 100 monks stayed behind at the eastern gate of the Shwedagon, refusing to obey orders to disperse after riot police there failed to dislodge them despite employing tear gas, batons and warning shots.
Witnesses said an angry mob at the pagoda burned two police motorcycles.
In Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, dozens of soldiers and riot police stopped some 300 monks and 30 nuns from entering the Mahamuni Paya Pagoda. After a heated confrontation, the clergy marched toward the city where other security forces were waiting.
``We are so afraid; the soldiers are ready to fire on civilians at any time,'' a man near the pagoda said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Authorities announced the ban on gatherings and a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew through loudspeakers on vehicles cruising the streets of Yangon and Mandalay Tuesday. The announcement said the measures would be in effect for 60 days.
Myanmar's imposition of new restrictions after a week of relative inaction by the military government throws down a challenge to its opponents, testing their mettle when faced with almost certain arrest.
It was not clear what the penalty for defying the curfew would be. But breaking the section of the law restricting gatherings carries a possible jail term of two years.
A comedian famed for his anti-government jibes became the first well-known activist rounded up after the curfew was imposed.
Zarganar, who uses only one name, was taken away from his home by authorities shortly after midnight, with family members saying authorities told them the 45-year-old had been ``called in for temporary questioning.''
Zarganar, along with actor Kyaw Thu and poet Aung Way, led a committee that provided food and other necessities to the Buddhist monks who have spearheaded the protests. He earlier had been imprisoned twice and his comedy routines were banned for their satirical jokes about the regime.
The fates of the actor and poet were not immediately known.
President Bush on Tuesday announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, accusing the military dictatorship of imposing ``a 19-year reign of fear'' that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.
``Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma,'' Bush said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Bush said the U.S. would tighten economic sanctions on leaders of the regime and their financial backers, and impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for human rights violations and their families.
The European Union also threatened to strengthen existing sanctions against the regime if it uses violence to put down the demonstrations.
The protests could bring increased scrutiny on China's close relations with Myanmar. China is the country's major trading partner and Chinese energy companies are investing in exploration of natural gas in Myanmar.
Myanmar has about 19 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, only about 0.3 percent of the world's total reserves, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy at the end of 2006. Although it doesn't currently export gas to China, its supply could potentially help feed a rapidly growing Chinese economy hungry for energy.
The current protests began Aug. 19 after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962.
The protests were faltering when the monks took the lead last week, assuming the role of a moral conscience they played in previous struggles against British colonialism and military dictators.
At least 35,000 Buddhist monks and sympathizers defied official warnings Tuesday and staged another anti-government march.
``The protest is not merely for the well-being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future,'' one monk told The Associated Press. ``People do not tolerate the military government any longer.'' He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisals.
On Monday, a massive monk-led protest drew as many as 100,000 people in Yangon - the biggest street protest since the failed 1988 uprising.
The head of the country's official Buddhist organization, or Sangha, issued a directive Monday ordering monks to stick to learning and propagating the faith, saying young monks were being ``compelled by a group of destructive elements within and without to break the law,'' the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Vedic Perspective
SB 10.1.17 P The Advent of Lord Krsna: Introduction TEXT 17
bhumir drpta-nrpa-vyaja- daityanika-satayutaih
akranta bhuri-bharena
brahmanam saranam yayau
SYNONYMS
bhumih--mother earth; drpta--puffed up; nrpa-vyaja--posing as kings, or the supreme power personified in the state; daitya--of demons; anika--of military phalanxes of soldiers; sata-ayutaih--unlimitedly, by many hundreds of thousands; akranta--being overburdened; bhuri-bharena--by a burden of unnecessary fighting power; brahmanam--unto Lord Brahma; saranam--to take shelter; yayau--went.
TRANSLATION
Once when mother earth was overburdened by hundreds of thousands of military phalanxes of various conceited demons dressed like kings, she approached Lord Brahma for relief.
PURPORT
When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I appear Myself." When the residents of this earth become atheistic and godless, they descend to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, and thus their only business is to bark among themselves. This is dharmasya glani, deviation from the goal of life.
Human life is meant for attaining the highest perfection of Krsna consciousness, but when people are godless and the presidents or kings are unnecessarily puffed up with military power, their business is to fight and increase the military strength of their different states. Nowadays, therefore, it appears that every state is busy manufacturing atomic weapons to prepare for a third world war. Such preparations are certainly unnecessary; they reflect the false pride of the heads of state. The real business of a chief executive is to see to the happiness of the mass of people by training them in Krsna consciousness in different divisions of life. Catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah (Bg. 4.13). A leader should train the people as brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras and engage them in various occupational duties, thus helping them progress toward Krsna consciousness. Instead, however, rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago, asuras, persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government's revenue for this purpose. But why should people's hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Krsna has descended in the form of the Krsna consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Krsna consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.
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