Burmese monks are being urged in an anti-government pamphlet to refuse alms from members of the military regime unless an apology is given for the violent way in which protesting monks were dispersed by the authorities and pro-junta thugs in Pakokku, Upper Burma, last week.
Describing themselves as “the alliance of all Burma Buddhist monks,” the authors of the leaflet gave the government until September 17 to come up with an apology. Otherwise, they warned they would “hold patam nikkujjana kamma”—meaning a boycott of alms from members of the military regime. A copy of the leaflet was obtained by The Irrawaddy.Last week's demonstration by the Pakokku monks was brutally suppressed by police, troops and pro-government paramilitary thugs. Troops fired warning shots.
A government statement issued to foreign journalists on Sunday accused the opposition National League for Democracy of organizing the demonstrations by the monks, leading "agitated mobs to destroy the homes and shops of those whom they had falsely accused."
The statement, issued by the government information committee in Naypyidaw, charged the NLD with making “seditious declarations which are against the government and cause the people to lose respect for the government." The NLD had “instigated public unrest [and] also urged the international community to sanction Myanmar [Burma], in synchronicity with the so-called 88 generation students and expatriate groups."
The military government has, meanwhile, stepped up its monitoring of monasteries nationwide, according to the sources in Burma.
“The authorities have increased their security everywhere, monitoring monasteries, schools, universities and markets," a senior monk in Taunggyi, capital of Shan State, told The Irrawaddy by phone on Monday.
Historically, monks have played a major role in political demonstrations, notably in the 1988 popular uprising and in the 1990 anti-government protests.
In 1990, monks held a patam nikkujjana kamma—as the boycott is known in Buddhist religious scripture—in response to a violent crackdown on monks in the central city of Mandalay. The military regime then forcibly seized monasteries around the country and arrested hundreds of monks. Monks who participated in the boycott were disrobed. Many were imprisoned and some were tortured.
The Taunggyi source said monks there were waiting to see what happened in the monasteries of Rangoon and Mandalay. A monk at Ma Soe Yin monastery in Mandalay said he and others there wanted to ascertain who was behind the leaflet campaign before making any move. Only “influential abbots” could call a boycott, he said.
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| Burmese Buddhist monks worship at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon [Photo: AFP] |
A government statement issued to foreign journalists on Sunday accused the opposition National League for Democracy of organizing the demonstrations by the monks, leading "agitated mobs to destroy the homes and shops of those whom they had falsely accused."
The statement, issued by the government information committee in Naypyidaw, charged the NLD with making “seditious declarations which are against the government and cause the people to lose respect for the government." The NLD had “instigated public unrest [and] also urged the international community to sanction Myanmar [Burma], in synchronicity with the so-called 88 generation students and expatriate groups."
The military government has, meanwhile, stepped up its monitoring of monasteries nationwide, according to the sources in Burma.
“The authorities have increased their security everywhere, monitoring monasteries, schools, universities and markets," a senior monk in Taunggyi, capital of Shan State, told The Irrawaddy by phone on Monday.
Historically, monks have played a major role in political demonstrations, notably in the 1988 popular uprising and in the 1990 anti-government protests.
In 1990, monks held a patam nikkujjana kamma—as the boycott is known in Buddhist religious scripture—in response to a violent crackdown on monks in the central city of Mandalay. The military regime then forcibly seized monasteries around the country and arrested hundreds of monks. Monks who participated in the boycott were disrobed. Many were imprisoned and some were tortured.
The Taunggyi source said monks there were waiting to see what happened in the monasteries of Rangoon and Mandalay. A monk at Ma Soe Yin monastery in Mandalay said he and others there wanted to ascertain who was behind the leaflet campaign before making any move. Only “influential abbots” could call a boycott, he said.
