ၿမန္မာနိုင္ငံလံုးဆိုင္ရာ သံဃာ့တပ္ေပါင္းစုအဖြဲ႕ၾကီး ( A.B.M.A )

Burmese Monks Depict Plight, Protest
by Madina Toure

In 2007, a group of Burmese monks led the Saffron Revolution, a series of anti-government protests in response to military oppression. On Tuesday evening, four rally participants addressed students in Earl Hall about the plight of Burmese citizens—from human rights abuses to a lack of freedom of speech to the dearth of international awareness.

The monks—U Pyinnyar Zawta, U Gawsita, U Pyinnyar Thiri, and U Agga—are part of an organization called the All Burma Monks’ Alliance, which supports Buddhist monks who helped lead the Saffron Revolution. The organization also supports political prisoners and activists still in hiding in Burma.

The monks emphasized that the goal of their protest was to peacefully oppose the Burmese military’s unfair treatment of citizens and express the need to improve civil conditions. U Agga said his intentions are “to represent these people of Burma who are suffering significantly.”

“They beat monks without reason ... we didn’t commit any crime,” U Pyinnyar Zawta said.

U Pyinnyar Thiri witnessed the beating of monks by the military junta—which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council—and fled to Thailand, eventually escaping and making it to the United States. U Gawsita met with former President George Bush to testify about his beating. U Agga arrived in the U.S. at the end of January, partaking in the 2007 protest and fleeing to Thailand after his monastery was raided by the police. After surviving imprisonment by the SPDC for 9 years and an assassination attempt by the government, U Pyinnyar Zawta made it to the U.S. after the Revolution.

U Pyinnyar Thiri mentioned that Buddhism places restrictions on monks, preventing them from engaging with citizens in a political manner. Yet he explained, if “the government or regime is not doing the right thing [like] not protecting the citizens, as the monks, they have to give the advice.”

The monks also discussed the role of the international community in the conflict, maintaining that the relationship between the military junta and the Chinese government prevents Burmese citizens from getting the help they need.

Kabita Parajuli, CC ’10 and organizer of the event, noted. “the Burmese military is able to stay in power through the Chinese government.”

The monks further addressed the outside world’s general lack of awareness of Burma’s harsh conditions. “They are not able to see the reality of how our people live in the country,” U Agga said.

“All the help during and after Saffron revolutions came through illegal [sources],” U Agga added. “They don’t allow anybody to have contact with people outside the country.”
When asked about the upcoming 2010 elections, U Pyinnyar Thiri said they would not change civic conditions, since the majority of government officials must come from the military or have some military experience.

The monks will likely face time in prison if they return to Burma. Yet the lack of internet and telephone lines make it difficult for them to reach their families at home.

U Gawsita told students not to take their American freedom for granted, saying, “All I want to request from all of you free students in the United States is to do everything to protect these human rights [you have].”
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Saffron Revolution Flyer March 10

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