Burmese monks defy army warning (Protests in Burma).

BBC ^ | Tuesday, September 25, 2007.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The monks have vowed to continue their action

Lorries with loudspeakers have been driving through Burma's main city of Rangoon warning residents to stop anti-government protests.

The broadcasts threatened that "action will be taken against those who violate this order".

But hundreds of monks and civilians defied the threats and began fresh protests at the Shwedagon pagoda.

On Monday, there were protests in at least 25 towns, with tens of thousands of people marching in Rangoon.

Several military trucks are now parked near Shwedagon pagoda, which has been the focus of the protests.

Eyewitnesses said several hundred monks gathered at Shwedagon with the apparent intention of marching again.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says monks - who have been spearheading the protest campaign - have been handing out pictures of Burmese independence hero Aung San, the deceased father of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

They are also carrying flags, including some bearing the image of a fighting peacock used by students during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

PROTESTS MOUNT 15 Aug: Junta doubles fuel prices, sparking protests 5 Sept: Troops injure several monks at a protest in Pakokku 17 Sept: The junta's failure to apologise for the injuries draws fresh protests by monks 18-21 Sept: Daily marches by monks in Burmese cities gradually gather in size 22 Sept: 1,000 monks march to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon 23 Sept: Up to 20,000 march in Rangoon 24 Sept: New Rangoon march draws at least 50,000 and 24 other towns join in In pictures: Protests Q&A: Protests in Burma Send us your comments

The junta, which violently repressed the 1988 protests killing some 3,000 people, finally broke its silence over the mounting protests, saying late on Monday that it was ready to "take action" against the monks.

It repeated its warning in state media on Tuesday, ordering monks not to get involved in politics and accusing them of allowing themselves to be manipulated by the foreign media.

US President George W Bush is to announce further sanctions against Burma's ruling military junta in response to the protests, the White House has said.

Mr Bush is expected to announce the new restrictions during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Washington is hoping it will encourage other nations to act and embolden the protesters on Burma's streets, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington.

The authorities are likely to be under huge pressure from their close neighbour China to avoid bloodshed and instability, the BBC's Asia correspondent, Andrew Harding notes.

The European Union has also urged the junta to show the "utmost restraint" in dealing with the protests and to take the opportunity to "launch a process of real political reform".

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has given his backing to the monks' call for freedom and democracy.

Detained leader

A group of more than 1,000 of the maroon-robed monks and 400 sympathisers went to Aung San Suu Kyi's street at the end of Monday's march, the Associated Press reported.

They chanted a prayer for peace in the face of the riot police blocking access to her home, where she is under house arrest, before dispersing peacefully.

The organisation that has emerged to lead the protests, the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks, has vowed to continue marches until it has "wiped the military dictatorship from the land".

The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation.

[Bonus picture]

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The title, at this time, of the article on the BBC website: “Army broadcasts Rangoon warning” .

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Asia pinglist ping.

[LeoWindhorse]

this is the time for the United States Navy to send a carrier Battle Group into the upper Andaman Sea / Bay of Bengal

This is the time for both India and Thailand to issue strong public statement warning of certain retaliation if the junta starts murdering it’s people (monks) in the streets again.

The World should not be quiet

and of course China will not say diddly ....

[Thudd]

This is going to get ugly. The protests have metastasized, and these monks don’t care what the army does. The army doesn’t care either. Look out.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

This could conceivably lead to freedom for Burma soon. And from there, there is even a slight chance that this will lead to uprisings in China.

And if the Communist government of China falls, that will be a major blow to the dictatorships of the world.

As for Burma alone, hopefully the nation will be freed fast, and with a minimum of bloodshed.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The title of the article has changed. “Burmese monks defy army warning” .

[LeoWindhorse]

my big hope is that this time when the junta officers give the orders to “Fire!” , that the rank & file soldiers , instead of killing monks which is the gravest of Buddhist sins , turn their guns on the officers issuing the command and shoot them instead.
Only one or two cases of this and ALL rank & file soldiers will follow suit and many of the Junta officer corps will die . A day or two later the top leaders will begin to try to flee as they will see that without soldier droids they are nothing.
It will be interesting to see these people try and remove their treasures , one step ahead of the mass of population surging at them . And where will they try to go?
Stay tuned....

[snarks_when_bored]

Sure, tons of monks
Do march and rave,
But army punks
Use Burma-Shave.

[Stonewall Jackson]

This could get real interesting real soon.

[Bob J]

This should be a focus of FR but we’re too busy getting in the face of Code Pink.

Priorities, priorities...

[LeoWindhorse]

well we are doing what we can .
That Mr. President is on this issue is a great thing.
the 1st Lady too I imagine .

Let’s just stick with it and hope for the best

[LeoWindhorse]

http://www.oldgloryprints.com/Stonewall%20Jackson%20on%20Little%20Sorrel.htm

[at bay]

protests have metastasized

Like the rush of spring's first mountain water runoffs, so clean and so pure. Or the call of the majestic eagle, crying out to every valley that will echo forever-- "We must have freedom! We must have freedom! Our lives are nothing without freedom!"

[rrrod]

This bears watching. Currently the US gov. is relocating thru amnesty 1000s of Burmese.

[LeoWindhorse]

if you’d like to see how desparate the Junta is :

http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/

trying like hell to pull all the strings they have with the
committed senior Sangha that have been on the government dole so long they forget what it is like to wish for FREEDOM!

[JimSEA]

Let’s just stick with it and hope for the best

The Generals are brutal thugs who have kept their grasp on power with only some 20% support and with China's very active good wishes. The Monks and others are very brave and certainly have my support for what it is worth.

[Thudd]

I think the most likely good outcome is that there would be an internal coup from within the military, and the replacement would be amenable to democratic reforms.

These kind of regimes often don't have a strong central leader, as there are usually a number of factions, and the 'leader' is usually the person who has amassed enough wealth to pay the rank and file soldiers, sort of like the later Roman Empire, but on a smaller scale.

It used to be that that US government, through the CIA, would funnel cash to whoever they thought would be most effectual or pro democratic leader, so they could get control of the military by buying them off. (Often the money was in the form of "black money", which was cash treated with a chemical that blackened or otherwise disfigured the currency. The government operatives had the solution that cleaned it, that way they had more control of who could use the money. At least this was the way we interacted with the constantly revolving regimes in west Africa.)

Whether we have any influence with the Burmese, seems kind of doubtful. Hopefully the Indians would have a line, certainly better them than the Chinese, but I certainly hope and pray for the best for the Burmese people.

[cmdjing]

I disagree, I feel it is more likely that the military will act with force and put down this act of Lèse majesté. Rather than being about freedom and democracy, average Burmans are more upset about the cut of fuel subsidies due to rising oil costs that directly impact their living conditions. Whether the military stays or remains, Burma will still have at her feet the same problems it continues to have.

The Junta should have acted much earlier and staunched the protests while they were in their infancy before letting it move to the point it has today.

[PJ-Comix]

Bob-—Check your FreepMail.

[Think free or die]

Prayers for the brave monks and their supporters.

[Thudd]

"They call Aung San Suu Kyi "The Lady". Ordinary Burmese regard her with a reverence that the regime has never been able to reduce, despite regularly denouncing her — although rarely by name — as a tool of foreign powers. Instead, seeing a foreigner on the streets of Rangoon, people will discreetly approach, whisper "I like The Lady", and move on before they are seen holding a conversation. Miss Suu Kyi, 62, is the daughter of Aung San, Burma's assassinated independence hero, and grew up in Burma and India. She spent many years living as a housewife in Oxford, where Michael Aris, her husband, was a university don, until returning to Burma in 1988, where she co- founded the National League for Democracy. Two years later it won elections by a landslide, but has never been allowed to take power. She is the world's only detained Nobel peace prize laureate, having spent 12 of the last 17 years in various forms of custody, but has always insisted on non-violence as the way to "freedom from fear", the title of one of her books. "It is not power that corrupts but fear," she said. "Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those subject to it."

One of the greatest assets the Burmese people have going for them is this lady. She is a visable, personified icon of freedom that people will identify with. She doesn't even have to really do anything but exist at this point, but everyone knows who she is, and where she is, and the army can't do anything about it.

[pandoraou812]

ping

[LeoWindhorse]

I love daw Aung San Suu Kyi

[RightWhale]

Is this the Myanmar the Pres mentioned today at the UN?

[TigersEye]

A few months ago I just happened to see a movie about her and the events of the late 80's in Burma on cable TV. It was very good. This would be a good time for some cable channel to run it again. I expect they might be. Do you remember the name of it, Leo? I'm afraid I have forgotten it.

Thanks for the ping, pandy.

[TigersEye]

"It is not power that corrupts but fear," she said. "Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those subject to it."

Great wisdom in that. As the dharma teaches; abandon hope and fear.

[LeoWindhorse]

nope, but the movie ‘Beyond Rangoon’ is pretty good

Read her books !

[TigersEye]

That’s the movie. I guess it was more about the American doctor than Aung San Suu Kyi.

[LeoWindhorse]

ASSK ‘s character is featured however...
Someday , the story of her life would be an unbelievable movie ! Once the entire truth and story of it can be told.
It would beat the hell out of 99.9% of the crap movies they put out today.

But then people seem more interested in fantasy than reality

[AmericanInTokyo]

UPDATE! RANGOON!!

The military are moving in now, they have started the shooting (over their heads to disperse, not directly into the crowds, just YET), international reports are that (some) monks are being hit with sticks and poles--injury and arrest reports are coming in. There is some rifle firing. Military junta declared the monks and others marches as illegal, and also ordered an evening curfew.

It should be sunset in Burma in just a few hours. It is 6 a.m. Wednesday Eastern Time.

They may pull a Tiananmen after all, after dark.