When the saints go marching in…

With tens of thousands of monks and citizens on the streets in peaceful protests against the ruthless military junta in Burma, will the Indian government turn its eyes away from the pro-democracy movement yet again? questions Hardnews

Satya Sagar Bangkok

Burma's long dormant pro-democracy movement is on the march once again. And this time it is clad in saffron — the colour of the country's revered Buddhist monks who have chosen to take on the men in green — the brutal Burmese military that has ruled for nearly five decades. 

On September 23, as many as 100,000 anti-government protesters led by a phalanx of Buddhist monks and nuns marched through Yangon (Rangoon), the largest crowd to demonstrate in Myanmar since 1988. Next day, tens of thousands more monks, joined by civilians, marched peacefully through key areas of several Burmese towns. Indeed, since late August this year, monks and people around Burma have been out on the streets protesting against a sharp hike in fuel prices imposed by the dictatorship on a long suffering people, among the poorest in the world.

The protests were initially triggered by student activists, who, lacking the immunity accorded to monks, were immediately beaten up and detained. Min Ko Naing, a student leader and hero of the 1988 failed uprising against the military regime, who has already spent nearly a decade-and-half in jail, was among those arrested.

On September 21, Yangon, the former capital of Burma, witnessed the largest rally yet of over 5,000 monks and nuns cheered on by thousands of ordinary folk. Till a month ago, such a show of dissent was considered impossible, even highly hazardous, given the military regime's past record of ruthless crackdowns on pro-democracy movements. Adding to the surprise turnout was a rare appearance by Aung San Suu Kyi at the gates of  her house as the  monks stopped by to pray for her release after over a  decade of house arrest. Suu Kyi, wearing an orange blouse and a traditional sarong, greeted the monks with folded hands and appeared to be in tears. It was one of the several peaceful protest marches on that day by monks in Yangon and Mandalay, a major religious centre and traditionally, the hotbed of political dissent in the country.

Latest information trickling in from Burma, even as this edition goes to bed, is that the crackdown has begun. Monks are being shot at, killed, people are being picked up, the army is out on the streets. Will the army repeat the bloody past when it killed thousands of peaceful protestors all over the country?

Coming ahead of a meeting of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta calls itself, in Burma's new capital of Naypyidaw, the wave of public protests has raised hopes of a turning point in the country's troubled history. A group called the All Burma Monks Alliance urged people for the first time "to struggle peacefully against the evil military dictatorship" — until its downfall. 

Monks, along with student groups, have always been at the forefront of dissident movements since the colonial era. Burma, which became independent from British rule in 1945, had democratically elected governments till 1962 when General Newin toppled Prime Minister U Nu's government to establish one of world's longest running dictatorships. Following the massive 1988 pro-democracy movement, the junta agreed to hold general elections in 1990. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) swept the polls but the military refused to hand over power under the guise of framing a new constitution.

Despite the new optimism, observers caution that there is a long way to go before the military concedes defeat. Operating like a closely knit clan or caste, Burma's armed forces, having been in power for so long, have too much to lose if there is a return to civilian rule.