by Christian Mititelu

a Romanian columnist speaks on the monks’ revolution in Burma

formerly published in “Evenimentul zilei”-”The daily event”, Romania, wenesday, September 26, 2007

 Translated from Romanian language by Raluca Enescu

In Myanmar -formerly known as Burma- the Buddhist monks have become the leading force of a strong dissenting movement.

The military have been in power  for 45 years now and they do not tollerate any form of opposition. They imprison their opponents, persecute the minorities and keep Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD and winnner of the unrecognised 1990 elections under house arrest.

The ruling junta, continuer of the “Burmese Way to Socialism”  launched by the first dictator in uniform has gestionated the economy with incompetence, excepting for the illegal opium trade, throwing the population into poverty.  Instead of assuring food, the generals have decided to move the capital. With this background, the last month decision to drastically raise the price of oil and gas has generated street protests.

The  organisers have been, firstly, the ‘88 Generation stufdents, named after the protests in 1988, ended with a bloody crackdow. Some of them have been imprisoned for long hard years.

This time, however, the imprisonments have resulted into even wider protests, as thousands of buddhist monks took up streets. Monks don’t have a pollitical program, but their protest provides a spiritual authority to the struggle for democracy. And the fact that they went to the house where Suu Kyi is  held unde house arrest, for 11 years out of 18, since she came back into her country, vrings her back into the pollitical plan.

The generals’ reaction has not been immediate. In a profoundly Buddhist country, the monks’ gesture of reversing begging bowls -and therefore of boycotting the dictators’ alms -makes them hesitate. Myanmar is already subject of important economical sanctions.

On the other hand, the generals do not seem willing to give up power. For 14 years, they have been preparing a new Constitution, apparently more liberal, but, in fact, designed to ensure their control in the future.

They have noted that, in 2006, the great neighbour from the North, China, has blocked, together with Russia, USA’s attempt to bring Burma on UNSC’s agenda.

Even though Beijing, more concerned with the Olympics, would prefer a peaceful resolution of the crisis, it is likely that the generals would use force again.