Burmese Monks Threaten Military Boycott

Press release - Terry Evans

A new organisation called "The Alliance of Burma Buddhist Monks” has emerged in troubled Burma. The Alliance has distributed leaflets giving the Burmese military until September 17 to apologise for the violent way protesting monks were treated by the military in Pakokku, Central Burma late last week. Failure to comply may result in a patam nikkujjana kamma - as the boycott is known in Buddhist religious scripture.

The military government has responded by increasing security around monasteries nationwide, home to over 400,000 monks. This heavy-handed approach is seen as evidence of the political and popular power of the nation's clergy.

The military fear that they won’t be able to control an uprising by the monks of Mandalay, as happened when they took a leading role in political demonstrations during 1988 "people power" uprising.

It is understood that monks nationwide are waiting to see what happens in the monasteries of Mandalay. A monk at Ma Soe Yin monastery 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.

ENDS

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