SAFFRON REVOLUTION

The phrase "Saffron Revolution" is the name appeared after 2007 demonstrations to describe the protests of the the saffron-colored robes widely associated with Buddhist monks, who were at the forefront of the demonstrations against military dictatorship in Burma.

Burmese monks have taken part in protests in the past, against British colonial rule and against a half-century of rule by military dictatorship. Their resistance to the British produced the most prominent political martyr of Burmese Buddhism, U Wisara, who died in prison in 1929 after a 166-day hunger strike. In 1988, there were a lot of demonstrations took place in Rangoon, led by monks and students. These demonstrations were brutally repressed by the military killing thousands of monks, students and activists. Eventually, after the bloodshed, they can manage to topple the Ne Win led dictatorship. But sadly, another military came to power and rule the country with abosulte authority.

The cost of basic commodities were rising continuously and in late 2006, rice, eggs, and cooking oil are increasing by 30-40%. The living standards in Burma is distinguish in the fact that many of the high ranking army generals and their connected families have become immensely rich and on the other hand normal people are distressfully rely on their little earning . On August 15, 2007 the government removed subsidies on fuel causing a rapid and unannounced increase in prices. The government raised prices from about $1.40 to $2.80 a gallon, and boosted the price of natural gas by about 500%. This increase in fuel prices led to an increase in food prices.

Long term suffering of the economic distress as well as living under the injustice system of the government makes the people took to the streets to protest the current conditions. In response to the protests, the government began arresting and beating demonstrators. The government arrested 13 prominent Burmese dissidents including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya, Ko Jimmy, Ko Pyone Cho, Arnt Bwe Kyaw and Ko Mya Aye.

On September 5, 2007, Burmese troops forcibly broke up a peaceful demonstration in Pakokku and injured three monks. The military refused to apologize the demanding by the deadline of September 17. This sparked the huge number of monks involving in the protests. Their role in the protests was significant due to the reverence paid to them by the civilian population and the military. After these events, protests began spreading across Burma, including Rangoon, Sittwe, Pakokku and Mandalay.

The biggest antigovernment protests in two decades, some barefoot monks held their alms receiving bowls upside down before them instead of asking for their daily donations of food. It was a shocking image in the devoutly Buddhist nation. The monks were refusing to receive alms from the military rulers and their families — effectively excommunicating them from the religion that is at the core of Burmese culture. The military rules by force, but the monks retain ultimate moral authority. Receiving alms and donation is a ritual that expresses a profound bond between the ordinary Buddhist and the monk. The people are feeding the monks and the monks are helping the people make merit, when you refuse to accept, you have broken the bond that has tied them for centuries together.

The country’s two largest and most established institutions, the monkhood and the military, were facing each other, both made up of about 500,000 strong young men. Tens of thousands of Burmese people led by these monks took to the streets of Rangoon demanding for change. The Buddhist monks, hold nothing but non violent and loving kindness, had no way of resisting soldiers with guns. The military junta in Burma views religion as a threat to its sovereignty. Rejected by both its spiritual and moral bases, the junta that has ruled for 19 years had little to fall back on but force. It unleashed its troops to shoot, beat, arrest and kill the saffron-robed monks. Soldiers surrounded monasteries; preventing monks from leading further demonstrations — or from making their morning rounds to collect the alms that feed them.

The military generals had embarked on a campaign of violence against Buddhist monks. In retribution for leading protest marches, monks were beaten and arrested, many monks were disrobed, and several monasteries were raided, ransacked, and closed. Currently, there are more than 2000 political prisoners in Burma.

A U.N. investigator revealed that at least 31 people were killed, but anti-junta groups have said that close to 200 lives were lost. The junta grip on power has never been secure. They have ruled through a force that keeps order through intimidation. They have held the pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years. Crack down on democracy activists continue everyday by arresting dissidents, interrogate, torture and put them in prison.