YANGON, 24 September 2007 — Emboldened after a march to see Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, 20,000 people led by Buddhist monks yesterday launched the biggest challenge against military rule in nearly two decades.
They marched in the rain-sodden streets of Yangon from the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most important landmark, and numbers swelled as they crossed downtown Yangon and circled the Sule Pagoda, witnesses said.
About 10,000 monks, many of them barefoot, were joined for the first time by nuns clad in pale pink robes. They were followed by about 10,000 supporters.
“We want the people to join us,” the monks chanted.
A group of about 200 protesters and monks carrying a sign reading “loving kindness will win every time” tried to approach Suu Kyi’s house — as they had successfully done on Saturday — but were turned away.
Riot police equipped with shields blocked the road and fire trucks were parked nearby, and the monks eventually turned round and left the area.
Clapping onlookers and supporters earlier thronged the side of the road in downtown Yangon, handing out water and flowers and proffering balm for the monks’ exposed feet.
“We want national reconciliation, we want dialogue with the military, we want freedom for Aung San Sun Kyi and other political prisoners,” one protest leader cried into a microphone.
After each shout, the crowd raised their hands to the gray skies above Yangon and cried: “Our God!” About 300 monks held a prayer vigil for one hour in Magway town, about 375 km north of the commercial hub Yangon, while up to 500 monks joined a protest in the central city of Mandalay.
The protests followed a landmark day Saturday, when the army allowed about 2,000 monks and civilians to pass a roadblock and gather by the lakeside Yangon house which has been Suu Kyi’s prison for 12 of the past 18 years. Tears in her eyes, the woman known in Myanmar as “The Lady” waved at monks as they recited prayers, witnesses said, while supporters chanted: “Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon.” The 62-year-old has become an internationally recognized symbol of non-violent political change since her National League for Democracy won 1990 elections by a landslide — a result never recognized by the military.
One underground Buddhist group calling itself the All Burma Monks Alliance called for nationwide prayer vigils starting yesterday — the latest peaceful action against the military rulers since an Aug. 15 rise in fuel prices.
“We all, Burmese monks and people, are facing great difficulties and many problems,” a spokesman purporting to be speaking for the group told AFP. “We are trying to continue protesting until we get our freedom.” Myanmar was previously known as Burma.
What began as a protest against economic hardship has now grown, with marches against military rule attracting thousands of young monks to the streets of Yangon and other cities since Tuesday.
The military - which has ruled Myanmar in some form since 1962 - now faces a quandary, analysts say.
Launching a violent and public crackdown on deeply revered monks would outrage people in Myanmar and the international community, but doing nothing at all leaves the military regime vulnerable.
“If they crack down seriously on the monks it means it would also seriously inflame the rest of the population, including members of the military themselves, for attacking the sacred and very prestigious institution,” said Debbie Stothard, of Thailand-based democracy pressure group Altsean Burma.
“So the military regime is really in a lose-lose situation.” The junta normally does not tolerate the slightest show of public dissent, and authorities during the past month have arrested more than 150 people.
Win Min, a Myanmar academic who lectures at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, said that allowing monks to visit Suu Kyi on Saturday was a sign that the junta was seeking to peacefully take the steam out of the protests.
However, yesterday’s massive display by the clergy indicated that protests were not burning out, but swelling.
