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Monks in Myanmar defy government over violence

More than a thousand Buddhist monks marched peacefully in two Myanmar cities yesterday, as part of a rare wave of anti-government protests that have rocked the country over the past month, witnesses said.

More than 400 monks, chanting prayers and walking in rows of two and three, marched in the country's biggest city Yangon, said witnesses, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals. They were turned away from entering the famous Shwedagon pagoda by plainclothes officers and continued their march into the heart of the commercial district, witnesses said.

Hundreds of onlookers watching the protest paid respects to the passing monks, by raising their hands and putting them together.

In the city of Bago about 80km away, about 1,000 monks peacefully marched to the Shwemawdaw pagoda, residents said.

No one was arrested in either march.

The monks had given authorities a Monday deadline to apologize for beating hundreds of them two weeks ago as they marched peacefully in Pakokku, a center of Buddhist learning, to protest rising fuel and consumer prices. The apology never came.

As a result, monks threatened to launch nationwide marches yesterday, to cut off contact with the military and their families, and to refuse alms from them -- a humiliating gesture that would embarrass the junta.

The anti-government protests began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices by as much as 500 percent, putting the squeeze on already impoverished citizens. The protests have continued despite the detention of more than 100 demonstrators and the rough treatment of others.

Monks have been at the forefront of political protests in Myanmar since British colonial times. Because they are so revered by the public, repressing them is politically risky.
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