Buddhists in India protest against Burma’s military junta
November 14th, 2007 - 1:51 am ICT by admin
- Myanmar has seen hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks protesting in the country for the last few weeks, calling for democracy and an end to the military government.
In Leh town, hundreds of people today marched through the streets protesting against the killing of monks in Myanmar.
“Today the people of Ladakh organised a very big rally to protest against the recent destruction of the Buddha statue in Swat valley by the fundamentalist in that country. Secondly, the killing of Buddhist monks in Myanmar by the dictators of that country,” said Tashi Chotak, one of the protestors.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai several monks took out a rally to show their solidarity with the people of Myanmar.
“We, the Buddhist of India, are demanding that General Than Shwe, (military dictator of Myanmar) immediately hand over power to the people of Myanmar, so that freedom and democracy should come to Myanmar immediately,” said Bhante Dharaviro Mahathero, general secretary of All India Monks Council.
Although New Delhi initially supported Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in Myanmar, it changed its strategy in the early 1990s to court the military regime in what is seen as an effort to counter China’s influence there.
The current protests in Yangon started in reaction to shock fuel price rises and have welled into a mass uprising against 45 years of military rule led by monks, the moral core of the Buddhist nation. (ANI)
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Posted in National, |
January 16th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
ARAKANESE MONK’S BURMESE WAY TO DEMOCRACY
Ashin Nayaka a native of Arakan is a leading member of the International Burmese Monks Organization in USA and a visiting professor, at Columbia University in New York. Recently he gave testimony to the US senate led by United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. But unknown to the outside world, at home in Arakan Ashin Nayaka spreads xenophobia among the Rakhines against other ethnic Arakani minority people’s freedom. This is evident in a book written by U Shw zan and Dr. Aye Chan, (2005) where Rohingya are being demonized as being the “Influx Viruses.” Ashin Nayaka in encouraging the above ultra-nationalists wrote in the forward section of the book the following:
“Rohingya movements have been accompanied by certain dangers and challenges, particularly for the Arakan State and beyond.”
Here Asin Nayaka due to his ethnic superiority feelings refused to acknowledge Rohingyas as a people and says “dangers and challenges” should be feared by the Rakhine and the Burmese people. It is to note that Rohingyas are a racially and religiously different group of Burmese people.
About the book “Influx Viruses” he further says:
“I hope this collective contribution will give both a broader understanding of so-called Rohingya issues and practical measures to address challenges of the future. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to both contributors whose scholastic works are credibly expected to give appropriate answers to all…”
Here he identifies his fellow countrymen as the “so-called Rohingya.” It is a very strange assertion by a Buddhist monk who prefers to be addressed as the “Venerable Ashin Nayaka.”
What seems to be the problem here? In dehumanizing the Rohingyas, the authors of the book “Influx Viruses,” and Ashin Nayaka as a Buddhist monk refused to accept the birth right of the Rohingyas calling the Rohingyas as simply the“Viruses.”
The “practical measures” Nayaka recommended were been taken by the ultra-nationalists Rakhines to destroy the Rohingya historic sites in Arakan and even rename the Rohingya names such as Akyab into Sittwe. And for the army ofcourse the “practical measures” were to exterminate the “so-called Rohingya” “virus.” Strangely though, Ashin Nayaka opposes the military rule in Burma but supports the military’s Rohingya extermination policy in Arakan.
The problem is, due to such preaching by powerful xenophobic prechers like Ashin Nayaka, today, there are atleast 700,000 stateless Rohingya people live in Malaysia, Japan and in the Middle East and approximately 200,000Rohingyas unofficially live in Bangladesh.
Surprisingly, Ashin Nayaka as an honorable Buddhist Monk would be expected to preach nonviolence. Whereas he keeps his xenophobia and hate in his closet at home in Arakan and pretends to be a great democracy movement leader in abroad, collecting important prizes on behalf of the Monks of Burma.
As a democracy movement activist recently he said to the US Senate, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to the freedom in our country and the freedom in our own hearts. All these things Americans value and cherish. Freedom for the people of Burma cannot be denied. The cost of that freedom is the only question in Burma,” Surely, this is the typical Ashin Nayaka style of Burmese way to democracy. To him ofcourse human rights are only for its Buddhist majority; because he is fighting for human beings but against “viruses.” Due to such dual roles played by certain Monks as Ashin Nayaka and some ultra-nationalist Arakani intellectuals, like Aye Chan and Aye Kyaw, Rohingya people’s rights of citizenship were being officially denied by the military government.
Remarkably, Ashin Nayaka’s style is a typical Burmese way to democracy by most Arakanese ultra-nationalists: xenophobia at home and great democratic demonstration in abroad. No wonder why the military government has been successful in ruling Burma for such a long time! Rohingyas have been suffering genocidal repression inside Arakan state and outside the country sufferes as stateless people.
For dehumanizing the Burmese born Rohingyas, and misrepresenting Buddhism, inciting Rohingya genocide and helping the extermination policy in Arakan, and helping in jailing of Rohingya leaders in Burma, it is imperative on the genuine democracy movement leaders to seperate the fake democrat Monks like Ashin Nayaka along with his team of ultra-nationalists be expelled from Buddhist sacred places and they be refered to the international tribunal for their crimes against humanity.