February 11, 2008, Sittwe: Burmese authorities in Arakan State's capital Sittwe forced residents on Sunday to welcome a monk who was awarded a high title by the military government for his religious studies, but many townspeople were opposed to the welcome program, said a town elder on condition of anonymity.
"Many people including monks in Sittwe were opposed to the welcoming of the abbot because the authority brought him to Sittwe to give the appearance to Burmese people that residents in Sittwe are now cooperating with the authority, and that there are no longer any boycotts by the monks against the military authority in the city," he said.
The authority in Sittwe ordered all households to send at least one person to welcome the monk at the airport and along the roadside.
Abbot Saradaw Tipidakara U Indapala is a prominent Arakanese monk who has received high educational qualifications from the military government in recent years for his study of Buddhist religious scriptures.
"We respected the monk, but it is not the right time for him to come to Sittwe with the authorities' plan, because many monks are still conducting their religious mission against the government, as they cracked down on the peaceful demonstrations of monks in Burma in September 2007," he said.
Many monks in Sittwe are still not cooperating with the military authorities and are still refusing to accept any alms from government officials, including food, robes, and other goods.
The town elder said, "The authority wants to organize monks in Sittwe to give up their boycott of the government, and the authority hopes this prominent monk can persuade monks to cooperate with the authorities by coming to Sittwe."
However, many monks did not join in yesterday's welcome ceremony for the abbot.
"Not only monks, but also lay citizens did not join the welcome ceremony, and many people were avoiding participating in the welcoming to show their opposition to the military government," he said.
The high authority ordered the Arakan Rice Merchant Association to organize the welcome ceremony, and the merchant group complied in hopes of being handed business opportunities in the rice trade in Arakan State.
Some family of the association's members and government civil servants participated in the welcome ceremony while most ordinary people avoided the event.
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