Burmese Monks Call for Exam, Constitution Boycott

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org

March 18, 2008 - Burmese Buddhist monks will take part in a broadly based boycott of state-run examinations which are scheduled to start on March 24, according to monks inside Burma.

The All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) released a statement on Tuesday calling on all Buddhist monks and citizens to remember the September 2007 crackdown and boycott the state-run examinations and May’s referendum on the constitution.

Many monks living in monasteries in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pakokku, Pegu Division and Arakan State have joined the symbolic protest against the military government for its bloody crackdown on the civil uprising in 2007.

Ashin Mandala, a monk in the New Masoeyein Monastery in Mandalay, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “No monks in new and old Masoeyein monasteries will sit for the exams because of the September crackdown.”

About 4,000 monks live in New Masoeyein Monastery and Old Masoeyein monastery, he said. Many monks form other monasteries in Mandalay including Mya Taung Monastery and Maha Withutayon Monastery will also boycott the exams.

Monks in Baw-di-Man-Dai Monastery in Pakokku in Magwe Division will not take the exam because they are still enforcing patta ni kozana kan, a refusal to accept alms from members of the armed forces and their families, a senior monk at the monastery told The Irrawaddy.

Pakokku was the location of a bloody clash between Buddhist monks and Burmese security forces, in which several monks were beaten with batons and rifle butts.

Many monks are still exercising patta ni kozana kan in protest of the bloody suppression of the peaceful demonstrations, in which at least 31 protesters died.

U Pyinya Zawta, a leader of the underground monks alliance group, said, “In support of the protesters and monks who were arrested, we urge all monks in Burma not to sit for the state exams. We also want citizens to show bravery and vote “No” in the referendum.”

Suppression of democracy activists and religious leaders will be worse if the draft constitution is approved, he said.

“They [Burmese generals] are ruling the country informally, yet they dare to brutally suppress citizens and religious leaders,” he said. “If the constitution is officially enforced, then the overall situation will be worse.”

“So long as the junta is in power, the Burmese people will never be liberated from suppression,” said U Pyinya Zawta.

On February 9, the military regime announced the referendum will be held in May and a multi-party election in 2010.

Meanwhile, a number of protesters who were arrested during the uprising, including monks, went to court on Monday in Bahan Township in Rangoon. They were charged under article 505 (B), which involves a threat to the government’s stability, said Aung Thein, a Burmese lawyer.

“If found guilty, they [monks and protesters] will face two years imprisonment,” he said.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists in Rangoon are facing increased pressure from the buildup of security forces last week, according to dissident sources.

On Sunday, two pro-democracy activists—Kyaw Ko Ko and Nyan Linn Aung, both members of the All Burma Federation of Students Unions—were arrested by authorities, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Also, one leader and more than a dozen members of a dissident group known as Generation Wave were arrested recently.

Rangoon authorities raided the home of Kyaw Kyaw, a leading member, and later arrested him and eight of his colleagues at their hiding place, said a Rangoon source. Since March 6, about 18 members of the group have been arrested.