Amnesty called a snap action in Brisbane Square (and others around the country) this afternoon in response to the worsening violence in Burma, to allow people to give voice to their opposition to the military junta’s continuing and escalating efforts to shut down the pro-democracy movement.
As a hastily convened event, it was pretty small, but quite effective, and was the leaping off point to organise another one for tomorrow, that I’ll be speaking at -
5-6pm Friday 28th September
Brisbane Square (cnr George and Queen Sts, Brisbane)
Riots that were initially sparked by an increase in petrol prices, have now become the largest pro-democracy demonstrations in almost 20 years. The pro-democracy rallies of 1988 saw thousands of demonstrators killed as the government cracked down on dissent.
So far, the violence has been less severe, but already there have been deaths, including three Buddhist monks.
Burma as a nation is more than 80% Buddhist and many lay citizens spend some time in monasteries even if they don’t become monks. So the actions of the monks have great significance to the wider society.
The monks survive solely on donations from others, both as a part of their ascetic lifestyle and to allow others to earn karma through charitable acts. So their decision to refuse to accept charity from members of the ruling junta – thus denying them the ability to atone for other actions – is incredibly telling. It is the Buddhist equivalent of excommunication.
There are over a thousand political prisoners held in Burma, including the only Nobel Peace Prize winner in detention, Aung Sun Suu Kyi. Torture is common, as is forced labour, and the ruling junta also employs child soldiers.
The BBC website has constant updates, as well as background on the current crisis and historical details of the situation in Burma. For more details, take a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm
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