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Buddhist monks protest military rule for democracy in Burma
Aditi Dubey
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: Ed-Op
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It seems that human rights crises are just springing up throughout the world one after another.
Burma is a country in Southeast Asia that used to be ruled by the United Kingdom back in the day. The country became independent in 1948 and likes to call itself Myanmar, or the Union of Myanmar.
Here in the United States, for complicated diplomatic reasons, we call it Burma. Ever since its independence, the country has been struggling politically and economically. The government is controlled by the military and the population is mostly Buddhist. There are large Indian populations in some places because of the import of Indian merchants and settlers by the British, back in the colonial times. The country had a fragile democratic government up until 1962, when General Ne Win led a military coup d'état and took over the nation.
Since 1962, there has been political oppression of the people by the government and Burma's history is interspersed with accounts of pro-democratic uprisings by citizens. The people are poor and the government wants to get rich.
In August, the government increased the fuel prices. According to BBC News, both gasoline and diesel doubled in price, while the cost of compressed gas, which is used to power buses, increased five-fold. The cost of public transportation went up and the impact on the people was huge. This hike also had a resonating effect on prices of basic products, such as rice and cooking oil. This sparked several demonstrations in the nation by pro-democratic activists. Several arrests were made in an attempt to suppress these protests, but demonstrations continued in the main city, Rangoon, and other towns. The country was entering a state of economic crisis and political chaos.
The monks got involved because this crisis affects the monasteries as well; they depend on the public for material support and their operational costs are paid by donations from devotees. Because of the increased strain imposed on Burmese citizens' economic resources by the soaring prices, they couldn't spare much of their income to give to monasteries.
Burma is a country in Southeast Asia that used to be ruled by the United Kingdom back in the day. The country became independent in 1948 and likes to call itself Myanmar, or the Union of Myanmar.
Here in the United States, for complicated diplomatic reasons, we call it Burma. Ever since its independence, the country has been struggling politically and economically. The government is controlled by the military and the population is mostly Buddhist. There are large Indian populations in some places because of the import of Indian merchants and settlers by the British, back in the colonial times. The country had a fragile democratic government up until 1962, when General Ne Win led a military coup d'état and took over the nation.
Since 1962, there has been political oppression of the people by the government and Burma's history is interspersed with accounts of pro-democratic uprisings by citizens. The people are poor and the government wants to get rich.
In August, the government increased the fuel prices. According to BBC News, both gasoline and diesel doubled in price, while the cost of compressed gas, which is used to power buses, increased five-fold. The cost of public transportation went up and the impact on the people was huge. This hike also had a resonating effect on prices of basic products, such as rice and cooking oil. This sparked several demonstrations in the nation by pro-democratic activists. Several arrests were made in an attempt to suppress these protests, but demonstrations continued in the main city, Rangoon, and other towns. The country was entering a state of economic crisis and political chaos.
The monks got involved because this crisis affects the monasteries as well; they depend on the public for material support and their operational costs are paid by donations from devotees. Because of the increased strain imposed on Burmese citizens' economic resources by the soaring prices, they couldn't spare much of their income to give to monasteries.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Deb hilton
posted 10/05/07 @ 6:03 PM EST
i was not aware of the whole story,,,, now iam ,, thanks,
what strengh this guys have ,
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