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NEWS - Myanmar Regime Curtails Reli
- Subject: NEWS - Myanmar Regime Curtails Reli
- From: BurmaJapan@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 01:32:00
Myanmar Regime Curtails Religious Freedom-Students
Reuters
06-JAN-98
BANGKOK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Myanmar's
(Burma's) ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) has
curtailed religious freedom by forcing
pro-democracy activists to get permission
to enter the monkhood, an exiled students
group said on Tuesday.
The All Burma Students' Democratic Front
(ABSDF) said members of Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD)
were now required to obtain permission
from authorities should they wish to enroll
as monks in the predominently Buddhist
country.
It is a tradition in many Buddhist nations
that devotees spend at least seven days
as monks or nuns during their lives.
``Although the military regime previously
placed various kinds of restrictions on the
NLD and their associates for their political
activities this is believed to be the first
time the authorities have begun to obstruct
social and religious activities of party
members and their families,'' the
Thailand-based students group said in a
statement.
``The All Burma Students' Democratic
Front considers the restrictions placed on
NLD members and their families as
immoral and pure harassment and
intimidation,'' it added.
The ruling State Peace and Development
Council, which adopted its name in
November, was previously known as the
State Law and Order restoration Council
(SLORC).
The SLORC, which had ruled Myanmar
since brutally crushing a popular uprising
in 1988, has occasionally cracked down
on the activities of monks some of which
were involved in those demonstrations.
Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide election
victory in 1990 which was never
recognised by the military. ^MORE@
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited.All rights
reserved.