|
FEBRUARY
25, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 7 Monks' Murmurs Buddhist clerics are calling for dialogue between the junta and the opposition By ROGER MITTON Yangon
The venerable Abbot Bhaddanta Pannadipa is one of Myanmar's most
revered monks. From his monastery in suburban Yangon, the elderly prelate
has helped set up a college for religious studies, as well as hold
language classes for thousands of students. "It is not good that the state
universities are closed," he says. Most ordinary citizens would flinch at
making even such an innocuous comment to a foreign journalist, but not
Bhaddanta. And it seems he is not alone. Just two weeks after his college
awarded diplomas to a batch of students in November, a fellow abbot in
Amarapura, near Mandalay, released a letter admonishing all of Myanmar's
key leaders - military chief Gen. Than Shwe, former strongman Ne Win, and
National League for Democracy head Aung San Suu Kyi. It set tongues
wagging. "This is what the regime fears most," says a Yangon-based
diplomat. "Everyone says it's a first since the protests in the late
1980s." That may be an overstatement, but the missive was significant. In it, Abbot Ashin Kunthalabhivamsa said that all three leaders "have been fighting one another over the past ten years and that makes us, the monks, sick at heart." His message had been drafted with the support of the monastery's 1,000 monks. "That's a step higher, compared with a monk speaking out on his own," notes the diplomat. That Ashin also addressed his letter to Suu Kyi is additionally provocative. She has said that the monks' falling living standards are a good social barometer - because they rely on alms from the public and naturally suffer when people are too poor to give much. Like his Yangon colleague, Ashin is in his 80s and revered - which means he is beyond harsh punishment. At the same time, another senior monk, the Kyarkat abbot in Bago, 80 km northeast of the capital, gave a talk urging dialogue between the government and the NLD. Most potently, he delivered it during a visit by the regime's strategist Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt - to whom he gave a printed copy of the speech. Other copies were circulated, signifying a planned political gesture. And it riled the junta. Says Tourism Minister Maj.-Gen. Saw Lwin: "Politics should be separated from religion." Why did the senior monk do it? "I had to say something because the people are suffering," he explains. "But I did not expect it to get so much attention." He is now watched by military intelligence and finds it harder to travel. "I don't think he will do it again," says the regime's Col. Thein Swe. Funding for the Amarapura monastery has reportedly been reduced. Perhaps as a result, monks in the same sect met in December and criticized their colleagues who interfered in politics. Yet in Hpa-an, capital of Kayin state, a third meddlesome monk, Abbot Tamanya, engaged in political activism - for which he has something of a record. In 1995, he met Suu Kyi when she was freed after six years of house arrest. "He is well known and used to be the most outspoken monk," says a diplomat. This time, he took pity on the thousands of illegal Burmese workers that the Thai government drove back across the border after a siege at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok late last year. The abbot went to the frontier area and urged Myanmar troops not to harm the returnees. Says one ambassador: "The regime is worried about his influence." Need it be? Well, yes. In largely Buddhist Myanmar, the monkhood is the single most revered institution. If monks took to the streets, the people would follow - as happened in 1988. And while the military may be 400,000-strong, there are 350,000 monks. So the generals take extraordinary measures to keep the monks on side. The front page of the official New Light of Myanmar regularly shows pictures of Khin Nyunt and other leaders giving presents to the monasteries. "The monks know that compared with previous governments, we have done a lot for their welfare," says Saw Lwin. Actually, the monks' recent protest messages are unlikely to bring many citizens onto the streets. Consider Ashin's call to the government and the NLD. He wrote: "Let bygones be bygones, wipe the slate clean and work toward peace. Then, join hands and work for the good of the country." Even the junta can buy that kind of homily. "We agree with what the senior monks said," says spokesman Lt.-Col. Hla Min. Even so, the monks were chastised for allegedly letting themselves be used. Says Hla Min: "We believe the political parties exploited the monks for their own ends." Was the NLD involved? The regime thinks so. "If that party cannot cause trouble through student activities, it will come through these monks," says Saw Lwin. More impartial sources say that is unlikely, but not impossible. "Some monks do support the NLD and perhaps did act under its influence," says a diplomat. One thing is certain: All sides have been active on various fronts. Yangon-watchers note the junta's moves over the past year to improve its image. The one most often cited is its decision to grant the Red Cross access to prisons. "It is astonishing they allow this and the Red Cross is doing good work," says one ambassador. "This is more than just PR; it is very positive." Even envoys from anti-junta nations laud the move. More significantly, Suu Kyi herself has reversed her opposition and now extols the entry of the Red Cross. But on key issues, she remains steadfast. At a luncheon with European Union envoys at the residence of British ambassador John Jenkins on Jan. 6, Suu Kyi struck an aggressive stance - in the face of mounting skepticism. Though she insisted that sanctions were working, the envoys said they saw little evidence of it. Recalls one: "'Time is on our side,' Suu Kyi said. 'The regime is getting weaker and weaker.' But it doesn't seem like that to us." When one diplomat said that investments would lead to jobs and more electric power, which would help the people, she looked aghast. Said another: "We are all in broad agreement that we want to see democracy, but our differences - with her, and among ourselves - are over tactics." There is a growing sense that current tactics are not working - and may even be cementing the military's hold on power. Still, Yangon's greater concern for its public image, and its muted response to the monks' protests, gives cause for guarded optimism. The generals seem more willing to listen to outside suggestions, especially from Japan. "We are grateful that they give us good ideas - what to do, where to do it," says Thein Swe. "Some we can do and some we cannot." That suggests the regime is learning the art of pragmatic politics. As a result, the years ahead are more likely to see Myanmar re-enter the world community - on its own terms - than at any time since Independence. Says Thein Swe: "I'm very optimistic." Go tell that to the monks. |