Burmese monks defy protest ban

Burmese monks took to the streets demanding lower prices and the release of political prisoners on Oct. 31, in the first demonstration of its kind since the brutal repression of last month's democracy demonstrations. More than 100 monks marched through the central Burmese town of Pakkoku in violation of an order outlawing gatherings of more than five people. The demonstration, which appears to have been left alone by the authorities, indicates that last month's crackdown has not quelled the resentment and frustration that brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets in September. "We walked around the town and chanted," one unnamed monk told the Democratic Voice of Burma, a radio station based in Norway. "We are continuing our protest as we have not achieved any of the demands we asked for... lower commodity prices, national reconciliation and immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners." Pakkoku, a monastic city southwest of Mandalay, was the crucible of the demonstrations. It was there in early September that security forces beat up monks and fired shots into the air above their demonstration, an act of sacrilege that provoked growing numbers of monks to demonstrate across the country later in the month. The protests were brought under control only after the imposition of a curfew and the violent suppression of the demonstrations, which left dozens dead and thousands in detention. Until Oct. 31, the opposition consisted of small acts of defiance. There was the graffiti rumoured to have been painted on a train on Rangoon's circular commuter line with the words "Than Shwe Killer," a reference to the leader of the junta. Then there was the stunt perpetrated by a group of activists who tied pictures of the generals to the heads of stray dogs and released them near a group of enraged soldiers. "Now the monasteries are guarded by the armed soldiers and we have no guns, so there's nothing we can do on the streets," a 29-year old teacher in Mandalay told The Times last month. "But we want people to know that we are still trying and that we will demonstrate again." One 18-year-old Buddhist novice in Mandalay sneaked past the soldiers guarding his monastery and traveled to a secret rendezvous to be handed a pocket-sized memory drive. Saved on it was an incendiary document–a pamphlet, written by a senior monk in hiding demanding economic reform, the release of political prisoners and the downfall of the Government. It was the novice's job to plug the memory stick into a computer, print out 500 copies and distribute them on the street. With the internet still switched off, the only way of circulating text is by means of the hard copies. "It's difficult because everyone is afraid and the government is watching the computer shops," said the monk, in a safe house in the town. "I have to do it at night and if they catch me I'll be arrested and beaten or worse. It's so dangerous–even among the monks there are spies." United Nations officials confirmed that Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy on Burma, will return to the country this weekend for talks with members of General Than Shwe's Government and, it is anticipated, with Suu Kyi.