U Aww Ba Tha speaks on human rights abuses in Burma. Photo: PMC/Violet Cho

Pacific.Scoop
By Violet Cho

A New Zealand-based Burmese monk has spoken out in support of a new call for Buddhist monks to boycott military officials and their families across Burma in a protest over human rights abuses.

The call two years after the Saffron Revolution is a condemnation of continued political repression and human rights violations by the ruling military dictatorship, says the All Burma Young Monks’ Union.

The boycott call was issued by dissident monk networks inside Burma, which are demanding the release of all monks arrested in the 2007 crackdown, along with an official apology for government abuses.

If their demands are not met – as is expected – their boycott will begin on October 3.

New Zealand-based monk U Aww Ba Tha believes monks in Burma are standing side-by-side with civilians who are suffering under the continued political repression and an economic crisis.

“Monks do not want power – they are working for the sake of the country and for peace,” he told Pacific Scoop.

U Aww Ba Tha is head of International Buddhist Monks (New Zealand) and works closely with Burmese monks inside Burma in exile around the world.

During the Saffron Revolution, he kept daily contact with activist monks in the country, providing them with support from the local Burmese community.

“I believe no Buddhist monk in Burma likes the military dictatorship because they destroy monks. They don’t do anything good for the people or country. They destroy our precious heritage,” he said.

The boycott will involve monks across Burma refusing to take alms from the military and their cronies.

This is the third time in history monks have organised a boycott.

The first boycott was after the military refused to honour the 1990 election results that were won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

The second time was during the 2007 Saffron Revolution, which was brutally crushed by the authorities.

The Saffron Revolution started in Pakokku, central Burma, when monks started marching peacefully, chanting Buddhist prayers in response to a fuel price hike.

Military authorities responded violently, beating up monks, something which is deeply taboo in Burmese culture. Following this, monks across the country called for an official apology and began a boycott and peaceful protest. Many laypeople joined the protests until the movement was violently suppressed.

“I believe monks will continue to keep the movement alive and I too will struggle for that. This is a good and just thing we do so we will continue and never stop” says U Aww Ba Tha.

Violet Cho, an exiled indigenous Karen journalist from Burma and living in Thailand, is the Asian Journalism Fellow at AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.