Today is the day when we are all supposed to blog in solidarity with the people of Burma.
From the beginning of the monk's protest and the junta's horrible crackdown, we have seen wonderful diaries, here and over at Docudharma, by numerous people. Today, budydharma's Burma diary finally made it to the Rec. list here. Other people who have diaried today include skrp23, KoNKO, and Nightprowlkitty, among others. Nightprowlkitty's was inspiring to me.
I can't possibly add any new insights to those wonderful diaries, except to pass along the chant "FREE BURMA" and a story from the Times UK that I got today through Truthout on how groups of people are continuing to defend the monks.
Since all the countries that have the most leverage over Burma have financial interests in providing only mild responses to the horrific crackdown, the hope for democracy probably lies within Burma, in the demands of the people themselves.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE OF BURMA.
The Times UK is reporting more incidents of people defending the monks, even after the crackdowns. I find their bravery inspiring. Read on.
Things may have seemed unredeemably bleak for the monks who found themselves in this situation:
To the handful of monks still remaining at Ngwe Kya Yan monastery - bruised, scared and in shock - it must have seemed that everything was over. The soldiers and police made their first swoop in the early hours, cracking skulls, firing rubber bullets and dragging away more than 70 monks to secret detention centres. The ones who escaped returned at daybreak to their smashed and looted monastery, the blood of their brothers still glistening on the stone of the courtyard.
By late afternoon, the soldiers and police returned to finish the job, but then something remarkable happened: thousands of men, women and children emerged from the surrounding houses of South Okkalopa township, converged on the narrow streets leading up to the monastery and trapped the soldiers and police inside. For more than six hours, the unarmed crowd prevented security forces from taking the monks away - until they were dispersed in a onesided street battle in which police reportedly shot dead at least two people.
It was a scene repeated at monasteries and pagodas across Rangoon. At nearby Kyaik Ka San, Moe Kaung and Mahar Bawdi, local people defended the monks with their lives. In the end, their attempts appear to have been unsuccessful, but the remarkable risks they took demonstrate the depth of popular affection for the monks and the continuing loathing for the junta, despite its success in quelling last week's Saffron uprising. Who will win? Can the world help?
Perhaps the question is will the world help?
But imagine the people just emerging from their houses together. It's amazing to contemplate.
Here is more on how people are challenging the junta, in spite of the threats of being tortured and killed.
Rumours of local people defending monks have been circulating since last week. Yesterday The Times met two men, an engineer and a merchant seaman, both in their 40s, who witnessed the struggle at Ngwe Kya Yan. It took place last Thursday, at the height of the Government's crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstrations. After a week and a half of swelling protests, the junta finally made its move and removed the heart of the protests - the monks.
Under cover of the recently announced curfew, security forces raided monasteries and pagodas across the city. At about 2am they descended on Ngwe Kya Yan, smashing windows, decapitating statues of Buddha, stealing gold jewellery and cash, and thrashing the monks with cudgels made from freshly cut bamboo.
Early the next morning, the director-general of Burma's Religious Affairs Department visited the monastery to ask its abbot to leave for the Kaba Aya Pagoda in another part of the city. The engineer, who was there, said that the abbot told the official: "I will not abandon this place." He said: "The director-general told the monks to clean up all the blood, but they refused, because they wanted to show what had happened." At 11.30am, after the official delegation left, the soldiers and police returned, accompanied by members of an official militia called Masters of Force, which is frequently used by the Government to terrorise its political opponents. The engineer said: "From every side . . . people came out and surrounded the monastery. The soldiers and police inside began to panic because they cannot leave."
PS. What's with Kos today? We now have a new 9/11 conspiracy FP article, but NONE on Burma? In exchange for having to see that Chevron banner ad, we could at least get ONE FP on this subject, couldn't we?
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