Monks threaten the junta with excommunication

Burma’s monks plan to combat a hated regime with a religious sanction, says edward loxton

While Burma's military rulers prepare their defences for a possible repeat of the 1988 popular uprising, the country's unarmed, bare-footed monks are turning to the one weapon that could bring the hated regime down: excommunication.

Most Westerners find it difficult to imagine that a non-violent community could topple a ruling military junta by invoking a vague religious sanction.

Yet Burma's monks have a history of venturing out of their monasteries and altering the country's political course, beginning with their participation in the 19th-century nationalist cause to free Burma from British colonial rule.

Monks were again in the vanguard of the 1988 popular uprising that brought down one repressive regime and led to the installation of the current junta. Many died when troops opened fire on demonstrators in Rangoon.

Monks joined protests against the junta’s refusal to recognise Aung San Suu Kyi’s overwhelming victory

Undeterred, monks again took to the streets in 1990, joining popular protests against the refusal of the junta to recognise the results of the general election in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory. More than 300 monks were thrown into jail - prompting thousands of others to respond with the most powerful weapon at their disposal: excommunication.

The Buddhist sanction gives monks the power to deny access to temples and religious rites, thus imperiling the path to Nirvana for members of the military regime - a very severe penalty in Buddhist culture.

The current boycott was sparked by the violent official crackdown on September 5 on a peaceful demonstration by monks supporting public outrage over fuel price rises of up to 500 per cent. The anger spread this week throughout Burma's monasteries, uniting 400,000 monks in an unprecedented display of opposition. "It's only a matter of time before the sparks ignite a powder keg," said former student activist Moe Thein.