monkish politics (updated)

If you want news from the ground in Myanmar, the Blog of Nyein Chan Yar seems like a good place to start. He/she has a list of other Burmese bloggers here.

Global voices also has a roundup of responses to the Myanmar crisis from regional bloggers.

Interesting to note that the flashpoint for the demonstrations was a state mandated increase in fuel prices towards market norms, a proximate cause now eclipsed in the reporting by the democratic uprising angle. I still disagree with Naomi Klein’s characterization of Tiananmen as a misreported uprising against nascent capitalism, but you can see the authorized version of protest at work here.

I have to say that I’m rather enjoying the monastical character of the uprising:

For not only is Myanmar a profoundly Buddhist country, but the ruling generals are also extremely superstitious. If an overly harsh clampdown on the protests by the security forces were to lead to the death of any monks, the generals would feel they had incurred the wrath of the gods. The monks are fully aware of this strength.

A newly formed underground group, the Young Monks' Union, has for days been calling on citizens in all parts of the country to join their protest. The monks have opted for a clever tactic: Their faith requires them to beg for their daily food every morning. But for days, they have refused to accept alms from members of the military or their relatives. This is one of the movement's most powerful weapons. Such a decision is tantamount to a kind of excommunication in the Buddhist country. The monks apparently want to pressure the lower ranks of the military to break away from the junta leadership.

By donating to monks, one accumulates merit, which in turn gives you a better resurrection. Refusing donations from people effectively condemns them to come back with four legs, after a nasty time in the “great hell of screaming” awaiting reassignment. It’s kind of like the International Criminal Court, except for the demons ready to tear your flesh with red hot pincers and make you drink from a lake of boiling filth.

Buddhist psyops, then. How cool is that?

There’s a cottage academic industry about the impact of Buddhism on Southeast Asian politics, discussed extensively in Philip Short’s biography of Pol Pot. Short contends that the Khmer Rouge were essentially a dissident Theravada cult that adopted Lenin, Stalin and the rest as k’ruu – spirit masters - not consciously, but as an expression of the pervasiveness of the Buddhist tradition in local life. Local dictatorships, including both the Burmese and Laotian regimes, have traditionally used the Theravada principles of indifference to individual suffering and absolute obedience to those deemed to have spiritual authority as props. In freer societies like Sri Lanka and Thailand, organized Buddhism tends towards militant nationalism.

So we can see how absolutely delegitimising the monks protest in Myanmar is. With the monks behind you., you're everything. Without them, you're nothing. Democracy? What the monks seem to be doing is transferring their allegiance to Aung San. If this strategy works, then presumably they will remain loyal to whatever programme she has in mind.

UPDATE: I've no particular problem with this petition, except to point out that China is not the only country with ties to the SPDC junta.

India has pledged to invest 150 million dollars for gas exploration in Myanmar, a statement here said Monday, as pro-democracy protests in its junta-ruled neighbour swelled to 100,000 people.

Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora witnessed the signing of three accords between state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and its counterpart the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise on Sunday at Nay Pyi Taw, the administrative capital of Myanmar, the ONGC statement said.

So if you're going to "hold Hu Jintao accountable" for any bloodshed, how about adding Manmohan Singh to the list as well. Not to mention Vladimir Putin. And see also.

Comments

[Igor Belanov]

Similarly, the Polish crisis of the early 80's started with a revolt against state-imposed price rises in accordance with market norms, and a reduction in subsidies. This too was forgotten in the rush to portray the movement as a purely democratic one. One of the demands of the striking workers was the lowering of the retirement age to 50, something that would have been laughed at in the capitalist West. Jaruzelski basically enforced 'shock therapy' in Poland, a programme that would have been enthusiastically welcomed by the US and UK if it had taken place in a capitalist country.