Saffron revolution
Sian Powell | September 27, 2007
THE tyrants of Burma have lashed out at the protesters, but the time for democracy finally may have arrived, writes Sian Powell.
IT didn’t take long for the Burmese junta to show its teeth. Eight days of protests had passed without reprisals; mass marches of 100,000 people led by barefoot monks in saffron robes, chanting Buddhist mantras.
But on the ninth day the Burmese military finally pounced, firing shots in the air, using batons and tear gas to subdue dissidents, and arresting an estimated 100 democracy aspirants.
A sense of the tension can be heard in one young Burmese journalist’s voice. She is excited by the prospect of change and terrified of the Burmese authorities. She knows exactly how oppressive the anachronistic and strangely named State Peace and Development Council has been.
Her homeland has quietly endured decades of misery, torture, abuse and the long incarceration of the beloved National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We have to wait and see,” the journalist says, preferring to keep her identity a secret to avoid reprisals.
The mood in Rangoon oscillates between hope and fear. “So far, we have to be pleased about it,” she says. “The monks, they are very brave. They are chanting mantras, Buddhist teachings, they are not talking about political matters.” She will not be writing the truth about the protests, she says. “Anything written, it will be rejected.”
Following in the footsteps of the rain-sodden monks who have taken to the streets of Rangoon in their thousands, several international figures have pushed for change in Burma. [more]