Burmese Monks Mad At Junta

Make no mistake about what ideology the "Junta" hold to. These fellows were all a happy bunch of pals with the Viet Cong, The Khmer Rouge, The Laos Revolutionaries and their fellow travellers in the West all clapped their collective hands together in when another country became a Peoples Republic.

Let's see how well its working out now.

Myanmar monks seek apology from junta

Buddhist monks in military-ruled Myanmar have threatened to stop accepting alms from soldiers unless the junta apologises for beating the clergy last week, reports from dissident media said Tuesday.

A boycott of alms from soldiers would be a serious protest toward the military since giving donations to monks is an important spiritual duty for devout Buddhists. The Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine reported that a group calling itself the “Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks” was distributing a leaflet calling for the boycott unless the junta issues an apology by September 17.

Exiled dissidents have reported that several new groups of monks have formed to make similar demands of the military, but it is impossible to confirm their existence inside the country. Few monks are willing to speak openly about politics and the military has cut the phone lines of several key pro-democracy supporters. Myanmar’s influential clergy was enraged last Wednesday when soldiers and state-backed militia beat a crowd of some 300 monks who were protesting in the central city of Pakokku. The following day, the monks held a group of 20 government officials hostage for several hours and then trashed a store and a home belonging to militia leaders.