Oppositional monks of Burma
2008-08-07
On the 26th of September 2007, the world's eyes suddenly turned to the isolated military dictatorship of Burma. An uprising for democracy, lead by Buddhist monks, was brutally hit down by the government. One year after the protests, the streets of Rangoon are calm but mentally insecure. Anyone might be a spy. You say P instead of politics, and The Lady instead of Aung San Suu Kyi. Most of the oppositional monk leaders fled to far off monasteries or abroad. If they get caught, meeting journalists may send them to prison or punishments even worse, both for them, their families and fellow monks. However, many monasteries continue boycotting the junta by rejecting gifts from military employees. The monks support democracy by offering free education and by helping poor people where the government makes no efforts at all. They open orphanages for children affected by the cyclone Nargis, which killed 140.000 in may 2008. A new uprising is planned before 2010, but the movement is forced to work slowly and underground.
Photos by Moa Karlberg.