Rev. Danny Fisher

Our coverage of the situation in Myanmar continues…

The Associated Press is reporting that several hundred Theravāda Buddhist monks demonstrated at Shwedagon Pagoda today, continuing the widespread demonstrations against the military junta in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Military officials had closed the gates of Shwedagon earlier this week in an attempt to keep the monks from demonstrating there.

It was the third straight day the monks have gathered at the golden hilltop Shwedagon pagoda, which dominates the country’s biggest city, Yangon. The gates have been locked to them, sending them off on marches through the city on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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200 monks were at the Shwedagon in the early afternoon, and about 400 monks were marching toward the temple in an orderly procession from Yangon’s northeastern township of Yankin, led by three carrying religious flags. Both groups chanted two sermons, one associated with warding off misfortune and the other a wish for the well-being of all people.
Onlookers accorded the monks respect by making the traditional Buddhist gesture of hands clasped together in front of bowed heads.

In the Buddhist fashion of avoiding direct secular entanglements, the monks are making no explicit anti-government gestures, but their message is unmistakable to fellow citizens, because their normal duties outside their monasteries involve making morning rounds with begging bowls, individually or in small groups. They march calmly in long processions, two by two, though the city streets.

On Wednesday, a large crowd cheered as monks briefly occupied another pagoda in Yangon, during one of several marches around the country. The monks pushed past closed gates to occupy the Sule pagoda for 30 minutes before returning peacefully to their monasteries, witnesses said.

Reuters also published an excellent piece today explaining why the junta would be so worried about the activity of the monks.

In more and more monasteries across the former Burma, maroon-robed monks are invoking a 2,500-year-old Buddhist rite and refusing to accept alms from members of the military and their families or perform any religious duties for them.

The boycott is taken very seriously in the deeply devout Buddhist country, as the spurned alms-giver is denied one of the main routes to the merit that will eventually help him or her to achieve nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth.

Known as “patam nikkuijana kamma” in Pali, the ancient language of the Theravada Buddhist priesthood, it means “turning over of the alms bowl.”

Politically, it is also extremely significant as the monks were major players in a nationwide uprising against decades of military rule in 1988. Then, the army was sent in to crush the unrest with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives.

Two years later, during a similar boycott sparked by the junta’s refusal to honor the results of elections it lost by a landslide, some soldiers had to welcome the birth of children or bury loved ones without the blessing of priests.

The boycott is similar to the Christian notion of excommunication, although can be reversed at any point if the perceived wrong-doers mend their ways.

“Only under the most compelling moral circumstances will a monk refuse the alms that have been offered, as to do so is to refuse to acknowledge the alms-giver as a part of the religious community,” the Asian Human Rights Commission said.

“However, the view of monks in Burma today is that such an extraordinary moment has arrived.”

Lastly, below is a piece about this week’s protests in Myanmar from B.B.C. World.

Erin Brockovich-Ellis (yes, that Erin Brockovich) wrote an email today on behalf of Friends of the Earth. It reads in part:

There is a river in Greece providing toxic drinking water to tens of thousands of people, who are getting sick and dying at alarming rates.

Indeed, the Asopos River is so polluted with highly toxic hexavalent chromium, or Chromium 6–over 400,000 times the amount that should be in groundwater–that the river is running red! This is the result of more than 85 industries operating and polluting along the river with virtually no oversight.

Astoundingly, the government now designates the Asopos not as a river, but a “sludge tube!” You can imagine how those dying from the pollution feel about drinking from a sludge tube.

It is an outrage, and yet, inaction is the kindest way to describe the Greek government’s response to this situation. People from the town of Oinofyta are still drinking water from this river despite the many months that have passed since tests revealed the Chromium 6 dangers.

In fact, over 32 percent of deaths in this village are now from cancer, where that rate used to be around six percent.

People are dying from a preventable and fixable situation in a modern nation.

I beg you, send a message to the U.S. Ambassador to Greece demanding pressure be applied to the Greek government to provide a new water source for those living off the Asopos and to enforce laws on the books meant to regulate the over 85 industries operating on the river.

Friends of the Earth will copy the Greek government so that it knows that Americans are paying attention. Friends of the Earth is also going to carry out similar actions in nations around Europe, so Americans won’t be alone in applying this international pressure.

If you saw the wonderful film Erin Brockovich, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Julia Roberts, you might remember that Mrs. Brockovich-Ellis was the one who discovered that the levels of hexavalent chromium in the groundwater at Hinkley, CA, were far beyond the minimum level set by the Environmental Protection Agency. What’s more, she and her employer (the late attorney Edward L. Masry) were able to show that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company knowingly contaminated the groundwater and then lied about it to the local people. The case ended in 1996 with a settlement of $333 million–still the largest amount ever paid out in a direct action lawsuit in United States history.

To send a message to the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, just follow this link.

The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, a widespread campaign of Indian “untouchables” for full human rights, has just been awarded the 2007 Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for Human Rights.

In the last fifty years, the Dalits have had an association with Buddhism because of the late Dalit leader B.R. Ambedkar’s conversion to the religion and his encouragement of other Dalits to do the same. Dalit Buddhist conversions are still practised today, and the Dalit Buddhist movement is quite visible.

Here is what the Board of the Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights had to say:

The Board of the Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights awards the 2007 Rafto Prize to the Indian organisation The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (N.C.D.H.R.). Millions of Indians are born into a social and cultural system which fundamentally conflicts with the notion that all human beings are born free with equal rights. The N.C.D.H.R. receives the 2007 Rafto Prize for its brave struggle to promote Dalit rights, and for its efforts to emphasise that the discrimination and oppression resulting from caste prejudice is a serious violation of international human rights.

Of India’s 1 billion citizens, 167 million are labelled as ‘impure’,‘casteless’ or ‘untouchable’. These people have named themselves Dalits, meaning ‘the oppressed’. The identity of the Dalit people, and their struggle for dignity and basic human rights, has been formed through thousands of years of humiliation, discrimination, and exclusion.

Dalits are refused equal access to education and health services, experience harsh discrimination in social and religious life, and are excluded from all but the most menial of jobs. In many areas, Dalits have their property taken away from them, and are forced to relocate to other villages and towns against their will. Every day, the Indian police and the judicial system turn a blind eye while Dalits are subjected to caste-motivated murder, rape, and harassment.

The caste system is an intrinsic part of Hinduism, the world oldest religion, and the dominant faith in India. According to the teachings of Hinduism, all individuals are born into a caste which awards them different status and defines their opportunities in life. Caste discrimination is also a problem within other religions. An example of this is Christian churches discriminating against Christian Dalits through allocating separate mass and burial grounds for them.

The N.C.D.H.R. was established in 1998 by a group of human rights organisations and activists concerned with the status of Dalits’ rights in India. N.C.D.H.R.’s efforts include documenting human rights violations, providing legal assistance to victims of discrimination and atrocities, and lobbying national and internationally. The organisation has led a successful campaign to raise awareness of the Dalits’ plight and discrimination they suffer. N.C.D.H.R.’s struggle has been instrumental in mobilising international human rights organisations to combat caste-based discrimination both in India and neighbouring South-East Asian countries.

N.C.D.H.R. has developed a wide support network of volunteers, organisations and groups throughout India. In cooperation with local organisations they have established committees to monitor the Dalits’ circumstances. However, its work in challenging prejudices and social structures has its price. N.C.D.H.R. activists have been taken into custody by the police, in an attempt to threaten them into silence. Also, international activists fighting for the Dalit cause are being denied entry into India because of their work.

This year, India, the world’s largest democracy, celebrates its 60th year of independence. The country’s constitution clearly states that discrimination based on religion, sex or caste is prohibited, yet the Dalits continue to face systematic discrimination in all spheres of Indian society. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956), who was himself a Dalit and the architect behind the Indian Constitution, conceded that, “Rights are protected not by laws, but by the social and moral conscience of society”.

India’s efforts to enforce laws that are meant to protect Dalits are severely flawed. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh became the first leader of his country to compare the condition of Dalits with that of black South Africans under apartheid. India must prioritise the fight against the oppression of Dalits and other marginalised groups, and ensure an end to the systematic violation of human rights.

The European Union has an important role to play in eliminating caste discrimination. The E.U. should utilise all relevant U.N. and other forums to urgently raise awareness for the issue and to develop appropriate action. It should adopt a policy commitment at the highest level which obliges the E.U. and its member states to challenge the governments of afflicted countries and support them to end this form of discrimination. The issue should be prioritised during all human rights and political dialogues with leaders of these countries, and in particular at E.U.-India summits. Furthermore, the E.U. should instigate cooperation between member states to arrange for development support to reach the Dalits, ensuring non-discrimination in this action.

The Rafto Foundation encourages Norwegian authorities to address caste discrimination through their bilateral cooperation with India, and neighbouring countries. Many people in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka face a similar discrimination based on their heritage, religion and profession. Norway must support and champion initiatives in the UN which focus on the caste issue, and develop policies aimed at eliminating this form of discrimination.

Norwegian and international companies investing in, and trading with, India and its South-East Asian neighbours have a responsibility to counteract the caste discrimination prevalent within the labour market. These companies should follow the employment and hiring guidelines aimed at fighting economic and social exclusion, as outlined in the Ambedkar Principles.

The oppression experienced by the Dalits today indicates that respect for human rights cannot be taken for granted, even in democracies such as India, which is a signatory to most international human rights conventions.

In a post from just the other day, I talked about all of the recent protest activity by Theravāda Buddhist monks against the military junta in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Here’s the latest from Reuters:

Myanmar’s military junta said on Wednesday it had used tear gas and fired warning shots to disperse a crowd of 1,000 Buddhist monks and civilians protesting in the northwestern coastal city of Sittwe.

The admission on state-owned MRTV and in official newspapers was a thinly veiled warning to the former Burma’s 53 million people after a month of protests against decades of military rule and soaring fuel and food prices.

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Although Tuesday’s marches fell far short of a nationwide boycott [of alms from those affiliated to the junta], monks marched in seven towns and cities, including Yangon, the commercial hub of one of Asia’s brightest prospects when it won independence from Britain in 1948.

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In Yangon, authorities closed the famed Shwedagon Pagoda, the Southeast Asian nation’s holiest shrine, minutes before hundreds of monks arrived for the formal launch of a campaign to refuse to accept alms from anyone connected to the regime.

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Plainclothes police and USDA members shadowed the monks along their route, taking photographs and video, but there was no trouble and no arrests, witnesses said.

Amazingly, within hours of the crowd dispersion, the monks in Sittwe were right back at it again.

Nearly 1,000 Buddhist monks marched through the Myanmar city of Sittwe on Wednesday, a day after soldiers fired tear gas and warning shots to scatter a similar protest against the ruling generals, a witness said.

Urging thousands of bystanders not to join in, they staged a sit-in outside the local government offices to demand the release of two men sentenced to two years in jail for giving water to monks protesting against soaring fuel prices last month.

After several hours of talks, officials agreed to release the pair–identified by a legal source as Maung Saw Thein, 40, and Han Min Lwin, 36–in three days. They are believed to be held in Yangon’s infamous Insein prison.

The monks then dispersed to cheers from the crowds. Three or four small monk protests in Yangon also ended without incident.

The outcome was very different in Sittwe on Tuesday when soldiers fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse a crowd of 1,000 monks and demonstrators. One witness told Reuters three or four monks were hit and slapped as they were arrested.

In the junta’s version of events–a rare report of unrest in the former Burma’s official papers–nine policemen and a civilian official were injured as a small number of protesters attacked local government offices.

“Some protesters, including six monks holding sticks and swords, hit the officials with their weapons,” the New Light of Myanmar said.

“In order to control the situation, the officials threw a tear gas bomb into the group and opened fire in the air to threaten them.”

Also yesterday, actor/comedian Jim Carrey released another video about Nobel Peace laureate and junta prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi for the U.S. Campaign for Burma and the Human Rights Action Center. (You might recall mention of Mr. Carrey’s last video here.) The junta has blamed Suu Kyi (among others) for the unrest in Myanmar. Anyway, please check out the video below.

A breaking story, courtesy of the Associated Press:

A soldier whose superior prevented him from holding a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing the Defense Department, claiming it violated his right to religious freedom.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleges a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military. It was filed Monday to coincide with the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Maj. Paul Welborne as defendants.

According to the filing, Spec. Jeremy Hall, a soldier assigned to Fort Riley’s 97th Military Police Battalion, received permission to distribute fliers around his base in Iraq for a meeting of atheists and non-Christians.

When he tried to convene the meeting, Hall claims, Welborne stepped in, threatening to file military charges against Hall and block his reenlistment.

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The lawsuit claims Hall was forced to “submit to a religious test as a qualification to his post as a soldier.”

Hall and the foundation are asking the court to block Welborne from establishing “compulsory religious practices” and order Gates to prevent Welborne from interfering with Hall’s free speech rights.