‘I Wanted Democracy’
On Oct. 16 he was handcuffed and moved to Insein Prison, one of Asia's most notorious criminal warehouses, leaving 50 or 60 other monks behind at the technical institute. "That frightened me, because at least at GTI, I thought I might be released. When they moved me to Insein, I assumed I was not going to be released, and so I made up my mind about that."
He saw a number of prominent dissidents at Insein, including Min Ko Naing of the '88 Students Generation, a reference to students who demonstrated in 1988, when the regime killed 3,000 people in a crackdown.
"I yearned to say I was an organizer of the protests," he says with a note of regret. "But finally I told guards I just went along because others were doing it. You see, I wanted to continue my studies and I was concerned about my health. I knew if I told them that, I'd be in jail forever."
He says he never saw any beatings personally, but he did see fellow monks bleeding from wounds to their heads and bodies. He is fatalistic. "From the beginning I did not expect we would get what we wanted: justice," he says. "I know the military will never give up power. I was upset and angry [about the crackdown], but never surprised."
He and 17 other monks were released Oct. 18.
© 2007
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Member Comments
Posted By: BarryWadsworth @ 11/22/2007 9:11:25 AM
Comment: It is terrible tragedy that the Chinese Communist Party oppresses the Tibetan people while the Burmese junta oppresses the monks of Burma. As an American Buddhist, I look to some of the monastary meditation centers in Burma as world treasures that should not be subject to such harshness and injustice. The culture of Tibet is also a world treasure, but it is being diluted and washed away by a tide of Chinese immigrants with no interest in Tibetan culture. Yet the Dalai Lama rightly continues to oppose the Party. The strength of Buddhism is in its unwavering dedication to peace and harmony, not just for oneself, but even for those that oppress us. I personally feel that the Buddhist practice of Metta (loving-kindness) meditation would go much further to loosen the grip of these oppressors than any kind of direct confrontation. I hope that next time, the monks of Burma organize huge meditation retreats instead of taking to the streets. Then, the Burmese junta would see the real value and strength of those that they would disrobe.
Posted By: Tears4Burma @ 11/21/2007 2:57:01 PM
Comment: No justice no peace. Nothing but despair on my mind, for I too know there will never be change nor freedom in Burma. The U.N, is useless, and the people of Burma continue to suffer and wither away, while the world "watches" every twenty years.