Monks demonstrate over media, U Wirathu bombing
By Phyo Wai Kyaw and Hlaing Kyaw Soe and Hlaing Kyaw Soe | Sunday, 11 August 2013Hundreds of monks in Mandalay staged an illegal demonstration last week, calling for "fairer" treatment in the international media and an end to terrorist acts.
Monks demonstrate on Mandalay's 38th Street on August 6. (Phyo Wai Kyaw/The Myanmar Times)
Sayadaw U Tilawka from Mingun Monastery said the August 6 protest was organised in response to Time magazine's July 1 "Face of Buddhist Terror" cover and the detonating of a bomb near where U Wirathu was giving a sermon on July 21.
"We are not just protesting on behalf of Buddhism. We are against terrorism all around the world," U Tilawka said.
Carrying banners with photos of Time journalist Hannah Beech and messages such as, "The New York Time magazine must apologize to Theravada Buddhist monks in public," the monks walked from U Pesi Pagoda in Maha Aung Myay township to Mahamuni Pagoda. The march took about one hour and the monks then dispersed peacefully.
While the monks applied for permission to stage the rally, their application was rejected by local authorities on the grounds that the government had already expressed its unhappiness with the Time article and therefore the protest was not needed. About 500 monks went ahead and protested anyway.
"We asked permission but the authorities in Maha Aung Myay township did not allow it. However, we already decided to demonstrate and made arrangements for it so we marched [anyway]," U Tilawka said.
Before the protest began, Mandalay district administrator U Tin Zaw Moe explained to the monks why the application had been rejected. "We are just requesting [that you do not protest] but it is up to you whether you protest or not. I am afraid that it would create more problems if you do it without permission," U Tin Zaw Moe said.
Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/08/12/monks-demonstrate-over-media-u-wirathu-bombing/
No comments:
Post a Comment