Opposing forces: The generals and the monks

Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi
Friday September 28, 2007
The Guardian

The man who would be king

It is a shadowy, eccentric junta that rules Burma. Led by General Than Swe, a high-school dropout who has pretensions to being the country's next monarch, the army spreads paranoia and fear.

Gen Swe's ambitions first surfaced in 2005 when he emerged as the driving force behind the bizarre decision to move the national capital 400km north from Rangoon to Naypyidaw - which means Abode of Kings - in 2005. From behind a heavily fortified compound, rising out of thick tropical scrub, emerge persistent rumours that the country's long-abolished monarchy would be reconstituted. Than Swe would become king.

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Seen as clever and superstitious, Gen Swe's reputation became tabloid fodder when a video of his daughter's wedding began to circulate on the internet. The footage shows Thandar Shwe covered in diamond-encrusted jewellery and designer clothing. She received wedding gifts worth $50m (£25m)- in a country where per capita income is $200 a year.

In Burma's intensely hierarchical system, the 74-year-old is the paramount leader. His ruthless streak is such that he toppled his prime minister Khin Nyunt in 2004 because he was seen as becoming too "pragmatic" when dealing with pro-democracy activists.

The only man considered more hardline than Gen Swe in Burma is his deputy: 69-year-old Gen Maung Aye. He made his name in a reign of terror against ethnic minorities and communists. Gen Swe has spent most of the last few years cultivating the third in line, Gen Swe Mann. Significantly, the prime minister, Lt Gen Soe Win, is thought to be terminally ill in a Singapore hospital.

The army can call on almost 500,000 troops and the official line is that only the military can bind the country together and develop its economy. The leadership has just finished a national convention, the first of seven promised steps to democracy. This event began in 1993 and the result is a constitution that guarantees the military control over the cabinet.

Revered challenger to regime

The Buddhist clergy are revered in Burma and represent the only institution that has not been co-opted by the military. There are an estimated half a million monks and novices in the country, comprising the sole organisation that compares to the armed forces in terms of scale.

The number of monks and nuns is so large because Burmese society expects every person to renounce material ways for at least seven days in their life. The Burmese often don robes for a few years, living without money and in a temple complex, before returning to more worldly pursuits. A monk survives by begging for alms.

The latest non-violent protest has seen the clergy boycott donations from the military regime, a serious loss of face in the country. The ban extends to refusing to conduct funeral and wedding services for soldiers and their families. More than 85% of Burmese people are Buddhists, with the poor being among the most faithful adherents - because temple monks run the only schools in rural areas. Monasteries also often provide money for medicines and offer meals for the destitute.

Priests have a long history of joining the country's political struggles, from the fight against British colonial rule to the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 that was crushed by the army.

The impoverishment of Burma has been the spark that appears to have lit the conscience of the religious orders. Monks have demanded an instant reduction in fuel prices, the release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and a swift move to democracy.

Formation of the All Burma Monks Alliance, whose leadership is unknown, to head the non-violent protest is a sign that the clergy is again prepared to take on the country's leaders in the name of freedom.