Burma Media Claims Monks Possessed Weapons, Pornography

The Irrawaddy
by Wai Moe
October 8, 2007

Burma’s state-run media on Monday accused monks of stockpiling weapons and possessing pornographic material following a series of raids on Buddhist monasteries in Rangoon.

The Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks, which led recent protests, rejected the allegations as false.

U Gambira, one of the leaders of the monk alliance who is being sought by the military, told The Irrawaddy on Monday the charges are government propaganda.

According to The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece of the junta, the raids on the monasteries turned up 18 knives, one axe, slingshots and one 9mm bullet.

“It is regrettable that the operation revealed that in some monasteries, women sleep in the buildings where monks reside and 42 uncensored pornographic VCDs and one uncensored pornographic DVD were found,” the newspaper said.

The government threatened to punish any monk who violates the law, while continuing its search for four monks who chair the alliance of monks, which issued a number of important nationwide announcements during the demonstrations.

The four monks, U Gambira, U Vicitta, U Obhasa and U Padaka, are in hiding.

From his hiding place, U Gambira told The Irrawaddy the Burmese government is engaged in “psychological warfare" to discredit the Sangha, and the monastery raids and arrests are a great mistake.

“They are now accusing us with lies," he said. "Their mistakes make us pity them because they do not know or see the truth. This kind of propaganda cannot end the problems or the public anger.”

The international community's increasing pressure on the military junta, he said, is karma which is coming back to the junta because of its past bad actions.

“Today the crisis in Burma is a conflict between justice and injustice," he said. "When light comes to Burma, all [unjust acts] will be gone. We all must be united.”

U Gambira said he was disappointed with the UN Security Council and words cannot stop the cruel acts of the junta. If the UN envoy wants to know the reality of the crackdowns, U Gambira said, he must go to the monasteries that were raided.

“Gambari (the UN special envoy to Burma) is not bad, but I do not think he is clever enough to resolve Burma’s crisis,” he said.

Also on Monday, Han Thar Myint of the National League for Democracy in Rangoon said there is an historical relationship between the military and monks.

“But now that they've used brutal force on the monks, it's not good for Burma’s future,” he said.

A Burmese scholar at Assumption University in Bangkok, who asked not to be identified, said the Burmese people won't be taken in by the media reports.

"The junta sees anyone who is thought to threaten their power as an enemy," she said. "The junta does not divide between civilian or monk.

“There were tears in my eyes when I saw and heard about the crackdown on protesting monks. I could not believe what the army had done.”

Since September 26, at least 48 monasteries have been raided by soldiers, according to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). The group said monks under detention are being humiliated, disrobed and not given food or medicine.

A Rangoon resident told The Irrawaddy that the protest will not end.

“A monk was arrested [in Dagon New Township (south)] on October 6 because of reading a cartoon,” he said. “People are still angry because the army killed and used violence against monks. So protests will not end yet.”

According to Rangoon sources, at least eight monks are being sought by police, and monastery raids continue. on October 6, at least two monasteries in Rangoon were raided. Township authorities and security forces are searching for people shown in photographs taken during the protests.

An unknown number of people who were arrested during the protests have been released from detention, but sources say they are required to sign-in at the office of township authorities.