Pagodas have a historic place in the fight for democracy

October 15, Irrawaddy
Shah Paung

Burma’s pagodas have always served as a safe haven for Burmese people to
gather. Until now, that is.

The troops who raided Rangoon’s most sacred monasteries, tramping through
them in heavy boots, beating and arresting the monks, are now firmly in
control. Pilgrims and other visitors are staying away, silence reigns.

Residents report that troops are stationed at Rangoon’s two most famous
pagodas and rallying centers during the recent demonstrations, the
Shwedagon Pagoda in Bahan Township, and Sule Pagoda, in the city center.
There is also a strong troop presence at Kyaikkasan Pagoda in Thingangyun
Township, where many monks were rounded up in the crackdown and several
were reported to have died.

Local people say that about 15 military trucks packed with soldiers
recently drove up to Kyaikkasan Pagoda and sealed it off, leaving only one
entrance still open.

Residents said most of the troops stationed at the Sule Pagoda had been
redeployed at the Kyaikkasan Pagoda. Troops had also been stationed at the
Damayones religious hall, where pilgrims gather for Buddhist rites.

“The troops are taking over the pagodas,” a woman resident said, “It is as
if they are guarding them like internment camps.”

Residents pointed out that even during the colonial era, political
gatherings had been allowed at Rangoon’s Shwedagon Pagoda.

In 1920, university students gathered at a pavilion at the southwest
corner of the Shwedagon Pagoda and planned the strike against the new
University Act which grew into a mass protest movement. The strike
resulted in the establishment of a national education system financed and
run by the Burmese.

A second strike by university students in 1936 was centered at the
Shwedagon Pagoda.

In 1938, striking workers from the oilfields of Chauk and Yenangyaung
Townships, Magwe Division, set up camp at the Shwedagon Pagoda. The strike
grew into what became known as the “1300 Revolution.”