(Hong Kong, September 20, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Thursday urged the Buddhist community worldwide to join with monks in Burma and boycott anybody from or associated with its military regime.
“We urge the honourable members of the Sangha (Buddhist community) everywhere to follow the example set by their counterparts in Burma and formally declare that they will not accept alms from representatives of the military government, including staff of Burmese embassies and consulates, or persons directly associated with it,” Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights group, said.
The call followed three days of marches by thousands of Buddhist monks around Burma, after a demand from the union in Mandalay that the government authorities apologise for a September 5 assault on monks that were demonstrating against sudden price rises of fuels in August.
One is alleged to have died from the assault.
Monks in numerous parts of the country, including Rangoon, Pegu, Mandalay, Sittwe and Mogoke, have also since Monday held ceremonies to declare a boycott against all members of the military regime and their associates.
The declaration of a boycott, which is decided in accordance with an ancient code of discipline, means that the monks will neither accept donations nor preach or preside over ceremonies where members of the junta, army personnel and others are participating.?
“It is important for persons abroad to understand the tremendous significance of this act, socially, culturally, religiously and psychologically,” Fernando said.
“It is not done lightly or casually–it is an established and final recourse of action for the Sangha when its members feel that a transgression against it is so grievous that it can no longer be tolerated,” he explained.
The boycott, which is known in Pali as “patta-nikkujjana”, or “overturning the alms bowl”, can be initiated under specific circumstances, such as where lives of monks are deliberately put in danger, as occurred at Pakkoku.
Under the monks’ code of discipline, the Vinaya Pitaka, it must be formally agreed upon and announced in assemblies.
The AHRC has obtained a recording of one of the gatherings to declare the boycott, at midday on Tuesday, in Rangoon.
The recording can be heard at: http://burma.ahrchk.net/wav/20070918_Boycott.wav.
A transcript of the Pali recitation heard on the recording follows.
A translation of the Burmese version of the recitation can be read at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/1203
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Fernando said that he hoped that members of the worldwide Sangha would be moved to understand and support their peers in Burma, and that others too would grasp the significance of the step and lend support.
“In particular we want to urge the Sangha in other predominantly Buddhist countries, especially Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka, to pay special heed to what has been happening in Burma,” he said.
“People in the birthplace of Buddhism too, India, a neighbouring country that has failed in recent years to do anything to support human rights in Burma, should take a long hard look at what is happening there and get involved,” the AHRC director urged.
Those in other countries and of other faiths too should find the recent events of special interest, Fernando added.
“It is important to understand that the boycott is done with compassion, in order that the person or persons who have transgressed learn the error of their ways and mend them,” Fernando noted.
“It can be reversed at any time if they do so–it is not permanent,” he added.
The monks joining marches in recent days had also been chanting prayers of loving-kindness, he noted, which extend across the whole world and not only the boundaries of Burma and its Buddhist community.
“In recent times, prayer campaigners in Burma have prayed not only for their own people but for those of other creeds and faiths, such as a group of Koreans abducted in Afghanistan,” Fernando said.
“Now there is a wonderful opportunity for people of all different religious faiths to return their blessings and pray for the monks and their followers in Burma, each according to their own practices and beliefs,” he observed.
The last time that the monkhood in Burma declared a boycott on the military government, in 1990, they were met with a ferocious crackdown. Dozens were killed, hundreds were disrobed and jailed, and new disciplinary committees set up to monitor the monasteries.
“The monks are clearly demonstrating against what has been happening in their country but trying to avoid bloodshed at all costs,” Fernando said, pointing out that they had been preventing large crowds from gathering around them or walking with them, which may be used as a pretext for violence by the regime.
The AHRC has set up a webpage with resources on the ongoing protests in Burma: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/
TEXT OF PALI RECITAL AT A PATTA-NIKKUJJANA CEREMONY IN RANGOON ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2007*
Sunâtu me bante Samgho; candâ ruddhâ rabasâ vihesakâ adayâlukâ mahâcorayodharâjâno Pakokku-nagare ekam beikkhum marenti Samgha?ca bhandhanti vihetthenti akkosanti paribâsanti, yadi Samghassa battakallam Samgho candânam ruddhânam rabasânam vihesakânam adayâlukânam mahâcorayodharâjûnam pattam nikkujjeyya, asambogam Sanghena kareyya, esâ ûtti.
Sunâtu me bante Samgho; candâ ruddhâ rabasâ vihesakâ adayâlukâ mahâcorayodharâjâno Pakokku-nagare ekam beikkhum marenti Samgha?ca bhandhanti vihetthenti akkosanti paribâsanti, Samgho candânam ruddhânam rabasânam vihesakânam adayâlukânam mahâcorayodharâjûnam pattam nikkujjati, asambogam Sanghena karoti, yassâyasamato khamati candânam ruddhânam rabasânam vihesakânam adayâlukânam mahâcorayodharâjûnam pattam nikkujjanâ, asambogam Sanghena karanam, so tunhassa, yassa nagkhamati, so baseyya.
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Nikkujjito Sanghena candânam ruddhânam rabasânam vihesakânam adayâlukânam mahâcorayodharâjûnam patto, asambogo Sanghena, khamati Sanghassa, tasmâ tunhî evametam dharayâmi.
* We apologise that some diacritical marks ordinarily used to distinguish between different consonants are missing from this transcription due to their absence from the standard Roman fonts.?
