Sunday, September 27, 2009

Burmese recall Saffron Revolution 2 yrs later

Than Lwin Htun, VOA
At the end of September two years ago, Burma's military government ordered troops to crush pro-democracy demon-strations led by monks. As the second anniversary of the demonstrations approaches, security forces in Burma's largest city, Rangoon, are on high alert to prevent a repeat of the Saffron Revolution, named after the robes worn by the monks who led the movement.

But as we learn in the following report, some of which contains video smuggled to VOA from inside Burma, the country's pro-democracy forces want to ensure that the Burmese people, and their government, remember what happened two years ago. Kaye Lin of VOA's Burmese Service narrates the story.

Security is tight in the city of Rangoon and the streets are quiet, very different from how they were two years ago, when tens of thousands of people marched in the streets calling for an end to military rule. At the forefront of the demonstrations were Bud-dhist monks, who chanted prayers, or metta, for the success of the demonstrations. "All peacefully get together and march. With metta ["loving kindness"] meditation, we will help each other. I will also be there," said a monk. More>>