Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
Members of the Burmese community light a candle at a vigil to honour the sacrifice of Buddhist monks in recent pro-democracy protests in Burma. The vigil was held at Emancipation Park in New Kingston on Saturday night. - Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer
On Saturday sympathetic countries across the globe showed support for Burmese anti-government protests in rallies staged in 30 cities.
Home to some 300 Burmese expatriates, Jamaica was not left out. Kingston was one of those 30 cities that showed its support, as the Burmese community, religious and human rights groups and several ordinary Jamaicans, came out for a candlelight vigil in Emancipation Park, New Kingston, to honour Buddhist monks who sacrificed themselves in the recent pro-democracy protests.
Wearing anti-military symbols, Burmese expatriates used the opportunity to denounce the rule of the junta and advocate for the freedom of Burmese democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for some 16 years for her resistance to the military dictatorship.
"The junta refuses to accept democracy but democracy is in the heart of the people," one Burmese expatriate, Dr. Paw Tun, declared during the ceremony. Tun is a former Burma student council president who played an active part in the 1988 anti-government demonstrations that ended with the death of some 3,000 people after a military crackdown. He fled to Jamaica in 1996.
As many as 10 monks have been killed by the security forces in crackdowns in recent protests, while 10,000 persons - many of them monks - have been rounded up for interrogation.
Frustrated with the rule of the military, Buddhist monks joined the cause of former student activists and staged peaceful pro-democracy protests in the streets of the capital, Rangoon, in August this year, against a recent hike in fuel prices.
The former activists were recently freed after nearly 20 years of imprisonment for their role in the 1988 anti-government protests.
gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com
