|
Marxism and
the Monks
By J. Damu
AP headline October 8, 2007:
Burmese junta says guns found in monasteries
Not since Thich Quang Duc sat
down in the middle of a busy Saigon intersection on July
16, 1963 and engulfed himself in flames to protest the
anti-Buddhist policies of the corrupt Ngo regime have
Buddhist monks attracted such international attention as
is now being focused on those in Burma.
Unlike the monks of Viet Nam
however, who had almost no political influence in the
cities, the Burmese monks, among Burma’s most respected
citizens, have a long historical record of radical
activism, often marked by influences of various strains
of Marxism over the past numerous decades.
Though monks today would
probably not credit any form of Marxism as an
inspiration, the fact that within the Burmese
monasteries reside the closely guarded flames of
democracy that have all been but extinguished on the
outside, belies their great radical tradition.
From the late 1940’s until at
least the 1988 a great latitude existed within the
Buddhist communities regarding the question of
communism. Many monks, like many Burmese citizens,
became keen students of Marxism.
Former monks, writes Martin
Smith in his gold-standard work, Burma: Insurgency
and the Politics of Ethnicity, say they were
initially attracted by the Buddhist laws of change and
Marxist discussion of materialism, which they saw as
similar to Buddhist self-denial. Marxism with its
moralistic slogans was seen as easily fitting into the
Burmese educational systems.
In addition many monks were
attracted to the ideals of social justice and national
liberation.
Prior to the penetration of
Burma by English imperialists following the period of
the Three Wars during the 19th Century, all
Burmese male youths were required to spend two years as
members of a monastery. During these years they were
taught to read and write which resulted in Burma having
one of the highest literacy rates in the world. It was
also common practice, before the arrival of the British,
for the monks to act as mediators between villages and
feudal princes when the people felt that taxes were too
high.
In modern times however,
militant Buddhism dates back to the anti-British
resistance in the 1880’s and the anti-colonial movement
led by U Ottoma and Saya San in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
Ottoma’s first anti-colonial effort, after returning
from study in India, was the creation of the successful
“Remove Your Shoes” campaign. This campaign was directed
towards Europeans who until that time exhibited
disrespect and contempt for the Burmans by refusing to
remove their shoes when entering Buddhist pagodas and
shrines.
Historically, it was the first
clear victory won by means of mass protest and action in
Burma, and it gave a great impetus to the growing
national awareness.
During World War II the
movement for national independence fully developed with
many organizations outside the walls of the monasteries
taking the leading role. First among these organizations
were the Communist Party of Burma and the Anti-Fascist
People’s Liberation Organization, headed by Aung San,
who was assassinated in 1947.
Aung San was the father of
Aung San Suu Kyi, the currently recognized leader of
Burma’s pro-democracy movement.
Immediately after WWII, the
CP, which enjoyed much support from the monks, went
through a period of cleansing itself of the effects of
Browderism that had prevented it from vigorously
pursuing national independence.
Earl Browder was the head of
the American Communist Party who had argued that world
imperialism had been so weakened by the world war that
normal means of the class struggle would be unnecessary,
a message apparently delivered to the Burmese by way of
the Marxist movement through London.
However, the most striking
example of Buddhist militancy since the 1947
independence was the rise of the left wing Yahanpyo
movement, popular among young monks in Mandalay. In the
1950’s it was run along military lines and monks were
allowed to keep weapons in their monasteries. Also
during those years monks turned up at fairs and public
meetings to act as unofficial policemen.
Finally in 1988 during the
great social upheavals that led to the positioning of
the current military junta that has refused to recognize
the democratic election of Aung San Suu Kyi Burma’s
estimated 150,000 monks, including the long suppressed
Yahanpyo order, again took to the streets to police the
great pro-democracy demonstrations. In Mandalay alone
the monks were credited with mobilizing 100,000 people.
The Thayetta monastery in Rangoon was turned into a
virtual fortress when it became one of the main centers
of the democracy movement.
Smith writes that well in to
the 1990’s, the Buddhist monasteries continued to keep
alive the ideals of democracy long after many of the
democracy protests and organizations had been crushed.
What is now needed is for the
world to step up its support for the pro-democracy
forces in Burma. But successful or not there is little
doubt the monks will continue to shelter and breathe
life on the flame of justice in Burma.
* *
* * *
posted 8 October 2007 |
