Refuge in india

Refuge in India
A Report on the Saffron Revolution from Kolkata
by Ken and Visakha Kawasaki, Buddhist Relief Mission
“We made sacca-aditthana! We cannot stop this Saffron Revolution1 because we made sacca-aditthana!” Displaying rare emotion, as he talked with us in Kolkata, the saffron-robed monk clasped his hands together in a decisive gesture to affirm that, even though the monks’ demonstrations had been so violently suppressed, the leaders arrested, and dissent apparently crushed, the movement had not been abandoned. We realized that when he said “sacca-aditthana,” he meant the formal expression of resolve by the Sangha Sammagi (Monks’ Union) to continue their struggle until the junta changed. Sacca means truth, and adhitthana means unwavering determination. These are two of the great perfections (parami, in Pali, and paramita, in Sanskrit) to be practiced by all Buddhists and to be supremely developed by every Bodhisatta.
Over the years we have heard many moving interviews from Burmese students and refugees of the 88 generation, in which they described their anger at the junta’s brutality and their pain of being separated from their homes and their mothers. Ven. U Okkantha and Ven. Kavidhaja, an eighteen-year-old novice, who arrived together in Kolkata on February 16, however, spoke of the suffering of the people, their desperation, and their impossible burden. “After the price hikes2,” Ven. U Ottantha said, “ordinary people could not continue their lives at all. It was not even possible for them to offer food to us on our almsrounds.”
Ven. U Okkantha explained that the monks did not demonstrate until it was clear that the protests by the laypeople had proven ineffective. “That’s right,” Ven. Kavidhaja said. “The first demonstration by monks was on August 28 in the city of Sittwe in Arakan, and I took part in it. The Sittwe Township Sangha Council discussed the situation and, realizing that the monks were determined to demonstrate, decided to allow them to proceed in an organized manner. On the first day about one hundred monks gathered, and the number increased every day. I participated from the very beginning because the demonstrations were very near my temple. The demonstrations were strictly controlled by the Council, whose chairman was Ven. U Gandha of Gandharun Temple. I’m sure this is why there was no bloodshed in the demonstrations in Sittwe.”
Both the monk and the novice described the outrage that members of the Sangha all over Burma felt when several of the monks who had demonstrated in Pakkoku were bound to utility poles and viciously beaten “in broad daylight.” After that shocking behavior, they explained, the vast majority of the monks agreed, on September 10, that, in addition to lowering prices, the government must apologize to the Sangha. The government failed to meet any of those demands. “At that point,” Ven. U Okkantha said, “the Sangha decided that, on September 18, we had to begin patam nikkujjana kamma, that is, overturning our bowls to the military. We felt great joy when we chanted, ‘May all the people be free from worries. May the false SPDC fall down!’”
“We overturned the bowl in Sittwe, too,” said Ven. Kavidhaja. “On September 18, about 5000 monks, nuns, and novices participated in the patam nikkujjana kamma. Four monks and two laymen were arrested in front of the State Administrative Building. The next day 5000 members of the Sangha demonstrated to demand the release of those arrested, and they were released within one hour!
“The people seemed very happy to see us demonstrate. They really believed that there would be some changes. Some laypeople wanted to join the monks, but the leaders told them to stay away so that the military would not attack them. For the people in Burma, there is no security. They always have to fear something!”
“I think the protests began in Arakan” explained Ven. U Okkantha, “because, when petrol prices went up, the price of essentials rose faster in Arakan than in Yangon, where there were reserves, and the people in Western Burma suffered greater hardships. It is natural that when you suffer too much without hope of relief, it is the easier to revolt.”
Ven. U Okkantha was studying Pali with more than 80 other scholar monks and a few young novices under an elderly abbot in a monastery known as Rajgir in Yangon. Since his monastery was supported by the government, the abbot told all of his students to stay in the monastery, but, of course, all except the smallest novices joined the demonstrations anyway.
“Through the Burmese radio broadcasts of BBC, RFA, and DVB, we heard the announcement from the Young Monks’ Union to gather at the Eastern Gate of Shwedagon Pagoda on September 18. We had never been involved in politics, so some of the experienced students showed us what to do in case the soldiers used tear gas.”
“On that day it rained harder than I had ever seen. There were thousands of people and monks at the Eastern Gate. Even over the sound of the rain, we could hear the clapping of the people in support of us, and we were very pleased and excited.
“One day, we walked, three monks abreast, in front of the Embassies of the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. Lines of laypeople, their hands joined, accompanied us. As we recited the Metta Sutta, the people raised their hands, showing their respect.
“Another day, we gathered at Sule Pagoda, where Ven. Gambira and other senior monks gave speeches about the cruelties of the junta and urged us to continue our righteous campaign.
“I was also among those who went to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house. There were barricades and barbed wire in front of her house. The leading monks requested the posted soldiers to allow us to meet her just to recite the Metta Sutta. After the soldiers spoke to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for a few minutes, they opened a barricade and let us go near enough to see her. We chanted for about 10 minutes, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi held her hands respectfully the whole time. As soon as we finished, we turned back.
“We demonstrated every day, but didn’t see any soldiers until September 26. On that day, the actor Kyaw Thu, the comedian Zarganar, and their associates were making an offering to monks at Shwedagon Pagoda. As we were going to the pagoda, the soldiers ordered that no one was to offer alms to any demonstrating monks.‘All monks get on the bus!’ they shouted. ‘All others go away!’
“We knew that, if we got on the bus, they would take us to prison, so we ignored them, and went to Shewadagon Pagoda. When we came down from the Pagoda, we discovered that the army had completely surrounded it, and they didn’t allow us to leave. They tried to force us into the military buses. When we refused, they fired tear gas, charged us with lathis, and began shooting their automatic machine guns.
“Many monks and lay people began running and many were wounded. With my own eyes, I saw a senior monk die right there and the body a young girl who had been killed. This is the worst sight I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Ven. U Okkantha said that he saw no hesitation on the part of the soldiers to beat or to shoot monks. He said that all the soldiers spoke Burmese but that he could not believe that they were Buddhists.
He said that he had never thought of leaving Burma because he wanted very much to complete his studies. That night, however, the army began raiding monasteries at midnight, sweeping up all the monks. Eleven military vehicles arrived at his monastery, but all the monks had already escaped. “I slept at the house of a devotee that night. Many monasteries for Pali students were raided and innumerable scholar monks were taken away. I heard that they were forced to disrobe and were sent to prison.
“As soon as we could, my monk-friend and I secretly left Yangon for Arakan,” he continued. “There were many obstacles on the road, and it was very difficult to find a safe route to Ywama village in Than Kot. We wanted to go to Sittwe, but the only way to get there was by ship, and monks are not allowed to travel during the rains retreat, so we hid in Ywama for thirteen days. Finally, the abbot of that village temple, who was my Dhamma teacher, sent us by smuggling boat to Bangladesh. When we left Yangon, we were wearing monks’ robes, but we changed into laymen’s clothes before we got on the smuggling ship. We didn’t have any money, and the boatman didn’t ask us for any. Actually, the head boatman, U Maung Maung, is the nephew of my Dhamma teacher, so he was helping me. When we reached Bangladesh, we immediately contacted an exile student group, and they came to meet us. The students informed the UNHCR officials about our arrival and situation. We tried to keep a low profile, but some of the media publicized our arrival, including even photos, so that, now, I am sure that I cannot safely return to Arakan. We faced a lot of difficulties escaping from Yangon, but it would have been much worse if we had been caught.
“In Bangladesh, the UNHCR provided us with documents for security, but they gave us no clothes, no food, no shelter, and no subsidy. Fortunately, a senior monk invited us to stay at his monastery. The students provided us with food. They couldn’t take care of us long term because they had their own problems. It was very difficult to find food in the city, so we went to a village. My monk-friend who had traveled with me, heard that Sweden would accept some refugee monks, so he chose to stay and wait in Bangladesh. I eventually made it to Assam. The students arranged and paid all my transportation.”
The novice told us that he had left Burma because he was not allowed to stay in his monastery after the demonstrations. “The military pressured our abbot not to let any of us stay there,” he said. “That’s why most members of the Sangha had to return to their native villages or flee to Bangladesh.”
He explained how difficult his escape had been. “I left Sittwe by ship on October 29. I stayed five days in Bandadaug. I stayed another three days in Nanthadaung before I could cross to Bangladesh. At the border, they checked my papers three times, but, fortunately, they asked me few questions. Several other monk, however, were arrested because they did not match the descriptions on their ID cards. In Bangladesh I crossed the Chittagong Hills and got to the Tripura border. I waited twelve days for the student sent by the Indian monk who was helping me. When he came, we crossed into Assam.”
Ven. U Okkantha said that he felt safe in India but that he was anxious because he didn’t speak the language. “I want to continue my studies,’ he said, “and to carry on with our Saffron Revolution. That means that, whenever laypeople face trouble, we, the Sangha, will be in the forefront to help them.”
The support which Ven. U Okkantha and Ven. Kavidhaja received from the students in Bangladesh had in fact come from Buddhist Relief Mission, transferred to the students by our Sangha contacts in India. Before long, they must go to New Delhi to apply for asylum.
In addition to this monk and this novice whom BRM has helped to reach Kolkata, there are at least ten others waiting in Mizoram and in Bangladesh. A rough estimate of the traveling costs, communications charges, paperwork and support involved in escaping from Burma to India, including travel to New Delhi to apply for asylum, is about US$1100 for each monk.
Because of appeals, petitions, and agitation during the 1990s, Nalanda Mahavihara Institute in Nalanda and Magadh University in BodhGaya are now open to refugee monks who wish to study. For one monk to study one year, food, lodging, and tuition, cost approximately US$750.
– March 4, 2008
Kolkata, West Bengal,
India