Pitiless Kings

Today is the U.N. International Day of Peace. I look at the UN, at our collective governments, and wonder if this is really the best they can achieve? A feel good factor that might make some of us feel that we can take control of this huge, violent monstrosity, even for a moment. When my bile settles, I reflect that anything that raises awareness and brings our focus closer to compassion is a good thing and that cynicism is too often the refuge of a crushed idealist.

So if this event is about attention, then my attention goes out to the thousands of Buddhist monks protesting peacefully this week against the military junta in Myanmar. 45 years of military rule, human rights violations, and surpressed uprisings- have left the country one of the poorest in Asia.

In a public statement the monks in Yangon declared yesterday.

“The clergy boycotts the violent, mean, cruel, ruthless, pitiless kings, the great thieves who live by stealing from the national treasury. The clergy hereby also refuses donations and preaching”

In January this year Russia and China vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have urged Myanmar to ease repression and release political prisoners, a resolution long called for by human rights groups. This makes the actions of monks even more important- and I imagine few are better trained for the non-violent action necessary. However, successful non-violence relies on engaging a powerful group who can intervene to address the injustice. Whether broader Burmese society has the power or the international players the interest to play this critical role we may soon discover- or perhaps this is just another rise and fall upon this cruelly drawn out story of repression.

(Art by Banky)