Seng Yang/Human Rights/Friday, March 28, 2008/5:12pm
Monk self-immolates in Burma shrine
To protest the economic hardships in Burma, a monk set himself on fire in Rangoon's holiest Buddhist temple to protest the military government. Myanmar has been trying to achieve complete democracy from junta military. The 26-year-old was praying at a shrine in Shwedagon Pagoda on Friday before dousing himself with petrol and setting himself alight. Before setting himself on fire he shouted, “May we be free from economic hardship."
The reason for the protests from the people of Myanmar and the monks are because of e hiked fuel prices in August of 2007. Burma's economy has been decimated by decades of mismanagement by military governments since the army seized power in 1962. They used to be one of the most successful South East Asian countries cultivating rice.
The man is now recovering in the hospital.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/200803/s2197525.htm?tab=latest
4 comments:
That is a pretty bold statement. The man must have truly believed in what he was doing, but its a shame that it probably won't result in any changes.
Yeah it was a bold statement, but why do harm to your self? It is a shame of what other people in other countries will do just to voice their opinion of what they believe in. I wish there was another way for him to get his point across than doing harm to him self. I hope his voice was heard and he recovers fully.
That is a hell of a statement. Its an interesting form of protest no doubt, but a little self-defeating? Humans do some interesting things at times...
Sometimes people are pushed to the limits of their mental endurance. I doubt that we can fully understand without walking in his shoes, as he doubtless sees worse suffering than that around him every day.
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