Traditional Buddhist festival banned by the SPDC

DVB ( 10 November 2003 )

The people of Kyuntaw Mya Ward, Sanchaung Township, Rangoon were barred from holding its traditional mass donation festival (Bon Kahtein) by the local authorities because the location is close to an NLD office.

Although the local festival committee asked the permission to hold the festival in advance, the authority refused to grant the permission because the location is close to the local NLD office. But the government affiliated organisations including USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Associations) were allowed to celebrate festivals. The local people are said to be feeling aggrieved by the ban.

NLD members in other townships of Burma and Burmese exiles and workers in Thailand were able to hold the festival with relatively few problems this year.

The festival is the occasion when Burmese Buddhists offer material needs to monks annually. It is also said that Buddhist monks in some areas refused to accept the donations of Burmese authorities in protest of the harsh treatments, exploitations and abuses of Buddhist monks by the military regime. One Buddhist monk was killed by soldiers during the recent unrest in Mandalay.

Some Buddhist monks and nuns were imprisoned and forcibly disrobed by the authority for their efforts to highlight the plights of the people of Burma. Many monks were also killed during the 1988 uprising.