Buddhism in Burma - Politics

Politics

Buddhism made major contributions in the development of Burmese politics. Burmese nationalism first began with the formation of the Young Men's Buddhist Associations (YMBA) - modelled on the YMCA - which started to appear all over the country at the start of the 20th century. Buddhist monks along with students had been in the forefront of the struggle for independence and later for democracy, the best known leaders in history being U Ottama and U Seinda in Rakhine State, and U Wisara who died after a protracted hunger strike in Yangon prison. A major thoroughfare in Yangon is named after U Wisara. The League of Young Monks (ရဟန်းပြို Yahanpyo) based in Mandalay is a well known activist organisation. The Burmese word for boycott is thabeik hmauk (သပိတ်မှောက်), which literally means to turn the monk's alms bowl upside down - declining to accept alms in protest.

Civilian governments, after the country gained independence, patronised Buddhism, donating large sums to fund the upkeep and building of Buddhist monuments. In addition, leaders of political parties and parliamentarians, in particular U Nu, passed legislation influenced by Buddhism. He declared Buddhism the state religion which alienated minority groups, especially the Kachin. This added yet another group to the growing number of ethnic insurgencies. The present military government has been so keen to be seen as patrons of Buddhism that it has become a joke- "Burmese TV has only two colours, green and yellow" - describing the military green uniforms and monk's yellow robes or golden pagodas which dominate the screen.

Shwedagon Pagoda has been an important venue for large public meetings where both Aung San and his daughter Aung San Suu Kyi had made their famous speeches. During the second university strike in history of 1936, the students camped out on the Shwedagon terraces.

Aung San Suu Kyi returned from London to lead the National League for Democracy which was founded during the 1988 popular uprising, but was placed under house arrest in 1989; since she is a devout Buddhist and leader of the opposition, she is considered a socially engaged Buddhist.