Buddhists Monks under the SLORC regime

The mask came off in 1988 when people from all strata appeared on the streets to rally and protest against the military regime that had made Burma a Least Developed Country (LDC) during its reign. The regime sent armed troops to crackdown on the mass demonstrations. According to some estimates, 600 monks were killed during August and September 1988, while the total death toll was approximately 10,000 people that year.

As there was no ruling by the regime between August 25 and September 18 that year, monks took responsibility for the security of the people in some townships. The monasteries also delivered rice to the poor people to cover a shortage due to deteriorating communication. On August 27, with the intention to

create disorder, the military authorities released criminals from a central prison in Rangoon. Leaders of monk unions and student unions asked the criminals not to commit any crime during the demonstration period. The released criminals were fed and sent to their respective hometowns on the same day. The monks and students gave the criminals both money and recommendation letters to use on the way so that they would not be wrongly accused of being military intelligence spies.

A month later on September 18, 1988, the military generals staged a coup d’etat. The newly formed State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) announced that they were going to hold a multi-party democratic election after

which the military would return to their barracks. Although the National League for Democracy (NLD), the key pro-democracy party, won a landslide victory in the 1990 general election, the regime negated their promise. Unwilling to abandon power, the regime propagated that the August 8, 1988 people’s uprising was not a mass demonstration demanding democracy but an anarchic turmoil conspired by the banned communist party and some followers of colonialism. In addition, the SLORC authorities arrested and imprisoned many activists including students and monks.

In June 1989, a young Mandalay monk, Ven. Koweinda, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was extended to fifteen years in 1990 as he was accused of leading a Mandalay prison riot. He died there in October 1994, in his early thirties. Another monk, Ven. Kowainda, was arrested for his involvement in the 1988 protests. Accused of being a communist, he died in September 1991. It is suspected that both monks were tortured to death.