MyanmarÂ’s military government, widely condemned for its heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protests by Buddhist monks, has been making high-profile donations to monasteries, the state-controlled press reported Wednesday. The juntaÂ’s top officials in the central area around the city of Mandalay donated cooking oil to 102 monasteries, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on its front page, showing photos of kneeling officials offering gifts to senior monks. Making donations to temples is a traditional way of showing respect and making merit.
The move follows a security clampdown on monasteries in an attempt to keep young monks from joining weeks of protests that began Aug 19 over high prices for fuel and consumer goods. The protests are the most sustained challenge in a decade to the government. More than 100 people have been detained for taking part in demonstrations, many of which have been broken up by pro-government toughs.
In northern Myanmar last week, monks - angry at being beaten up for protesting economic conditions - temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters. A nervous government responded by tightening security around monasteries in major cities, including Yangon, Mandalay and Bago.
Monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have historically been at the forefront of protests - first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962. The uprising was brutally crushed by the military.
According to unconfirmed reports circulated in the Myanmar exile opposition press, monks have said they may refuse alms from the military and ignore junta officials and their supporters at official functions if the government fails to apologize by next week for the mistreatment of monks during a protest last week in the northern town of Pakokku.