We Are With You, Myanmar!

The largest street protest against Myanmar’s ruling generals in two decades gained momentum today, as thousands of people joined Buddhist monks in the streets of the country’s largest city Yangon on Monday.

The protest was the latest in a series of protests that began August 19 as a movement against economic hardship in the Southeast Asian country after the government sharply raised fuel prices. But arrests and intimidation kept demonstrations small and scattered until the monks joined and managed to bring people into the streets in numbers not seen since 1988.

The military government has so far showed restraint against the protests. For a fact, monks are highly revered in Burma, so as in other Southeast Asian countries. Any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry. Even so, by late Monday, the junta finally broke its silence over the protest, saying that it was ready to “take action” against the monks. It repeated its warning in state media on Tuesday, ordering monks not to get involved in politics and accusing them of allowing themselves to be manipulated by the foreign media.

As a peace lover, I really appreciate this courageous move. I pray this remarkable display of desire for peace and freedom will not lead to any bloodsheds, as it used to. Sincerely, my heart goes to everyone out there! I salute the Burmese people’s power and let’s be the change!