Why Monks?
| 22:06 UK time, Sunday, 16 March 2008
As in Burma, so in Tibet - it is the monks whose anger bursts out of the monasteries and starts the uprising.
The reason, as we have investigated on the other programme I'm lucky enough to present, Reporting Religion, is not that monks are political animals but religious ones, and the tenets of their faith are offended by the authorities they rise up against.
In the case of the Burmese, the economic hardship and food shortages imposed by the military junta meant the people could not afford to give offerings to the monks - and those offerings are a form of prayer and a route to a better reincarnation. The monks rose up on behalf of the people whose faith was being denied.
In the case of the Tibetans, I heard from one of marchers trying to get from their exile HQ in northern India to Tibet that without freedom a Buddhist cannot achieve the greatest enlightenment that would ease the transition to a better life next time. So fighting for freedom is an act of faith too.
Incidentally, around half of the hard news items in World Update on Friday were linked to religion. Do you think we could be onto something?
Comments
Tibetan monks are not facing bullets, torture an prison as a matter of faith or a desire for religious freedom, that mispresents their incredible courage and sacrifices. They do so to challenge the brutal occupation of their nation by China, and as reported widely, in support of Tibetan independence. What a disappointment the ´óÏó´«Ã½ failed to feature that reality in its troubling series A Year in Tibet' See: