Saffron Revolution


The Saffron Revolution was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September and October 2007 in Myanmar. The protests were triggered by the decision of the national military government to remove subsidies on the sales prices of fuel. The national government is the only supplier of fuels and the removal of the price subsidy immediately caused diesel and petrol prices to increase by 66–100% and the price of compressed natural gas for buses to increase 500% in less than a week.
The various protests were led by students, political activists, including women, and Buddhist monks and took the form of a campaign of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance.
In response to the protests, dozens of protesters were arrested or detained. Starting in September 2007 the protests were led by thousands of Buddhist monks, and those protests were allowed to proceed until a renewed government crackdown in late September 2007. Some news reports referred to the protests as the Saffron Revolution.
The exact number of casualties from the 2007 protests is not known, but estimates range from 13 to 31 deaths resulting from either the protests or reprisals by the government. Several hundred people were arrested or detained, many of whom were released.
In the event, Senior General Than Shwe remained in power until he retired in 2011 at age 78.

Terminology

The phrase "Saffron Revolution" connects the protests against Myanmar's military dictatorship to the saffron-coloured robes widely associated with Buddhist monks, who were at the forefront of the demonstrations. The robes of Burmese monks are similar to the color of whole saffron. While similar terms for protests had been used elsewhere for the process of gradual or peaceful revolution in other nations, this seems to be the first time it has been associated with a particular protest as it was unfolding, and the international press seized upon the term in reporting on the Burmese protests. However, the idea that the monkhood is connected to specifically Burmese ideas about revolution has been argued by British academic Gustaaf Houtman, partly in critique of an alternative view held by a political scientist, that Gen. Ne Win's 1962 revolution was the only successful revolution in Burma. Burmese concepts of "revolution", however, have a much longer history and are also employed in many but not all monastic ordinations.
The military government of Burma was called the State Peace and Development Council or the "SPDC" from 1988 to 2011.

History

Background

Prior to the 2007 summer protests, there had been growing unease in the population regarding the economic situation due to stagnant economic growth and its ranking among the 20 poorest countries in the world according to the United Nations. Many, including the United Nations have blamed the economic problems on the leadership of the military junta and the proportion of national income spent on the armed forces. In late 2006, the cost of basic commodities began rising sharply in Burma with rice, eggs, and cooking oil increasing by 30–40%. According to the UN, one in three children is chronically malnourished, government spending on health and education is among the lowest anywhere in the world, and the average income is below $300 a year. Living a privileged, parallel existence, Burma's military forces appear virtually a "state within a state", free from the economic insecurity that afflicts the rest of the country. Many of the high ranking army generals have become immensely rich; as witnessed in the video of the wedding of senior general Than Shwe's daughter, who is shown wearing diamonds worth many millions of dollars.
According to the BBC, on 22 February 2007, a small group of individuals protested the high consumer prices in the country. While the protest was small and careful not to be seen as directed at the military junta, officials jailed nine of the protesters. It was the first street protest seen in Rangoon for at least a decade. Jeff Kingston, in his article "Burma's Despair" stated that "Despair and fear are immobilizing a people who yearn for a better life and have fruitlessly risked much for a better government." This shows how afraid the Burmese were to take action in 2007. Kingston also stated that "The earlier brutal crackdown of 1988-when at least three thousand protesters were killed and thousands more imprisoned and tortured-has burned a place in the collective memory."
Some of the prominent or symbolic individuals who figured in these events included:
The military junta detained eight people on Sunday, 22 April 2007, who took part in a rare demonstration in a Yangon suburb amid a growing military crackdown on protesters. A group of about ten protesters carrying placards and chanting slogans staged the protest Sunday morning in Yangon's Thingangyun township, calling for lower prices and improved health, education and better utility services. The protest ended peacefully after about 70 minutes, but plainclothes police took away eight demonstrators as some 100 onlookers watched. The protesters carried placards with slogans such as "Down with consumer prices". Some of those detained were the same protesters who took part in a downtown Yangon protest on 22 February 2007. That protest was one of the first such demonstrations in recent years to challenge the junta's economic mismanagement rather than its legal right to rule. The protesters detained in the February rally had said they were released after signing an acknowledgment of police orders that they should not hold any future public demonstrations without first obtaining official permission.
The military government stated its intention to crack down on these human rights activists, according to a 23 April 2007, report in the country's official press. The announcement, which comprised a full page of the official newspaper, followed calls by human rights advocacy groups, including London-based Amnesty International, for authorities to investigate recent violent attacks on rights activists in the country.
Two members of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, Maung Maung Lay, 37, and Myint Naing, 40, were hospitalized with head injuries following attacks by more than 50 people while the two were working in Hinthada township, Irrawaddy Division in mid-April. On Sunday, 22 April 2007, eight people were arrested by plainclothes police, members of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association, and the Pyithu Swan Arr Shin while demonstrating peacefully in a Yangon suburb. The eight protesters were calling for lower commodity prices, better health care and improved utility services. Htin Kyaw, 44, one of the eight who also took part in an earlier demonstration in late February in downtown Yangon, was beaten by a mob, according to sources at the scene of the protest.
Reports from opposition activists emerged saying that authorities have directed the police and other government proxy groups to deal harshly with any sign of unrest in Yangon. "This proves that there is no rule of law ," the 88 Generation Students group said in a statement. "We seriously urge the authorities to prevent violence in the future and to guarantee the safety of every citizen."

August 2007 – Removal of fuel subsidies

On 15 August 2007 the government removed subsidies on fuel causing a rapid and unannounced increase in prices. The government, which has a monopoly on fuel sales, raised prices from about $1.40 to $2.80 a gallon, and boosted the price of natural gas by about 500%. This increase in fuel prices led to an increase in food prices. Soon afterwards, protesters took to the streets to protest the current conditions.
While the International Monetary Fund and World Bank had been recommending the lifting of subsidies for some time to allow for a free market to determine fuel prices, these organisations did not recommend removing all of the subsidies unannounced. The fuel is sold by Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a state-owned fuel company.

August 2007 – Initial demonstrations

In response to the increase in fuel prices, citizens protested in demonstrations beginning on 19 August. In response to the protests, the government began arresting and beating demonstrators. The government arrested 13 prominent Burmese dissidents including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya, Ko Jimmy, Pyone Cho, Arnt Bwe Kyaw and Ko Mya Aye. The government newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported that these individual's actions caused civil unrest that "was aimed at undermining peace and security of the State and disrupting the ongoing National Convention." The United States condemned the arrest of these dissidents on 22 August with the State Department's acting spokesman stating "The United States calls for the immediate release of these activists and for an end of the regime's blatant attempt to intimidate and silence those who are engaged in peaceful promotion of democracy and human rights in Burma...We call on the regime to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the leaders of Burma's democracy movement and ethnic minority groups and to make tangible steps toward a transition to civilian democratic rule."
On 21–22 August 2007, participants of the protests on 19 August were detained by local authorities. Their houses were searched without a warrant. These demonstrators could have been charged with up to one year in prison; under the 5/96 Law, that is used to condemn those who disrupt the stability of the state.