Ashin Sopaka (Thawpaka) is 34 years old when we talk in Amsterdam, March 2011.
He is originally from Yinmabin Township, Tha Pye Aye Village, in Sagaing Division. Ashin Sopaka is one of the founders of The Best Friend and has fought for freedom and democracy in his native country Burma, for many years.He begins to speak about his background.
“I was born in Yinmabin Township in Tha Pye Aye village. I went to school there for two years. When I was 10 years old, my family moved to Mandalay. We did not live in the city itself, but outside of Mandalay, about one hour away, in a village. My father died when I was only 2,5 years old. I never knew him. Never knew who he was, what kind of person he was. It was my mother who gave me both father’s and mother’s love. I had no idea about real father’s love. My mother married again and I got another sister and brother. My stepfather passed away too and my mother is alone now.”
“In 1988 all schools were closed down by the government and the students moved and became active. Because I could not go to school anymore, my mother and uncle decided I was to pursue my education at a monastery. I went, but my uncle forced me to come back home after one year. He needed me to work in the flower garden. I was working, but thinking: ‘this is not my choice, doing this. I cannot learn anything from this particular work.’ I wanted to learn for my life.”
“I asked my mother if I could go back to the monastery to continue my education. I wanted to learn more. She agreed and I became a novice again at the age of 13. When I was 17, I went to Rangoon. I had no teacher so I went to Bago to study. There were about 125 monks studying there. During summertime, we had to go out to collect uncooked rice. We used to collect a lot. But our abbot did not cook it. We were sent out twice a day to collect this rice, but the rice was sold by our abbot. I did not like this and wrote a letter about it. They were not pleased with this and I was sent away from the monastery. I was very unhappy and disappointed and wanted to disrobe and step out of monkhood. At that point, I was unhappy with Buddhism.”
“I decided I wanted to learn to speak English. This would be a very good preparation for my layman-life, because I wanted to become a teacher. Normally, it is not allowed for a monk to learn English. I started to read the Dhamma, the Buddha’s teaching, in English and learned more and more. I found out more and more valuable teachings. Slowly, I changed my mind about being a monk. And I decided to remain a monk, because it gave me a lot more options to help others and myself.”
How did Ashin Sopaka get politically involved?
“In 1997, I took part in the entrance exam of the State Pariyatta Sasana University, a university for monks. That’s where I met U King (King Zero, Ashin Issariya). At university, I also met other monks, who had gone abroad. I was very impressed by their stories.”
“But at the time, monks were also repressed and driven away from university. We wanted to change this and formed a group: The Best Friend Group of Literature. We opened up libraries and held discussions. In 1999, The Best Friend was founded. We deliberately chose this neutral name, without any influence or political affiliation or religious connotation. Our aim was to change the system and fight against injustice.”
What was The Best Friend like in the beginning?“The Best Friend Group of Literature started with 10 monks. In 2000, U King, somebody else and myself went out to try and meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She would be coming to a place near us. We wanted to talk to her. But we were followed by the secret service. They forced us to sign an agreement. We decided to leave university. And so we did.”
“U King left university immediately. I had to stay to sort some things out. Like organising my books. But they did not let me: I was dragged out of university by other monks. After that, I went from monastery to monastery. I managed to leave my country in 2001. I left because I wanted to find activities and new contacts abroad. I had a passport, so I could take a plane to Bangkok. I then went and visited Laos and returned to Burma again.”
“In 2002, we restarted The Best Friend in Mandalay. U Kovida and nearly 20 other monks joined us. I left Burma again in 2003 and visited Singapore and Germany. I was invited to Germany by friends. I went on a student visa.”
In the same year, the so-called Depayin massacre took place.
“I had no option but to speak out. I openly spoke about our regime and demonstrated in front of the Burmese embassy in Berlin. It was then, that I applied for political asylum in Germany. I received this in the same year, 2003. I had to study the German language.”
Ashin Sopaka lived in Germany for years. What did he do there?
“In 2005 the KBC – Koelner Buddhist Center – was founded. I founded it with the help and support of German friends. With help of German friends, we also managed to build a new library in Mandalay. I sent money inside (to Burma), to help U Kovida and U King.”
But this was not enough. Ashin Sopaka wanted to do more.
“I
had to raise awareness. Of the situation in my country. The atrocities
my people were facing. The human rights abuses that were taking place.
In 2006, I organised a Peace Walk: we walked from Cologne (Koeln) to
Berlin. The walk started on 3 August 2006. Our aim was to show the
world my country’s long struggle for freedom. And to create awareness
of the situation inside Burma, because not many people know what is
happening there at all..”“I wanted more Peace Walks, so I contacted King Zero. And we arranged to meet in Mae Sot, Thailand. In secret. As he was still in Burma at the time. He travelled to the border to meet me there. They came, and we planned for our movement. I dreamed about Peace Walks happening in my country, Burma. I started a Peace Walk in Thailand: we walked from Bangkok to the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot. We started this walk on 30 January 2007. Our aim was to get media attention: we wanted to send a message through the media to the people. It worked and monks inside the country (Burma) started to participate and spread the message.”
“In 2007, it was my duty to spread our message via the media. Other monks spread the message inside, on the ground. It was the message of the Metta Sutta, of universal loving kindness.”
Did this all lead to the 2007 Saffron Revolution?
“In September 2007, years of preparation and coincidence came together. It all started with the uprising in the town of Pakokku. Students started to march because petrol prices had risen enormously and they could not travel anymore. This was a strong message to the people. In Pakokku, monks started to walk as well. They were violently cracked down by the regime.”
“King Zero and Ashin Gambira issued a statement to the media. They demanded an official apology from the regime for the violence against the Pakokku monks, and a reduction in oil prices. They also urged the regime to release all political prisoners and to start a dialogue with all parties involved. They received no reply from the government. So, in September 2007, the Burmese monks started their marches throughout Burma.”
People sometimes state that the 2007 demonstrations just happened and lacked planning.
“The 2007 marches were planned. The organisers had been planning this for years. Planning and preparation is important and very powerful for our movement.”
Does Ashin Sopaka think violence is ever necessary to bring chance to Burma?
“I love non-violence, very much. Burma’s situation is very difficult, though. This regime has no mercy. That is the problem. Look at Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. They advocated non-violence. And their governments had a human spirit. Ours does not. This is a big challenge. We still believe non-violence is the way to bring people together. Violence brings suffering and it will cost human lives. Freedom is important, but human lives are more important. We strongly support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We stand on the people’s side and do not want our people to get hurt. When it comes to my personal belief: I believe in non-violence. The people believe in it, we need to protect the people and our country needs an army for that. We need a force to protect the non-violent believers. The United Nations could do this, but they are always too late. We need to make a force to protect the people. We need protection.”
Does Ashin Sopaka have a message for the people?
“Generally, I want people to see that all people, in and out of Burma are all human beings. We are all human. The world becomes smaller: whatever happens somewhere, has an effect somewhere else. We have a duty to take care of each other, just like brothers and sisters. I would like to quote from the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: all are equal. We should see each other as equal, as brothers. As sisters. The world will be peaceful if we can practise this.”
“There is a lot of discrimination still going on. Even in rich and developed countries. In everyday human society. International governments say: what happens in Burma is Burma’s internal affairs. China and India say this. They use this to protect themselves. But what happens inside Burma is not only internal affairs. It is also international. An example: a husband kills his wife. Neighbours in the area see and hear it. So it’s not only the man’s internal affair. It has become their affair, too. It is a human affair. And as good neighbours you have an obligation to report something like this. The same goes for a country who kills its citizens: neighbouring countries need to take action.”
How does Ashin Sopaka view the future?
“All I can say is, we have a plan. I cannot speak about this very openly. Preparing is important. If another occasion arises, we will strike. A lot of people simply cannot stand it anymore.”
And what about his personal view of the future?
“I want people to enjoy freedom in a free country. I see them enjoying this in my dreams. I see my people dancing. Playing Burmese traditional drums. Celebrating freedom.”
http://burmavoices.com/2011/04/ashin-sopaka-34-in-my-dreams-i-see-my-people-dancing-celebrating-freedom/#more-1396
0 comments:
Post a Comment