In 2007, 100.000 Burmese monks took to
the streets, touched by the ongoing suffering of the people in Burma
under the military rule. Peacefully chanting the Metta Sutta and asking
for a dialog. Joined by ten thousands of ordinary people it became the
biggest call for Democracy in Burma’s history since 1988. U Gambira and
King Zero had prepared for something like this for several years. Both
had worked tirelessly to inform and educate Burma’s monks and people
about the real situation of their country.
As the struggle goes on U Gambira and many of his colleges are now behind bars in prisons and labor camps. This is the story of two main organizers of the Saffron Revolution, told by King Zero.
As the struggle goes on U Gambira and many of his colleges are now behind bars in prisons and labor camps. This is the story of two main organizers of the Saffron Revolution, told by King Zero.
U Gambira
U Gambira was active in a very similar way to me. He had been spreading pamphlets since 2006, and I had been doing the same. I had been working on a Metta campaign since the beginning of 2006. During this campaign I had shared a lot of stickers and pamphlets with the message “Stop Violence”. I also wrote many articles about how to learn and how to become active for our country, which I shared secretly with others. I tried to organize many people and monks.
At that time most of the monks in our country did not know about the real situation of our country. They studied only Pali and the Buddha’s teaching. They had no chance to learn more because it was not designated in the monastic curriculum. There was no chance to study other subjects, or even to read a book about other things. I think education is very important. People need to know more and share information whenever possible.
My first teacher was very interested in politics. This was a great advantage for me. As he always listened to BBC, I could also hear it every day. In this way I learned about the situation of our country. He also read a lot. With all the books around me I also started to read whenever I had free time.
