for the return of the military to power. They are asserting the soldiers’
status as legitimate rulers on the basis of their willingness, like prior
kings, to protect the Buddhist realm and the Bamar nationalist cause.
What they are not doing is affirming human rights, the rule of law and
equality or imagining a democratic future for the country.
However, if General Min Aung Hlaing and the SAC junta’s govern
ment are to be successful in making this claim of political legitimacy,
they must have the support of the Sangha. Without Sangha support,
their claim has no standing. Min Aung Hlaing has been anxious to
demonstrate his obeisance and respect for the Sangha, bringing offering
and assurances to the Ma-ha-na in the days following the coup. At
that time, the head of Ma-ha-na, Bamaw Sayadaw, warned the senior
general through parable that a large elephant could be brought down by
a small bird.53
As security forces intensified their violence against peaceful
protesters, the Sangha increased its warnings to Min Aung Hlaing. On
4 March, the powerful and respected Shwegyin Sect wrote an open letter
signed by the Shwegyin Sayadaw and four other high-profile monks. The
monks exhorted the Commander-in-Chief and his forces to remember the
mutual responsibilities that exist between monks and lay devotees and
vice versa. They requested that out of metta the authorities conform to
the ten moral practices of a Buddhist king, as described in the Anguttara
Nikaya scriptures.
On 14 March, the Saffron Sangha Network in Mandalay issued
the ultimatum that they would carry out pattaneikkuzna kan, a monks’
strike excommunicating the SAC and their families from merit making
and other rituals, in response to security forces’ treatment of the
monks in Myadaung, a leading teaching monastery in Mandalay. And
on 16 March the Ma-ha-na sent an open letter warning that it was
stopping all administrative functions and would also be determining at
its upcoming state assembly meeting whether to “turn the bowl over”
for a pattaneikkuzna kan strike. This warning gave junta authorities a
The Burmese equivalent of David and Goliath is “Wild Elephant and Skylark
bird” (ဆင္႐ိုင္းႀကီးႏွင့္ ဘီလုံးငွက္ငယ္).
53
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