'MOONY', ONE OF THE SL GROUPS set up to support the pro-democracy movement in Burma (Myanmar), is organising a sit in at the Burning Life festival on Saturday, 29th September.
The sit in will be made up of a human chain of avatars/monks and will take place at the Burning Life Festival between 11.50am 12.30pm SLT on Saturday, 29th September 2007.
A number of monks who were involved in peaceful pro-democracy protests in Burma's capital, Rangoon, have been attacked by military troops as they knelt in prayer. Reports from the country, now diminishing in number, advised that the monks were beaten with batons and kicked with boots before being taken away.
Moony group founder, Moon Gloucester said, "We created this group because we are protesting against the brutal repression going on in Burma/Myanmar. Hundreds of monks and peaceful protestors have been arrested by the military junta. Protestors are moving towards the house of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held prisoner since 1992."
Co-organiser of the sit-in Juliet Chambers can provide participants with a monk's robe to wear at the sit in. She has encouraged people to wear the robes and a group tag announcing, "I am a Myanmar Monk" and to pass the robe, notecard and tag along to friends.
"We can't do a lot, but we can say how we would like to be side-by-side with that brave,fighting harmless against cruel dictators," she advises. "We're just gonna be there, peacefully walking, dancing or meditating among the people and answering questions."
Another SL resident, Konoe Watanable has designed a poster with a number of pertinent website addresses on it for anyone wishing to know more about the Burmese people's struggle for democracy which has been going on for over 20 years. These are freely available for distribution by contacting Konoe.
Anyone wishing to show solidarity with the Burmese people, can also contact Pol McLaglen for a free red tee-shirt to wear on Friday, 28th September as a show of solidarity for their pro-democracy protestors.
Another SL group, "The Source" announced, "We are all horrified at the treatment of the buddhist monks and people of Myanmar that peacefully protested against government policies and were met with violence."
If you wish to protest Amnesty International are running a letter writing campaign. Follow this link for details: http://www.amnesty.org/
So ...
1. Sit-in at Burning Life Festival - contact Moon Gloucester and Juliet Chambers for your free monk's robes and information notecard. Click here to go to the SIT IN SITE at Burning Life.
2. Free Red Tee-Shirt to wear on Friday, 28th September - contact Pol McLaglen.
3. Free poster to get more information on the Burmese democracy crisis - contact Konoe Watanabe, or take a copy from the poster out the front of the SL Newspaper Office at Sunrise Reef.
4. Go to: http://www.amnesty.org for further information on a letter-writing campaign.
Read more about the history in the people section