Burmese monks have taken part in protests in the past
September 30, 2007 7:23 pm Buddhist Monks and Opposition to the Burmese Junta
Source: openDemocracy.net, September 28, 2007
Myanmar - Monks - Buddhism - Protests and Demonstrations, New York Times, September 30, 2007
Burmese monks have taken part in protests in the past, against British colonial rule and against a half-century of rule by military dictatorship. The most notable recent occasion was in 1990.
Their militant resistance to the British produced the most prominent political martyr of Burmese Buddhism, U Wisara, who died in prison in 1929 after a 166-day hunger strike.
His statue stands near the tall, golden Shwedagon Pagoda, the country’s holiest shrine, which was a rallying point for the recent demonstrations and the scene of the first violence against the monks last week.