1st anniversary of Burma's bloody Saffron Revolution

 
Ashin Mettacara's closet friend Ashin Silavamsa who died in interrogation center

By Ashin Mettacara
 
Today is Burma's bloody day because many monks and people were killed on 26 September, 2007.
 
Myitkyina's Yuzana monastery was raided on the night of September 25th by the security forces and most of the monks were captured and interrogated. One of them was my friend, monk Ashin Silavamsa. He died on the morning of September 26th. Ashin Silavamsa was forced to disrobe in interrogation center and tortured. He died in the Myitkyina prison.
 
On September 26th 2007, the military government began to crack down violently on peaceful marches. Security forces threw tear gas canisters into the crowd, beat the protesters with rubber sticks and shot at them with automatic rifles. As a result of the junta's excessive use of violence, nearly 100 monks and many lay people were killed. Over 8000 people were arrested nationwide.
 
September 26th is the first anniversary of the bloody Saffron Revolution, led by Burmese Buddhist monks in 2007, that was crushed by the country's military government.