Burma's foremost politician monk honored

Politics

Burma's foremost politician monk honored

A ceremony to honor U Ottama, the Arakanese monk who had played a leading role in Burma's freedom movement, was held by the Arakan Youth Coordinating Committee on the border with Chiangmai today.

"It was not just for Arakan that he had fought. It was also not just for Burma that he had struggled," said Aye Saung, 56, leader of People's Liberation Front, a member organization of the National Council of the Union of Burma. "He had, as a true internationalist that he was, fought for all those who were struggling to free themselves from the yoke of colonialism."

Born on 28 December 1879 in Akyab (Sittwe), he studied in Calcutta. In 1920 he was said to have met Mahatma Gandhi with whom he had reached agreement in a non-violence policy and for cooperation. Burma specialist Bertil Lintner wrote in Burma in Revolt (1994):

A fiery speaker and agitator, U Ottama attracted a large following of mainly Buddhist monks, who organized demonstrations and meetings.

He died of diabetes on 9 September 1939.

"Determined to break the political traditions of the Buddhist clergy, his statue in one of Rangoon's city parks bearing his name had been pulled down by the military authorities," said one of the youths attending the ceremony. The Voice of Arakan, published by Arakan League for Democracy, also reported in its July issue that his portrait in Akyab museum had also been removed together with those of other well-known Arakanese personalities.

Burma's monks have also been active in the pro-democracy movements that started in 1988.

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