Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Mayhem in Myanmar

In August of this past year, the government of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), raised fuel prices and caused major protests in the streets, especially the former Burmese capital of Yangon. Buddhist monks are the foremost activists in these protests, and because they are highly revered in societies like these, religion plays a major role in how the events are playing out during this time of unrest. The monks referred to these protests as a "monks affair".

The five hundred percent rise in gas prices is not the sole reason for these protests. There were previous pro-democracy rallies that had been struck down by the junta, which has made this current effort even more of a struggle because there are several different issues to be dealt with.

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