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| The Banner for the Peace Rally 10/07/2013 |
Monks in Thailand from Burma and neighboring countries have called
for peace and increased security at India’s Mahabodhi Temple following
bomb blasts at the sacred Buddhist site on Sunday.
More than 200 monks from Buddhism-practicing nations studying at
Buddhist universities in Bangkok gathered on Wednesday in front of the
United Nations office and later the Indian Embassy, where they condemned
the violence at Bodh Gaya in eastern India.
“We call for tightened security at the Mahabodhi site—where the Lord
Buddha gained enlightenment and practiced peace—to avoid further attacks
like Sunday,” said Ashin Kuvera, a Burmese monk studying at the
Buddhist Maha Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
“Lord Buddha is one of the world’s pacifists. Such violence to the
Unesco world heritage site as well as a landmark of the peace-builder is
like an assault to pacifists around the world,” Ashin Kuvera told The
Irrawaddy on Wednesday. “We condemn such violence and we do not
encourage such acts. Therefore, we urge authorities to take such
preventive [measures] for peace and harmony.”
The Buddhist monks studying at Maha Chulalongkorn and Mahamakut
Buddhist University, Thailand’s top Buddhism schools, and Siam
University, are from Burma and several other neighboring countries.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy over the phone, Ashin Kuvera said that “as
soon as we heard the news about the blast, we held the meeting. The
student monks from other countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India,
Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and China joined the meeting and arranged a
time when all the student monks could join, as we have different levels
of study at the Buddhist universities.”
Two people, including a Burmese monk, were injured in at least eight
blasts that went off in the early hours of Sunday morning at Bodh Gaya
and two other locations in the state of Bihar. One man was detained by
Indian police on Monday while other suspects are being sought.
Following the bomb blasts, Buddhist monks held protests on Monday in
Bodh Gaya at the temple complex to condemn the attack. Separately,
Magadh University students from Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand
and Vietnam staged a protest at their university campus, also in Bodh
Gaya.
In the wake of the bombings, the Burmese government has bolstered
security at Burma’s main Buddhists sites, including Rangoon’s Shwedagon
Pagoda, Mandalay’s Maha Myat Muni Pagoda and the ancient temple complex
of Bagan.
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