YANGON — Myanmar’s Buddhist monkhood led an earlier struggle against military rule but is split on the coup that ended the country’s nascent democracy, with some prominent religious leaders defending the new junta.
Three months of turmoil have followed the February pre-dawn raids in which soldiers arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her top allies, sparking furious and widespread opposition.
Protesters have mobilized on the streets daily ever since, defying threats of lethal violence from security forces who have shot dead hundreds in an effort to bring the public to heel.
Joining their ranks are a number of largely young, crimson-robed monks who have defied …
Keep on reading: Buddhist monks in Myanmar split on anti-junta movement