Sittwe: Prominent monks from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, have not had any religious titles conferred upon them by the Burmese military authority in 2010, said one abbot from Sittwe.

"In Sittwe, there are many prominent and senior monks but none can be conferred religious titles this year by the military authority due to the involvement of monks in Sittwe in the movement against the military government in 2007," the abbot said.

The Burmese military government issued Notification No. 1/2010 to confer religious titles on prominent monks inside and outside of the country on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of Burma's independence.

Many religious titles, including Ganthadhura Pariyatti Lecturer Sayadaws, Vipassana Dhura Patipatti Kammathana cariya Instructor Sayadaws, and Roving Dhamma Preachers were conferred to monks, but no one from Sittwe was included on the list.

"Five monks from Arakan State have been conferred religious titles this year, but no monks from Sittwe. Even though the military government conferred the religious titles to the monks in Arakan State, they are just lower level titles, not upper level," the monk said.

Among the monks conferred titles are two monks from Maungdaw and Minbya who received the title Maha Thatdama Zawdiga for their missionary work in the frontier areas, but these monks are close to the military authority.

A monk from Maungdaw said, "The title conferred by the military government to the monks is not related to the Buddhist religion, it is related to politics. Those who are working and supporting the military government can get titles easily from the government. The monk from Maungdaw received the title as he was working for the government."

The government authority has neglected to confer the highest religious title on any monks from Sittwe since 2007, when the Saffron Revolution protests took place in Burma.

In Sittwe, there are over 300 monasteries and at least one monk from each monastery participated in the protests in 2007. Moreover, monks from Sittwe continued to attempt to stage demonstrations against the military government after the Saffron Revolution protests were stopped.

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