Some monks have joined street protests opposing the power grab, while other religious leaders have defended the military junta. Ahead of the religious observance, a group of Mandalay monks opposed to the coup urged other holy men not to participate in the junta-organised event. “They are ogres, but they pretend to be human beings,” the Sangha Mandalay monk group said in a Facebook post. Government officials and representatives from a military-linked political party hosted the religious ceremony near a former royal palace on Saturday — the day coinciding with a full moon. Mandalay monk Ugga Nyana insisted participation in ceremony was not a political statement, and the clergymen came in the name of love.

Source: Bangkok Post May 14, 2022 23:31 UTC