Controversial monk the Venerable U Wirathu has warned that a raid by the authorities to seize control of a Yangon monastery could create a protest movement by members of the clergy similar to that in 2007 known as the Saffron Revolution.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has said the early morning raid on the Mahasantisukha Monastery on June 11 was necessary to seize control of the property from its well-known abbot and his followers.
The abbot, the Venerable Penang Sayardaw, and the State Central Sangha Organisation, the supreme body representing Buddhist monks in Myanmar, have been involved in a long-running dispute over the ownership of the property.
"When the first Saffron Revolution occurred the State Central Sangha Organisation did not dare speak out against the military regime [for suppressing the protests], but this time the organisation has itself created the second Saffron Revolution," U Wirathu told Mizzima on June 12.
"The government should not have done this," he said.
Scores of monks were detained and taken from the monastery in the raid, which took place while the Venerable Penang Sayardaw was travelling abroad.
Five of the monks detained during the raid were reported to have disrobed and sent to Yangon's Insein Prison on June 13.
