Sittwe: Prominent monks in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, have not had any religious titles conferred on them by the Burmese military authorities in 2010, according to an abbot from Sittwe.

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

The Burmese regime issued Notification No. 1/2010 to confer religious titles on prominent monks inside and outside  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 in the list.

"Five monks from Arakan State have been conferred religious titles this year, but there are no monks from Sittwe. Even though the junta conferred the religious titles to the monks in Arakan State, they are just lower level titles, not upper level ones," 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 authorities.

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 authorities have 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 junta even after the Saffron Revolution protests.