From Boston Herald :

Activists denounce violence in Burma at Harvard march

By Simone Press
Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Updated 3h ago

The crisis in Burma was marked in Harvard Square yesterday when activists marched to condemn attacks on peaceful Buddhist monks by security forces in the uprising against military rule.

Shanti Maung, a Harvard senior who uses a pseudonym to protect the family she still has in Burma, organized the march.

She visited her native country just two weeks ago and is horrified by the violence there in the battle over freedom and democracy.

“It’s incredibly brave of the monks and the people in Burma to rise up,” Maung said. “It’s very uncertain. What we need now is the international community to intervene and to talk to the military or anyone who has influence with the junta to give them more moderate strategies.”

State Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston) said, “Massachusetts was one of the first states in 1996 to take a formal stance on democracy in Burma by passing the Massachusetts-Burma Act. People in Burma are so excited that the monks have stood up to the government in Burma and we must support them.”

Man Kuang, a nun at the Boston Buddhist Cultural Center, is from Taiwan, but she sympathizes with the Burmese monks. “It’s a global issue. We must purify our mind and hope for peace,” Kuang said.

Businessman Sai Kyaw, one of the student leaders in the 1988 Burmese revolution, came to the United States in 1993 as a refugee. He believes that change is possible this time.

“We will get what we want,” said Kyaw, who is helping to organize another march at the State House on Thursday.

Kyaw said he is hopeful that the breakthrough will come if China agrees to intervene and convice Burma’s military government to allow reforms.

The uprising was sparked when the repressive government devalued currency and imposed a heavy increase in fuel prices affecting ordinary citizens, even as officials there live luxurious lifestyles.