A Brief History of People Power
The Saffron Revolution, Burma, 2007
As if the ordinary people of Burma didn't have enough to protest about in one of the world's most impoverished, isolated and repressed states, a rise in fuel prices prompted a daring, nonviolent rebellion against the junta. Over a little more than a week in September, thousands of the country's monks, clad in saffron-colored robes, marched on the streets of various cities throughout the country. They were joined by countless more regular Burmese. But the presence of these holy men didn't dissuade the generals: a merciless crackdown eventually dispersed the protests, killing at least 31, according to the U.N., though rights groups imagine that the death toll was far higher. Although it stirred the global imagination for a time, the Saffron Revolution did little to shake the grip that Burma's tyrannical junta has over the state.