It is said that there are only two colours on State television — green and yellow. The green is the uniforms of the military, whose activities and good deeds for the nation are trumpeted by the state broadcaster at wearying length, while the yellow is the saffron robes of monks or the gold of temples and pagodas.

Buddhism and superstition play a central role in Myanmarese society — from the morning alms round, when housewives line up to deposit food in bowls carried by barefoot monks, to the advice given to the powerful by sought-after fortune-tellers, some of whom are monks themselves.

In villages, the abbot of the local monastery is an important community leader and even in cities, virtually every adult Buddhist male will have spent some time, even if only a few weeks, as a monk.

Nuns are also respected, although not quite to the same extent, as their position in the religion is not the direct equivalent of a monk and Buddha himself was reluctant to ordain women. As if to try to burnish its image, the regime has long sought to portray itself and its members as patrons of Buddhism and devout believers themselves.

Leaders of the armed forces reportedly once flew over Yangon in a helicopter, accompanied by senior monks, chanting to bring peace and tranquillity to the city.

Some of the religion's strictures can be twisted to the dictatorship's advantage — it is a creed which, through the beliefs in karma and reincarnation, suggests that each soul has earned his lot in life, good or bad, through his past actions. As such, it has historically underpinned deferential societies in Asia.

But now that they are opposing the sangha or monkhood, the junta is in conflict with the national identity they claim to defend — as shown by the numbers of civilian protesters who say they have taken to the streets to protect the monks.

Some monks played an important role in Myanmar's independence movement but in recent years, political protest has largely been led by secular organisations.

By Sebastien Berger, The Telegraph Group Limited

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