U Ottama

Sayadaw U Ottama (ဆရာတော် ဦးဥတ္တမ, ; also U Uttama; January 1880 – 9 September 1939) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk, author and a leader of the Burmese independence movement during the British colonial rule. The ethnic Rakhine (Arakanese) monk was imprisoned several times by the British colonial government for his anti-colonialist political activities. He went on a hunger strike in prison, and died in September 1939. He is presently considered one of the national heroes of modern Myanmar.

Early life
He was born Paw Tun Aung, son of Daw Aung Kyaw Thu and U Mra, in Rupa, Sittwe District, in western Burma in January 1880. Paw Tun Aung assumed the religious name Ottama when he entered the Buddhist monkhood.

Education
Ashin Ottama studied in Calcutta for three years, until he passed the vernacular. He then travelled around India, and to France and Egypt.

In January, 1907 he went to Japan, where he taught Pali and Sanskrit at the Academy of Buddhist Science in Tokyo. He then travelled to Korea, Manchuria, Port Arthur, China, Annam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. In Saigon, he met with an exiled former Burmese prince, Myin Kun (who led a rebellion along with Prince Myin Khondaing in 1866, and assassinated the heir to the Burmese Crown, Crown Price Kanaung).

Anti-colonial and political activities
Upon his return to British Burma, U Ottama started his political activities, toured the country, lecturing for YMBA (Young Men Buddhist Association) and giving anti-colonial speeches. In 1921, he was arrested for his infamous "Craddock, Get Out!" speech against Craddock Scheme by Sir Reginald Craddock, the then Governor of British Burma. Repeatedly imprisoned on charges of sedition, he carried on. Ottama was one of the first monk to enter political arena and the first person in British Burma to be imprisoned as a result of making a political speech, followed by a long line of nationalists such as Aung San and U Nu. According to academics; between 1921 and 1927, U Ottama spent more time in prison than outside.

While Ashin Ottama did not hold any post in any organization, he encouraged and participated in many peaceful demonstrations and strikes against British rule. An admirer of Gandhi, he did not advocate use of violence.

He represented the Indian National Congress at the funeral of Dr Sun Yat-Sen in June 1929. The only time he held a post was as leader of the All India Hindu Mahasabhas in 1935.

Death
U Ottama was imprisoned in the late 1930s for his nationalist political activities. In protest of recent political events, U Ottama went on a hunger strike, which the British colonial government ignored. Finally, he died in prison in 1939.

Legacy
U Ottama is seen as both the first true martyr of Burmese nationalism and father of the modern Arakanese nationalist movement. U Ottama is seen as the first of Myanmar's long list of political monks, who had stood up for the Burmese people in times of strife, either under colonial, democratic, socialist or military rule. His monastery in Sittwe, the Shwe Zedi Kyaung, continues to be an important focal point in the Burmese political movement - the recent August–September 2007 riots were sparked when monks at the Shwe Zedi monastery began to march to the Sittwe Prison demanding the release of an activist.