Buddhist monks staged peaceful protest marches for a second day in Myanmar yesterday, challenging authorities who used tear gas and fired warnings shots to break up some protests a day earlier.
More than 1,000 monks marched in the central city of Mandalay and about 100 others in dark saffron robes staged a peaceful march in the western Yangon suburb of Ahlone.
"The monks are telling the public not to take part in the protests. They told onlookers that this is the monks' affair and that they would handle it themselves," a witness contacted by phone in Ahlone said.
The person asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Witnesses contacted by phone in Mandalay said more than 1,000 monks from various monasteries had marched to Maha Myat Muni, the most revered Buddhist pagoda in the country's second-largest city.
There were no reports of intervention by the junta, which acknowledged in state media reports yesterday that authorities used tear gas and fired warning shots in the air to break up protests on Tuesday in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state in western Myanmar.
The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, claimed yesterday that bogus monks, "instigators" and foreign radio station reports helped the crowds swell on Tuesday.
It said senior Buddhist leaders urged the monks to disperse, but the crowd retaliated by throwing stones and sticks.
The report said the authorities made no arrests and there were no injuries.
The marches on Tuesday marked the 19th anniversary of the 1988 crackdown in Myanmar in which the current junta took over after crushing a failed pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962.
The anniversary was also commemorated by protests in the Philippines, India and New Zealand.
The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won. Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest for more than 11 years.
Monks in Myanmar, previously known as Burma, have historically been at the forefront of protests -- first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion.
The authorities know that restraining monks poses a dilemma. Monks are highly respected in the predominantly Buddhist country and abusing them in any way could cause public outrage.
Peaceful protests by monks began on Aug. 30 in Sittwe.
A second protest on Sept. 5 in the northern town of Pakokku was cut short when troops fired warning shots and used tear gas.
Junta supporters also manhandled some marchers.
In response, young monks angry at their mistreatment briefly took officials hostage, torched their vehicles and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.
Monks had given authorities until Monday to apologize for their mistreatment in Pakokku, a center of Buddhist learning, but it went unanswered.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS