This picture received by The Irrawaddy, an Internet publication, shows a monk running as tear gas fills the air in downtown Yangon. Myanmar security forces used batons, tear gas and live rounds in a violent crackdown on mass protests against the military junta, killing at least four people including three Buddhist monks.YANGON (AFP) — Myanmar security forces used batons, tear gas and live rounds Wednesday in a violent crackdown on mass protests against the military junta, killing at least four people including three Buddhist monks.
Up to 100,000 people defied heavy security to take to the streets of the main city Yangon, marching and shouting abuse at police despite blunt warnings from the ruling generals who are facing the most serious challenge to their rule in nearly two decades.
Two of the monks were beaten to death while another was shot when he tried to wrestle a gun away from a soldier and the weapon discharged, two senior Myanmar officials told AFP.
They said the monks were killed near Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's holiest site and a key rallying point for the clergy leading the nine days of protests which have spread across the Southeast Asian nation.
A fourth man, who was not a monk, was shot dead, a hospital source said.
The UN Security Council was to meet in an emergency session in New York later Wednesday to discuss the spiralling crisis, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is the former colonial power, said "the whole world is now watching Burma" and called for a UN envoy to be sent there to talk to the "illegitimate and repressive regime."
After tolerating more than a week of protests, police opened fire and baton-charged protesters who had begun to gather at the Shwedagon Pagoda in the blazing noon sunshine.
Undeterred by the show of force, some 1,000 monks soon regrouped and paraded through the streets, to the delight of thousands of onlookers.
They roared approval for the monks and shouted at security forces: "You are fools! You are fools!"
Police and troops then fired a volley of warning shots and tear gas to try to break up the march.
In a sign of the resilience and determination of the protest movement, tens of thousands of monks massed once again, marching through the main market in a protest that lasted until the early evening.
At least 100 people were injured during the day and some 200 people were arrested, as many as half of them Buddhist monks, according to witnesses and diplomats.
State television news said that one 30-year-old protester had been killed, and another two men and one woman were injured, along with 10 police.
The report said security forces had used loudspeakers to ask the crowd to disperse but that the protesters had hurled stones and sticks at them, tried to steal their weapons, and set fire to two military motorcycles.
"Because of the difficult situation, the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd, using just a little force against the violent protesters. Because they opened fire, the protesters dispersed," it said.
The party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi branded the assaults on the monks -- highly revered in the devoutly Buddhist nation -- "the greatest wrong in history."
Protesters ignored a ban on public gatherings issued Tuesday along with a dusk-to-dawn curfew, as the generals who have turned Myanmar into one of the world's poorest and most isolated nations tried to keep a lid on the unrest.
Wednesday was the first time violence has been used against the recent protests, and analysts said it could be a preview for an even more severe crackdown in coming days.
There are fears of a repeat of 1988, the last time demonstrators rallied in such numbers in the streets of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Then, around 3,000 people were killed by the security forces.
There were sketchy reports Wednesday of huge turnouts and further clashes with police in the central city of Mandalay and in Sittwe on the western coast where 15,000 people marched.
Pro-democracy politician Win Naing and the country's most famous comedian Zaganar were also arrested earlier for helping the monks.
The unrest began last month when the junta dramatically raised the price of fuel overnight, deepening the misery in this already impoverished country.
The initial protests -- rare in a nation where the military quickly crushes any show of dissent -- began with only a handful of marching demonstrators.
But after the monks joined, the movement swelled, and around 100,000 people marched in Yangon on Monday and Tuesday.
Up to 100,000 people defied heavy security to take to the streets of the main city Yangon, marching and shouting abuse at police despite blunt warnings from the ruling generals who are facing the most serious challenge to their rule in nearly two decades.
Two of the monks were beaten to death while another was shot when he tried to wrestle a gun away from a soldier and the weapon discharged, two senior Myanmar officials told AFP.
They said the monks were killed near Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's holiest site and a key rallying point for the clergy leading the nine days of protests which have spread across the Southeast Asian nation.
A fourth man, who was not a monk, was shot dead, a hospital source said.
The UN Security Council was to meet in an emergency session in New York later Wednesday to discuss the spiralling crisis, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is the former colonial power, said "the whole world is now watching Burma" and called for a UN envoy to be sent there to talk to the "illegitimate and repressive regime."
After tolerating more than a week of protests, police opened fire and baton-charged protesters who had begun to gather at the Shwedagon Pagoda in the blazing noon sunshine.
Undeterred by the show of force, some 1,000 monks soon regrouped and paraded through the streets, to the delight of thousands of onlookers.
They roared approval for the monks and shouted at security forces: "You are fools! You are fools!"
Police and troops then fired a volley of warning shots and tear gas to try to break up the march.
In a sign of the resilience and determination of the protest movement, tens of thousands of monks massed once again, marching through the main market in a protest that lasted until the early evening.
At least 100 people were injured during the day and some 200 people were arrested, as many as half of them Buddhist monks, according to witnesses and diplomats.
State television news said that one 30-year-old protester had been killed, and another two men and one woman were injured, along with 10 police.
The report said security forces had used loudspeakers to ask the crowd to disperse but that the protesters had hurled stones and sticks at them, tried to steal their weapons, and set fire to two military motorcycles.
"Because of the difficult situation, the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd, using just a little force against the violent protesters. Because they opened fire, the protesters dispersed," it said.
The party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi branded the assaults on the monks -- highly revered in the devoutly Buddhist nation -- "the greatest wrong in history."
Protesters ignored a ban on public gatherings issued Tuesday along with a dusk-to-dawn curfew, as the generals who have turned Myanmar into one of the world's poorest and most isolated nations tried to keep a lid on the unrest.
Wednesday was the first time violence has been used against the recent protests, and analysts said it could be a preview for an even more severe crackdown in coming days.
There are fears of a repeat of 1988, the last time demonstrators rallied in such numbers in the streets of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Then, around 3,000 people were killed by the security forces.
There were sketchy reports Wednesday of huge turnouts and further clashes with police in the central city of Mandalay and in Sittwe on the western coast where 15,000 people marched.
Pro-democracy politician Win Naing and the country's most famous comedian Zaganar were also arrested earlier for helping the monks.
The unrest began last month when the junta dramatically raised the price of fuel overnight, deepening the misery in this already impoverished country.
The initial protests -- rare in a nation where the military quickly crushes any show of dissent -- began with only a handful of marching demonstrators.
But after the monks joined, the movement swelled, and around 100,000 people marched in Yangon on Monday and Tuesday.
6 comments:
All I can tell you is "I told you so."
There will not be any religion mixing with politic in most places and in particular, communist countries like China, Vietnam, and Laos, period.
Cambodian Buddhist institutions, pagodas and Buddhist monks, especially the Buddhist monks in Kampuchea Krom and Surin territories ought to be inspired by those brave monks in Burma (Myanma).
In order for the Buddhist sanghas to survive in SEA, the sanghas (monks) must have courage to face evil like the governments of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Monks are not supposed to be passive by just practicing the dharma alone. Monks throughout history are nationalistic and defend what's at stake of becoming extinct.
The Junta of Burma will pay the high crime against its own people...Guess what's next ?
The regime of Xmer ruling,CPP will pay its debts to Khmer People.
Dear Buddhists
Stop and look! Monks are not living in heaven.They live in society where all buddhist's concepts like gratitute,sympathy,empathy,compassion ,human respectand further applied to any living creature.
These are promulgated for better living environment(lives and living supports).The monk lives with less attachment,resumes human desires not to go to heaven as misunderstood by,but to attain the better understanding about live,promoting intellects for harmony in society.
So what a courage of monks who endure the suffering confronting all evil acts of invasive power which will ultimately leads to destruction.These sacrifice for the CAUSE AND EFFECT of Buddhism should be praised.
As buddhist we should gather against any oppression to express to the world in peaceful manner,GHANDI did that for the better and safety of humanity against POWER of human greed.
BUDDHIST PRACTICES IN CAMBODIA SHOULD BE REFINED AGAINST EVIL ACTS OF INVASION.
It is a good note of 1:12 AM
Khmer Soth
Guys and gals wake up. In Cambodia, buddhist institution's building which situated just near the casino naga has only one level. Which mean his level is much lower than the casino naga. God know that in the casino, they got many prostitutes. So I guess that the buddhist institution in Cambodia is worth less than prostitute. I mean from the Hun Sen point of view. Remember that He had just one eye. Scientist can confirm that with his one eye, He can't differentiate which building has his level lower or higher than the others!
Religions are all welcome in Vietnam, China, Laos, ..., and Burma. They can preach their heart out anytime they want, but NO POLITIC! Is that too hard to understand?
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