The Burmese junta tightened security around downtown Rangoon on Saturday amid reports that monks and activists planned to gather at the city’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda to protest next month's election, according to local sources.
“Since this morning, riot police trucks have been going around the city and security forces are on standby near Shwedagon Pagoda and at monasteries near Rangoon General Hospital in Pazundaung Township,” said a source in Rangoon.
Saturday marked the end of the Buddhist Lent, a major event on Burma's religious calendar, so temples and pagodas around the country were crowded as normal. But the authorities in Rangoon were on high alert after monks and activists reportedly issued a statement recently saying they would organize protests against the Nov.7 election.
According to local journalists, there were unconfirmed reports that at least two monks had been detained at Shwedagon Pagoda.
“Monks and other people started gathering around Shwedagon at about 11 am. Witnesses told us that two monks were taken into custody by government agents. Maybe they were detained briefly,” said a reporter for a local private journal.
“They were handing out pamphlets that said they don't not accept the election or the new flag that the government introduced a couple of days ago,” he added.
Meanwhile, authorities attempted to deter some opposition politicians from traveling to Kale in northern Burma's Sagaing Division, where ethnic leaders are scheduled to gather for a meeting on ethnic minority rights over the weekend.
“U Aung Thein, a lawyer for the National League for Democracy, was questioned by the authorities while he was traveling to Kale,” said a dissident source. “He is now safely in Kale with other opposition and ethnic politicians for the meeting.”
Opposition politicians and ethnic leaders have called for another gathering like the Panglong Conference of February 1947, when Burma's independence leaders agreed to a political formula that guaranteed the rights of the country's many ethnic minorities.
“Since this morning, riot police trucks have been going around the city and security forces are on standby near Shwedagon Pagoda and at monasteries near Rangoon General Hospital in Pazundaung Township,” said a source in Rangoon.
Saturday marked the end of the Buddhist Lent, a major event on Burma's religious calendar, so temples and pagodas around the country were crowded as normal. But the authorities in Rangoon were on high alert after monks and activists reportedly issued a statement recently saying they would organize protests against the Nov.7 election.
According to local journalists, there were unconfirmed reports that at least two monks had been detained at Shwedagon Pagoda.
“Monks and other people started gathering around Shwedagon at about 11 am. Witnesses told us that two monks were taken into custody by government agents. Maybe they were detained briefly,” said a reporter for a local private journal.
“They were handing out pamphlets that said they don't not accept the election or the new flag that the government introduced a couple of days ago,” he added.
Meanwhile, authorities attempted to deter some opposition politicians from traveling to Kale in northern Burma's Sagaing Division, where ethnic leaders are scheduled to gather for a meeting on ethnic minority rights over the weekend.
“U Aung Thein, a lawyer for the National League for Democracy, was questioned by the authorities while he was traveling to Kale,” said a dissident source. “He is now safely in Kale with other opposition and ethnic politicians for the meeting.”
Opposition politicians and ethnic leaders have called for another gathering like the Panglong Conference of February 1947, when Burma's independence leaders agreed to a political formula that guaranteed the rights of the country's many ethnic minorities.
Source:Irrawaddy
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