Posted on 09/25/2007 12:08:23 AM PDT by Jedi Master Pikachu
Lorries with loudspeakers have been driving through Burma's main city of Rangoon warning residents to stop anti-government protests. The broadcasts threatened that "action will be taken against those who violate this order". But hundreds of monks and civilians defied the threats and began fresh protests at the Shwedagon pagoda. On Monday, there were protests in at least 25 towns, with tens of thousands of people marching in Rangoon.
Several military trucks are now parked near Shwedagon pagoda, which has been the focus of the protests. Eyewitnesses said several hundred monks gathered at Shwedagon with the apparent intention of marching again. The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says monks - who have been spearheading the protest campaign - have been handing out pictures of Burmese independence hero Aung San, the deceased father of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. They are also carrying flags, including some bearing the image of a fighting peacock used by students during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, witnesses told Reuters news agency.
The junta, which violently repressed the 1988 protests killing some 3,000 people, finally broke its silence over the mounting protests, saying late on Monday that it was ready to "take action" against the monks. It repeated its warning in state media on Tuesday, ordering monks not to get involved in politics and accusing them of allowing themselves to be manipulated by the foreign media. US President George W Bush is to announce further sanctions against Burma's ruling military junta in response to the protests, the White House has said. Mr Bush is expected to announce the new restrictions during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Washington is hoping it will encourage other nations to act and embolden the protesters on Burma's streets, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington. The authorities are likely to be under huge pressure from their close neighbour China to avoid bloodshed and instability, the BBC's Asia correspondent, Andrew Harding notes. The European Union has also urged the junta to show the "utmost restraint" in dealing with the protests and to take the opportunity to "launch a process of real political reform". The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has given his backing to the monks' call for freedom and democracy.
Detained leader A group of more than 1,000 of the maroon-robed monks and 400 sympathisers went to Aung San Suu Kyi's street at the end of Monday's march, the Associated Press reported. They chanted a prayer for peace in the face of the riot police blocking access to her home, where she is under house arrest, before dispersing peacefully. The organisation that has emerged to lead the protests, the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks, has vowed to continue marches until it has "wiped the military dictatorship from the land". The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation. [Bonus picture] |
The title, at this time, of the article on the BBC website: “Army broadcasts Rangoon warning” .
Asia pinglist ping.
This is the time for both India and Thailand to issue strong public statement warning of certain retaliation if the junta starts murdering it’s people (monks) in the streets again.
The World should not be quiet
and of course China will not say diddly ....
This is going to get ugly. The protests have metastasized, and these monks don’t care what the army does. The army doesn’t care either. Look out.
And if the Communist government of China falls, that will be a major blow to the dictatorships of the world.
As for Burma alone, hopefully the nation will be freed fast, and with a minimum of bloodshed.
The title of the article has changed. “Burmese monks defy army warning” .
Sure, tons of monks
Do march and rave,
But army punks
Use Burma-Shave.
This could get real interesting real soon.
This should be a focus of FR but we’re too busy getting in the face of Code Pink.
Priorities, priorities...
well we are doing what we can .
That Mr. President is on this issue is a great thing.
the 1st Lady too I imagine .
Let’s just stick with it and hope for the best
Like the rush of spring's first mountain water runoffs, so clean and so pure. Or the call of the majestic eagle, crying out to every valley that will echo forever-- "We must have freedom! We must have freedom! Our lives are nothing without freedom!"
This bears watching. Currently the US gov. is relocating thru amnesty 1000s of Burmese.
if you’d like to see how desparate the Junta is :
http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/
trying like hell to pull all the strings they have with the
committed senior Sangha that have been on the government dole so long they forget what it is like to wish for FREEDOM!
The Generals are brutal thugs who have kept their grasp on power with only some 20% support and with China's very active good wishes. The Monks and others are very brave and certainly have my support for what it is worth.
These kind of regimes often don't have a strong central leader, as there are usually a number of factions, and the 'leader' is usually the person who has amassed enough wealth to pay the rank and file soldiers, sort of like the later Roman Empire, but on a smaller scale.
It used to be that that US government, through the CIA, would funnel cash to whoever they thought would be most effectual or pro democratic leader, so they could get control of the military by buying them off. (Often the money was in the form of "black money", which was cash treated with a chemical that blackened or otherwise disfigured the currency. The government operatives had the solution that cleaned it, that way they had more control of who could use the money. At least this was the way we interacted with the constantly revolving regimes in west Africa.)
Whether we have any influence with the Burmese, seems kind of doubtful. Hopefully the Indians would have a line, certainly better them than the Chinese, but I certainly hope and pray for the best for the Burmese people.
I disagree, I feel it is more likely that the military will act with force and put down this act of Lèse majesté. Rather than being about freedom and democracy, average Burmans are more upset about the cut of fuel subsidies due to rising oil costs that directly impact their living conditions. Whether the military stays or remains, Burma will still have at her feet the same problems it continues to have.
The Junta should have acted much earlier and staunched the protests while they were in their infancy before letting it move to the point it has today.
Bob-—Check your FreepMail.
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