By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS
Moreh (India-Myanmar border) : Angry anti-government protests continued in Myanmar’s capital Thursday as thousands of people, defying the military crackdown, again gathered in Yangon after forces raided two Buddhist monasteries, beating and arresting dozens of monks.
Military fired warning shots at a huge crowd of anti-government demonstrators in a crackdown that has drawn international attention, with world leaders appealing for restraint by Myanmar’s ruling Junta.
Riot police with guns and shields early Thursday raided two monasteries in Yangon and arrested about 70 to 80 monks, exiled Myanmarese leaders said here.
“We heard that Myint Thein, the spokesperson for Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party National League for Democracy, and former member of parliament Hla Pe were arrested early Thursday by the police,” Kyaw Than, president of the All Burmese Students’ League, told IANS at this town in the northeastern state of Manipur.
“Several of the monks were beaten as they were shoved into police vehicles with witnesses telling us that there was blood splattered on the floor,” he added.
An estimated 10,000 people converged on a block north of Sule Pagoda, a flashpoint for the past 10 days of protests, where they shouted catcalls and clapped their hands in a show of contempt for the government troops around the temple.
Although barricades set up by the army were dismantled on Pagoda Road, fully armed police and soldiers lined up on the pavements and were posted in the pagoda, DPA said quoting eyewitnesses.
Meanwhile, over 1,000 villagers in South Okkalapa township on the outskirts of Yangon attacked an army truck, pelting the soldiers on board with stones until they shot 10 tear-gas canisters into the crowd to make a getaway.
The villagers were outraged over the military raid at the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery Thursday, arresting monks and leaving its revered abbot severely beaten.
According to information reaching the exiles here, three Buddhist monks and a layman were killed in violent clashes between protesting monks and the military junta in Myanmar on Wednesday, taking the toll to five.
“The death toll has now risen to five with four monks and a civilian succumbing to their injuries overnight. Besides, about 50 people have been wounded, 17 of them seriously,” Than said.
There is no independent confirmation of the casualties. The Myanmar government has claimed that only one person died and two were injured.
Than is among 2,500 Myanmar nationals who fled to India after the military crack-down on pro-democracy leaders in 1988. He is now based in Imphal, the capital of Manipur.
Soldiers wielding automatic weapons and batons Wednesday charged thousands of Buddhist monks in the Myanmar capital Yangon when the monks took to the streets, protesting a fuel price hike in the country two weeks back.
The demonstrations have grown from several hundred people in mid-August to as many as 100,000 Sunday, led by tens of thousands of bare-foot monks in the largest and most sustained anti-government protests since 1988.
“Let us prepare ourselves for more sacrifice to get our democratic rights back. We have already spilled blood and we are determined not to be cowed down by the brutal force of the military junta,” a statement made available to IANS by Thawduzana, an influential group of the monks in Yangon, said.
The military junta Wednesday imposed a night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in Yangon and the other main city of Mandalay to stop more anti-government demonstrations. Loudspeaker announcements in Yangon said the city was now under direct control of Yangon’s military commander for 60 days.
“Several more monasteries in the country were being raided although information is being restricted with the authorities jamming Internet connections, telephones, and even blocking blogs,” said Tura, another exiled leader of the All Burma Student Democratic League based in Imphal.
Hundreds of exiled Myanmarese are planning a rally Oct 2 – the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi – in New Delhi to highlight the turmoil in their country.
“The rally would be to drum up international support and also to seek India’s help for direct intervention to resolve the impasse,” Than said.
The pro-democracy movement in 1988 was crushed by the junta with an estimated 3,000 people killed. The military junta then captured power by arresting dissidents and banning political opposition with force.
“Time has now come for the international community and Buddhists across the world to support the people in Myanmar,” Than said.
There have been reports of similar monk-led protests taking place in other Myanmar cities such as Mandalay and Sittwe.
Myanmar’s monks, said to number 400,000, have a long history of political activism. The monks played a pivotal role in Myanmar’s independence struggle from Britain in 1947 and the anti-military demonstrations of 1988, which ended in bloodshed.