The eastern gate of Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon
The military junta that rules Myanmar arrested at least 200 Buddhist monks today in response to pro-democracy demonstrations that have brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets over the past week.
During the night, government soldiers used a 9pm–5am curfew to barricade pagodas used as gathering places by both monks and civilian protestors.
Today they fired teargas and warning shots to disperse the crowds who had showed up at Shwedagon Pagoda anyway, and some protestors were beaten.
They also went to the homes of known dissidents and arrested them.
Despite the arrests, about 10,000 protestors marched to Sule Pagoda, the destination of most of Yangon’s recent demonstrations. Some carried flags of a fighting peacock, the symbol of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.
Large demonstrations also took place in Mandalay, Myanamar’s second-largest city.
Rumors circulated that Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the political opposition that won the country’s official elections in 1990, has been taken from her home to Insein prison. Aung has been under house arrest for the last decade and was visited by demonstrators last Saturday.
Until now, Myanmar’s military dictatorship has allowed the protestors unprecedented freedom of speech and movement. China, which has poured billions of dollars into Myanmar in the form of arms, heavy infrastructure and gas exploration, has broken with its past policy of silence and called for restraint from Myanmar’s military. China is seen as having much to lose if the protests get out of control.
India, Thailand, Singapore and Russia also have economic interests in Myanmar. On Monday, at the height of the protests, India pledged $150M of direct investment for offshore gas exploration.
Despite such investment, most people in Myanmar have lived as if in a state of suspended animation since the junta came to power in 1988. Education has become a shambles and many previously middle-class families find it difficult to afford food and basic necessities. When the government last month suddenly announced a doubling of fuel prices, the current protest movement began.
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