Buddhist monk demonstrations in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon entered into the fifth day on Saturday with hundreds of the monks marching through some main roads of the city and chanting prayers and holy scripture.
The peaceful demonstrations in drizzling rain were joined by large crowds of onlookers.
The widespread Buddhist monks demonstrations in Yangon and other parts of the country, which began on Tuesday, were triggered by an incident in Magway division's Pakokku on Sept. 5 and 6, in which some monks were allegedly insulted during a demonstration in protest against recent massive fuel price hike.
That incident resulted in the torching of four local- authorities-owned cars and smashing of two houses of departmental officials by angry protestors.
Myanmar official media said the Pakokku monk demonstration was stirred up by external and internal anti-government groups to destabilize the country.
So far, the authorities have not intervened, and daily life and traffic basically remain normal in the city.
On Saturday, similar demonstrations were held by thousands of Buddhist monks in Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, about 690 kilometers to the north of Yangon, reports reaching here said.
According to earlier official report, hundreds of Buddhist monks also staged protest walks in Sittway in western Rakhine state on Tuesday, which then turned violent and was dispersed by the authorities with the use of tear-gas and warning firing into the air. The authorities said a departmental official and nine policemen were injured in the incident.
Similar protest walks by monks over the past week were also reported in such areas as Bago, Yenangyaung, Chauk, Kyaukpadaung, Aunglan and Labutta.
Triggered by the fuel price increase in Aug. 15, a series of small-scale demonstrations had been held in Yangon since Aug. 17, including those staged by "88 Generation Students Group," led by Min Ko Naing, who along with 14 others have been detained. They were charged with undermining stability and security of the state.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article