Burma monks continue protests
The Burma regime hangs heavy over Yangon
Thursday, 20, Sep 2007 11:25
Burma's repressive military regime faces a third day of anti-government protests by monks today.
A crowd of several thousand Buddhist monks are marching through the streets of Burma's capital, Yangon, after being locked out of the country's most revered temple, the Shwedagon Pagoda.
They have taken to the streets after failing to receive an apology from the government over the arrest of four monks in protests on Tuesday.
The march is part of a wider and growing protest movement against Burma's regime, which has been in place since 1962. Monks were involved in the failed 1988 uprising, the biggest protest movement during the 45-year period of military rule.
It was triggered by a sudden hike in petrol prices in August which caused an initial wave of street protests from ordinary citizens.
The protest movement gathered momentum with monks briefly taking hostage security officials at a monastery in Pakhokku, after the security officials had fired gunshots over the heads of demonstrating monks to break up their protest.
Observers say the monks' decision to refuse alms from the military junta is having a corrosive effect on the popularity of the regime. In Buddhism not giving alms is comparable to excommunication in Catholicism.