Buddhist monks in Myitkyina Township, capital of Kachin State in Northern Burma have been put under virtual house arrest. They have been ordered to stay in their rooms in the monasteries by the junta authorities since Saturday evening. This explains the mysterious disappearance of the monks over the weekend.
The monks are being fed by the military authorities and are not being allowed to go even out of their rooms since the weekend, according to local devotees.
There has been so significant movement of monks inside the precincts of the monasteries in Myitkyina over the last three days. However, several of Burma's ruling junta's security agents, including police personnel and soldiers can be seen inside and outside the monasteries, eyewitnesses told KNG today.
"I can't see monks as usual in the monasteries around Myitkyina Township such as in Wuntu Monastery in Shanzu South Quarter, Myo-Oo and Andawshin Monasteries in Yangyi Aung Quarter, and monasteries in Tatkone, Kyunpyintar, Aung Nan and Nan Thidar Quarters. But I can see security agents both in uniform and plain clothes, policemen and soldiers inside and outside the monasteries," a resident of Myitkyina told KNG this evening.
There are about 200 student monks called Koyins and monastic leaders in each monastery, said local Buddhist devotees.
All monks have been forced to stay in their rooms in the monasteries and are not being allowed to go out of the monasteries' compounds and outside on the orders of Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint of Kachin State, said sources close to authorities in Myitkyina.
Things are quiet at the moment in Myitkyina but the soldiers are guarding the junta's Kachin State Administrative Office (Pa-Ya-Ka) and homes of high ranking military officers of the Northern Command Headquarters, eyewitnesses said.
Today, hundreds of monks marched in protest against the junta's high handedness in Kyaukpadaung in central Burma and Rangoon, former capital of the country, after the junta denied having had the monks beaten up in an earlier rally in Pakokko in Magwi Division, near Mandalay.
It is the latest in a wave of protests sweeping across Burma which started last month, when the regime jacked up fuel prices.
The monks are being fed by the military authorities and are not being allowed to go even out of their rooms since the weekend, according to local devotees.
There has been so significant movement of monks inside the precincts of the monasteries in Myitkyina over the last three days. However, several of Burma's ruling junta's security agents, including police personnel and soldiers can be seen inside and outside the monasteries, eyewitnesses told KNG today.
"I can't see monks as usual in the monasteries around Myitkyina Township such as in Wuntu Monastery in Shanzu South Quarter, Myo-Oo and Andawshin Monasteries in Yangyi Aung Quarter, and monasteries in Tatkone, Kyunpyintar, Aung Nan and Nan Thidar Quarters. But I can see security agents both in uniform and plain clothes, policemen and soldiers inside and outside the monasteries," a resident of Myitkyina told KNG this evening.
There are about 200 student monks called Koyins and monastic leaders in each monastery, said local Buddhist devotees.
All monks have been forced to stay in their rooms in the monasteries and are not being allowed to go out of the monasteries' compounds and outside on the orders of Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint of Kachin State, said sources close to authorities in Myitkyina.
Things are quiet at the moment in Myitkyina but the soldiers are guarding the junta's Kachin State Administrative Office (Pa-Ya-Ka) and homes of high ranking military officers of the Northern Command Headquarters, eyewitnesses said.
Today, hundreds of monks marched in protest against the junta's high handedness in Kyaukpadaung in central Burma and Rangoon, former capital of the country, after the junta denied having had the monks beaten up in an earlier rally in Pakokko in Magwi Division, near Mandalay.
It is the latest in a wave of protests sweeping across Burma which started last month, when the regime jacked up fuel prices.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|