RANGOON — In the largest popular demonstration since the monk-led 2007 Saffron
Revolution, hundreds of protesters marched through Rangoon on Friday to mark
International Peace Day and to demand an end to the ongoing conflicts in
Burma’s ethnic regions.
In a defiant move rarely seen in
Burma, protesters gathered in front of City Hall on Friday morning before setting
off in lines through the busy streets of Rangoon to their planned rendezvous,
Inya Lake, where they say they will hold a prayer service for national peace in
the evening.
The protest was co-organized by
several civic groups, including the Kachin Peace Network, and is the first
public demonstration conducted in Rangoon without government approval.
Public gatherings and protests
are now officially allowed in Burma, but only after the organizers have sought
and received permission from the relevant township authorities.
One of the organizers, Wai Lu,
who was recently released from detention after participating in farmers’ land
confiscation protests in Sagaing District, said that even though they had
applied for permission, the authorities “had denied it under the pretext that
the protest might cause public disorder or traffic jams.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on
Friday, he said, “We know it’s risky, but we are all here for national peace.
It has nothing to do with politics. Without peace, there can be no
development.”
Shortly before the march, a
police official appeared and warned the organizers that they did not have
written permission to hold a protest, saying that it was against the law to
stage a demonstration without government approval.
“Sorry, officer!” cried out one
of the protesters. “The civil war has affected the country both economically
and socially. No one is taking responsibility for that. Now you are accusing us
of causing mayhem. It’s very unjust. We can’t follow your order. We have to move
ahead. You may take legal action against us afterward!”
With many wearing light blue
T-Shirts and headbands with slogans reading “Stop the Civil War!” and placards
declaring “Nothing Beats Peace,” some 300 marchers set off from City Hall near
the Sule Pagoda, heading northbound on the main road. Emboldened by the
protesters’ defiance in front of police officers, many spectators joined in.
The crowd swelled as it headed
toward Inya Lake as one of the organizers shouted through a loudspeaker to
puzzled onlookers that they were marching to call an end to the civil war.
Ethnic Kachin man, Brang Mai, 35,
was one passer-by who joined the march. He said he did it out of
conscientiousness and does not belong to any organization or party.
“I’m here not only for the Kachin
people, but for national peace. I don’t want to see any more trouble and
suffering,” he said.
Ma Cho and two fellow farmers
traveled from Hlaing Tharyar Township to take part in the demonstration. The
35-year-old said she knows they are doing the right thing.
“I really envy the peace
protesters here in Rangoon,” she said. “If we farmers could stage a protest
like this, we might make some headway against those military cronies who seized
our land.”
Organizers expressed satisfaction
that the protest was proceeding without incident as a group of some 250
protesters had been prevented the night before from traveling by bus to
Naypyidaw to stage a march.
In Mon State capital Moulmein,
around 50 people marked the UN’s International Peace Day with a protest and
some discussions. No interruptions or confrontations with security forces were
reported.
The Karen National Union (KNU)
issued a statement to mark the occasion, calling on President Thein Sein’s
government to observe a one-day ceasefire in Kachin State, “which will be a
step towards a permanent ceasefire in the whole of Burma.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on
Friday, KNU General-Secretary Zipporah Sein said that the KNU noted that
although the KNU has already signed a truce with Naypyidaw, it had, in years
previous, observed a one-day ceasefire out of respect for the United Nations’
International Peace Day.
She said that Karen women’s
groups had held a vigil in Mae Sot at the Thai-Burmese border to mark the day
and to call for a nationwide ceasefire.
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