Military Forces Crush Protest in Myanmar (Burma)

By Anastacia Mott Austin

After a week of swelling protests demanding democracy in the southeast Asian country of Myanmar, also known as Burma, the government’s military group, or junta, has succeeded in quelling the protestors.

At one point during the protests, as many as 100,000 monks and civilians filled the streets, chanting "Democracy!" and waving red peacock flags, a symbolic gesture which served as a reminder to a previous protest in 1988 in which over 3,000 protesters were killed by military police.

The protests began after August19th, with a government announcement that fuel costs would rise drastically, as much as 500 percent. The country’s people have been suffering increasing poverty under the harsh rule of what is called the State Peace and Development Council, led by Senior General Than Shwe. The current incarnation of military junta to rule the country has been in power since 1992, but Burma has been ruled by military governments since 1962, when the first junta overthrew the then-civilian leaders.

Though the military government changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar in 1988, some countries refuse to acknowledge it as the legitimate name, as it was designated by a totalitarian regime and not the people. Though the United Nations recognizes the name Myanmar, several countries, including Britain and the United States, still refer to it as Burma. Some dissidents who have fled the country also refuse to recognize the name Myanmar.

Throughout August of this year, small groups of citizens gathered to protest the fuel hike and other restrictions, but the government’s response was reportedly harsh, with beatings and arrests occurring. During one of those protests three monks apparently were injured by the military. There are approximately 500,000 Buddhist monks living at monasteries in Burma, and the largely Buddhist population of the country reserves a special reverence for them.

In response, the monks joined the protests and issued a demand for an apology from the military, or they would refuse communication with the junta. The military is also primarily Buddhist, and a boycott by the monks would be embarrassing.

However, the government refused to apologize, so the monks joined the people in force, eventually growing to 100,000 earlier this week.

After several days of mostly peaceful protests by hundreds of thousands of civilians and monks, the government warned of severe penalties if crowds did not disperse. When they refused, the military descended, shooting into crowds, beating protesters by the hundreds, and making multiple arrests and taking people away in trucks. In addition, Wednesday night the military attacked the monasteries, arresting monks and effectively sealing off the remaining monasteries with government patrols.

The official count of human casualties from the protests remains at nine, though many claim the number is much higher, as the number given is the government’s estimate. A prominent Japanese photographer, Kenji Nagai, 50, was shot and killed as he was trying to take pictures of the attacks. Photos and video reveal Nagai still taking pictures with a camera in one hand even as he lay in the street dying. Japanese officials say they are investigating whether he was killed deliberately or if he was hit by a stray bullet in the crowd. The photos show a military policeman pointing an assault rifle from a few feet away as Nagai is lying in the street.

The most recent reports coming out of Burma claim that after the monks had been contained, the crowds of protestors lost their impetus, and only small, scattered groups are still actively attempting to congregate.

But experts on the area and those living in exile claim that this is just the beginning, not the end. Htay Kywe, a dissident speaking to reporters through emailed correspondence from his hiding place in Burma, said "As long as the public are experiencing a lack of development, economic hardship, authoritarian rule and injustice, there will be, and will always be, a situation where the public will not accept it and will fight back."