Myanmar and protests
I’ve been negligent in not drawing attention to this story, which has been going on for a while, but is now heating up. Monks and nuns in Myanmar had been protesting peacefully for democracy. At first the police were respectful. Soon, though, things grew violent, with police opening fire on protestors and eventually barricading monks in their monastaries. Now, reports are that the government is trying to quell the peaceful protests and prevent any communication with outside of the country (they’ve shut off Internet access so images of violence cannot be uploaded to the rest of the world).
Unconfirmed reports are now circulating that chemical warfare is involved against these protestors. Whether this is the case or not, the country’s track record raises fears that the 1988 killings during a similar fervor for democracy will be repeated.
Image: AP Photo, September 23, 2007 “Buddhist monk leaders speak at Shwedagon Pagoda during protest against the military government in Yangon, Myanmar.”