| Defiant protests continue despite first signs of military response
Sep 25, 2007 (DVB)—Defiant monks and civilians continued to take to the streets around Burma in protest today despite threats of legal action from the military and the presence of troops on the ground in Rangoon.
Thousands of monks marked the eighth day of protests against the military today with demonstrations in Rangoon, Mandalay, Sittwe and other areas of the country. In Rangoon, eyewitnesses said that more than 100,000 people had again taken part in demonstrations despite heavy security.
“Today marks the largest protester number. They are uncountable . . . There are lots of nuns joining the walk as well,” a Rangoon shop keeper told DVB.
Early this morning, government groups drove around the former capital warning people through loudspeakers not to protest. The authorities reportedly said that anyone taking part would be charged with undermining security.
But ordinary civilians, monks, nuns, activists and members of the National League for Democracy ignored the warnings and amassed at the famous Shwedagon pagoda early this afternoon before marching towards Sule pagoda downtown.
There they were met by hundreds of Burmese soldiers and police who had stationed themselves outside Rangoon’s city hall in the first ominous sign of a physical military response to the mass protests sweeping the country.
The security forces did not clash with demonstrators however and appeared to be merely keeping a nervous watch on the large crowds. The protestors appeared undeterred by the troops’ presence and continued protesting until the marches broke up peacefully later in the day.
Several high-profile celebrities such as Kyaw Thu and comedian Zaganar again joined the protestors, with Kyaw Thu saying that there was no need for demonstrators to be afraid despite rumours of an imminent crackdown.
“If they try to arrest the monks they will have to face us first. This time, there is no need for us to be scared,” he said, referring to the military’s brutal crackdown on the last major protests in 1988.
Reporting by Maung Too, Aye Naing and Thet Naing Oo
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