Rangoon Is Still a Battleground

Rangoon, Burma’s former capital and its biggest city, is still a battleground, where terror reigns.

The territory is held for now by the military forces who won the first engagement by killing their own people and the monks who called for freedom from four decades of oppression. The temporary victors, the “Tatmadaw” (or armed forces) continue to arrest, beat, torture and kill innocent people.

“They regard monks and ordinary people as their enemies,” said a Rangoon woman.  “They have searched monasteries and houses and arrested those whom they suspect. What are they going to achieve by killing innocent people?”

The woman was ordered to leave the Kyaikkasan Pagoda on September 27 as she prayed for the demonstrators and monks facing violent reaction by troops and security forces. The military are hunting one of her young brothers who was involved in the demonstrations.

CNN news coverage shows smiling soldiers beating and kicking the peaceful demonstrators and forcing them into trucks.

According to the 88 Generation Students group and the National League for Democracy, at least 130 deaths occurred nationwide and about 3,000 monks and their supporters have been arrested since the peaceful demonstrations started in August 19.

Dissident groups, however, put the figures higher, saying at least 200 people have died and about 6,000 people have been arrested.

Monks in monasteries across the country are continuing to refuse alms from members of the military regime and their families, and the authorities have banned the public from providing them with food. Monks in some monasteries in Mandalay are drying their remaining rice in the sun.

Security around monasteries in Mandalay remains tight, and the authorities continue to search for people who took part in demonstrations there.

In Rangoon, a woman resident said the authorities were touring the city announcing they had the photographs and other documents of people who participated in the demonstrations. Nighttime raids continued on Rangoon homes.

“The soldiers entered our house without asking permission and searched everywhere,” she said, “People didn’t dare to complain and we didn’t even dare move our eyes. They arrest and even kill anybody who moves.”

Another Rangoon resident said the authorities were conducting a census of National League for Democracy members and university students. Buses and taxis were being checked for suspects. Cyclists were being stopped at security barriers. “Rangoon is now really a battleground,” he said.

Troops are deployed everywhere in Rangoon, stationed at pagodas, monasteries and street junctions.

One Rangoon woman said: “Soldiers in front of my house have been sharpening their bayonets. That shows how much they thirst for blood and how cruel they are.”

Released detainees, monks and residents alike agree that the demonstrations aren’t over yet. “Weapons can’t stop us,” said one protestor. “We will continue until we get freedom.”