 |
|
9 killed in Myanmar crackdown Yangon, September 27 Witnesses said scores of protesters were wounded or beaten in at least three or four incidents around Yangon after soldiers told people they had 10 minutes to clear the city centre streets or risk getting shot. A Japanese photographer was shot dead as soldiers fired to disperse crowds on Sule Pagoda road, witnesses said. One Buddhist monk was killed in a raid on the Shwesettaw monastery, a monastic source said. The raid was one of nine at monasteries seen by the junta as fomenting the demonstrations. In some cases, all but one or two monks were carted off in military trucks. Soldiers of the 77nd Light Infantry Division opened fire into crowds on the Eastern Race Course Road after a military truck drove into protesters, onlookers said. Three people were killed on the spot. Their bodies were dragged to the side and left in a roadside ditch. In the same incident, at least 30 people were beaten and many of them were taken to the a private clinic by bystanders. At least four other people "had been shot quite seriously" on Tarami Street, the British diplomat said. At least three or four people were wounded when the soldiers dispersed a big crowd under the Pansodan Overpass. — Reuters
India hardens stance
on Myanmar New Delhi, September 27 External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, currently in the USA, issued a brief but candid statement, expressing concern over the situation in Myanmar. “It is our hope that all sides will resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue. As a close and friendly neighbour, India hopes to see a peaceful, stable and prosperous Myanmar, where all sections of people will be included in a broad-based process of national reconciliation and political reform.” Significantly, the last line of his statement said: “Myanmar’s process of national reconciliation initiated by the authorities should be expedited.” Myanmar-watchers in and outside the government here see Mukherjee’s statement - second from India on Myanmar in as many days - as a signal to Yangon that New Delhi was gradually distancing itself from the repressive Myanmar regime. They key phrases in the statement are “national reconciliation” and “political reform” - a recipe which New Delhi recommended to Kathmandu as well ever since King Gyanendra seized all power in Nepal in February 2005. India has so far refrained from making a comment on the 10-day-old pro-democracy movement across Myanmar, spearheaded by thousands of monks, who are revered by the Myanmarese. But short of a reference to the restoration of democracy, India has left none in doubt that it is keen on seeing the political impasse in that country settled peacefully and through dialogue. The two India statements in the past two days are meant to be seen as a signal to the international community that New Delhi is not blindly supportive of the military regime led by senior General Than Shwe even though the Indians have immense strategic interests in Myanmar.
The Khin Nyunt Factor
The pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, which has gathered steam over the past few days, is being fuelled by supporters of dissident General Khin Nyunt who is being kept in the custody of government forces at an unknown place for over two years. Gen Nyunt was the intelligence chief and home minister of Myanmar for decades and was extremely powerful. He was in the forefront in the brutal repression of Myanmar’s first major pro-democracy movement in 1988 in which more than 3,000 people were killed. There is a considered opinion in the official circles here that restoration of democracy in Myanmar is a Herculean task and cannot be achieved without the cooperation of China. Beijing has huge geo-political and strategic stakes in Myanmar ever since the 1962 military coup in that country, which many believe was China-supported.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
