Monks Renew Protest in Burma

Rangoon — More than 100 Buddhist monks marched in northern Burma for nearly an hour today, the first public demonstration since the government's deadly crackdown last month on pro-democracy protesters, several monks said.

The monks in Pakokku shouted no slogans, but one monk told the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web site run by dissident journalists, that the demonstration was a continuation of the protests in September.

"We are continuing our protest from last month as we have not yet achieved any of the demands we asked for," the monk told Democratic Voice of Burma.

"Our demands are for lower commodity prices, national reconciliation, and immediate release of (opposition leader) Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners," said the monk, who was not identified by name.

He said they had little time to organize so the march was small but "there will be more organized and bigger protests soon."

The demonstrations in Rangoon last month numbered up to 100,000 people and were crushed when troops fired on protesters September 26 and 27. The crackdown left at least 10 people dead by the government's count, though opposition groups say as many as 200 people may have been killed. The military junta's crushing move drew international condemnation.

Pakokku, a center for Buddhist learning with more than 80 monasteries about 390 miles northwest of the commercial center of Rangoon, was the site of the first march last month by monks as they joined — and then spearheaded — the biggest anti-government protests in nearly two decades.

The protests originally started August 19, when ordinary citizens took to the streets to vent anger after the government hiked fuel prices as much as 500 percent. The rallies gained momentum when Buddhist monks in Pakokku joined the protests in early September.

Reports that troops had beaten protesting monks in Pakokku on September 6 rallied monks around the country to join the burgeoning marches.

Today, the monks started out at Pakokku's Shwegu Pagoda, marching for nearly an hour and chanting Buddhist prayers without incident. They then returned to their respective monasteries, two monks said in telephone interviews, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The march came after a pro-junta rally in town. Opposition groups in exile claim such rallies are stage-managed by the government.