High-ranking Buddhist abbots move to suspend activities, echoing Civil Disobedience Movement

High-ranking Buddhist abbots move to suspend activities, echoing Civil Disobedience Movement

Ma Ha Na members say it is ‘an undeniable truth’ that the people of Myanmar are suffering

Monks in Mandalay protest against the military regime on February 27 (Myanmar Now) 

The 47-member State Saṅgha Maha Nayaka Committee, a government-appointed body of high-ranking Buddhist abbots, have announced a decision to suspend their activities amid the junta’s violent crackdown on anti-coup protesters. 

The committee, locally known as Ma Ha Na, met on March 16 and called for an immediate end to attacks on protesters, a committee member told Myanmar Now on Tuesday night. 

The abbot said that an official statement would be issued only after the decision had been submitted to the Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture on March 18. 

“It is similar to the CDM,” the committee member said of Ma Ha Na’s move, referring to the ongoing Civil Disobedience Movement 

 

 

“After the decision is submitted to the religious affairs minister, the statement may change. I want you to know what the original says, because it may be changed. This is the decision of the 47 abbots.”

Among the Sangha Maha Nayaka’s five demands were calls for the violent crackdown on and arrests of unarmed civilians to be halted, and as well as for the looting and destruction of people’s property to be prevented. 

 

 

The committee said that the future and pride of all Myanmar citizens-- especially the younger generation-- must be taken into account. It called on the responsible authorities to refrain from acts that could tarnish the image of the nation, its races, religions and cultures. 

The abbots also urged all stakeholders to find solutions to the crisis by holding on to the principle of loving kindness and engaging in dialogue. 

The committee said that it would completely halt its activities until the political situation had eased, stability was achieved and the citizens could move freely. 

There was no argument among the Ma Ha Na abbots about whether to ask the junta to end its violent crackdown on civilians, the committee member said. The point that did raise debate in the meeting was whether examinations for Buddhist monks could still go ahead. 

The statement described it as “an undeniable truth” that the people of the country were suffering because of the current political situation. 

If the people are unhappy, Buddhist monks would also be unhappy and miserable, the letter said. If rulers and politicians remain divided, all Myanmar citizens would suffer, and that was why the abbots had made the request, the statement read. 

 

UN warns of ‘looming threat’ to Myanmar’s poorest as food and fuel prices spike in wake of coup 

Many in Myanmar may soon be unable to put enough food on the table if trends continue, World Food Programme official says 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 16, 2021
Opponents of the coup hold a candlelit vigil in Yangon on February 21 for protesters who have been killed and detained (Myanmar Now)

Rising food and fuel prices pose a “looming threat” to the poorest in Myanmar as the political unrest caused by the February 1 coup begins to affect supply chains, the United Nations has warned. 

The organisation’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that there had been “steep hikes” in the prices of staple goods in northern Rakhine state, with the average cost of cooking oil increasing 27% from January to February.  

The price of pulses in Maungdaw has jumped 15%, while rice prices have spiked by as much as 35% in some townships in Kachin state, such as Bhamo and Putao. Nationwide, rice prices have gone up by an average of 3%, the WFP said. 

And the price of fuel has increased 15% nationwide, which in turn may lead to further food price increases as the cost of transportation balloons. The problem is more severe in northern Rakhine, where petrol prices have jumped by 33% and diesel by 29%.

The WFP collected the data from 250 traders and shops across 70 townships nationwide. 

“These rising food and fuel prices are compounded by the near paralysis of the banking sector, slowdowns in remittances, and widespread limits on cash availability,” the WFP said in a statement. 

The programme’s Myanmar Country Director, Stephen Anderson, said the price increases were “troubling”. 

“Coming on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, if these price trends continue they will severely undermine the ability of the poorest and most vulnerable to put enough food on the family table.”

The WFP is stockpiling food to enable it to keep helping over 360,000 people in Myanmar, most of whom live in displacement camps.

Many parts of Myanmar’s economy have been brought to a standstill by strikes amid a massive popular uprising against the military regime. Foreign trade has virtually halted and banks have been forced to close their branches as employees refuse to work under the dictatorship.  

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
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Military stops hundreds of Kachin State IDPs from reaching camp

Among the IDPs, currently sheltering in a church in the Myitsone area, are elderly persons and newborn infants. 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 16, 2021
A woman holds her baby after fleeing clashes between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military in Injangyang Township on March 15 (Supplied)

Around 200 civilians fleeing clashes between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were barred by the junta’s armed forces from entering a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina on Monday.  

Fighting has spread from the Kachin State townships of Hpakant to Mogaung to Injangyang since early March. 

A battle on Monday near the Injangyang villages of Gway Htaung and Tan Baung Yan forced 200 people from both communities to seek temporary refuge in a Catholic church in the village of Tang Hpre. 

Tang Hpre is in the Myitsone area, located on the Mali and N’mai rivers, which make up the confluence of the Irrawaddy River.

“The KIA attacked a [Myanmar] military base in Gway Htaung, Injangyang. The battle lasted from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.,” a local source said. “It seems like they [KIA] are trying to regain the bases that they’ve lost in the past.” 

During previous episodes of armed conflict in 2018, the IDPs had previously fled to Pa La Na camp in Myitkyina. Despite continued instability and tension in the region, they had returned to their respective villages in Injangyang during the Covid-19 pandemic to escape the crowded conditions in the IDP camp. 

As they tried to leave the church where they had been sheltering and in order to continue onward to the Pa La Na camp, regime soldiers stopped them, blocking the exit to Tang Hpre village and essentially trapping them in the community. 

Some IDPs crossed the Irrawaddy River in motorboats with the help of locals. Myanmar soldiers told those operating the motorboats to turn back to the Myitsone area with the IDPs by 5:00 p.m. on March 15, according to those who fled. 

“We were told that the Myanmar military has forbidden them from going to Pa La Na camp. They were told to stay where they are,” a local helping the IDPs told Myanmar Now. “They will be assisted with food supplies such as rice, cooking oil, and salt,” the person said, although at the time of reporting, it was not clear who would provide such necessities. 

Among displaced are children, including newborn infants and elderly persons unable to walk.  

Those who managed to arrive in Tang Hpre said more villagers from Tan Baung Yan were still hiding in the forest, unable to reach a safe place to shelter.  

The Myitsone area is the site of a now suspended China-backed hydropower mega-dam which has been widely opposed by the Kachin and Myanmar public

 

 

Myanmar Now

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Soldier shoots man in head at close range as junta continues crackdown

At least 12 were killed across the country on Monday as mobile internet was shut off and martial law imposed in areas of Yangon 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 15, 2021
Security forces seen in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township on Sunday during a brutal crackdown on protesters (Supplied)

The coup regime’s forces continued their murderous campaign to crush Myanmar’s pro-democracy uprising on Monday, killing at least 12 people in Yangon and other cities across the country, rescue teams and witnesses said.

The killings came a day after at least 63 people were slaughtered in Yangon alone, marking the bloodiest day so far since protests against Min Aung Hlaing’s rule began in early February. 

In Hlaing Tharyar, where most of Sunday's killings took place, a man in his 50s was picking up trash after a protest had dispersed on Monday when a soldier walked up to him, pressed a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. 

“They shot the old man in the temple. He died right there,” a witness told Myanmar Now.

Mobile internet access was cut across the country on Monday, making it more difficult for people to share information about the attacks. Six towships in Yangon, including Hlaing Tharyar, were also placed under martial law.

At around 3pm, some 40 trucks full of soldiers arrived at the Aung Zeya Bridge in Hlaing Tharyar to break up a demonstration, a protester who lives in the township said.

Two women in their 60s were killed as armed forces fired at people from Da Bin Shwe Htee Road, the resident said.

Their bodies were brought to a local hospital with an ambulance, as were three people injured during the shootings, he added.

‘Punish the perpetrators’ 

Fires raged at a number of Chinese-owned factories in Hlaing Tharyar on Sunday. No evidence has emerged about who was responsible. 

China’s Global Times reported that 32 factories with Chinese investors were vandalized in Yangon, with the damage amounting $36.89 million. Two Chinese employees were injured, the newspaper said. 

The Chinese embassy in Myanmar on Sunday called on people to express their demands lawfully and not be incited to undermine China-Myanmar relations.

“China urges Myanmar to take further effective measures to stop all acts of violence, punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of Chinese companies and personnel in Myanmar,” the statement said.

On Monday afternoon an official from a hospital in Yangon said four more people injured in Hlaing Tharyar on Sunday had passed away, bringing the total killed by the crackdown in the township on that day to 38. 

In Chanmya Tharzi, Mandalay, two anti-regime protesters were killed and several others were injured on Monday, according to medical workers.

The dead were identified as 26-year-old Than Htike Oo and 22-year-old Wai Phyo Thein. No further details were available at the time of reporting. 

Three others were killed in Myingyan, a township in Mandalay region. Rescue workers there said their vehicles were attacked and that they were unable to reach injured people because of the shooting. 

Two men - aged 25 and 30 - were killed in Aunglan, Magway region, according to a witness and a doctor. One was shot in the head and the other in the chest. The regime’s forces were deployed in front of the Aunglan police station and then fired on demonstrators, the witness said.

Driver shot through windscreen 

In Monywa, Sagaing region, about 2,500 people arrived from surrounding villages to protest against the regime. 

A 45-year-old man who was driving a truck full of protesters into the town was shot in the chest, a witness told Myanmar Now.

The victim was identified as Ko Zaw and police and soldiers took his body away, the witness said.

“They shot the front wheels first and then fired from the front. There were two bullet holes in the windscreen,” said Aung Myint Tun, a protester. 

About 30 protesters riding in the truck were also arrested, he said.

In Bago, police and soldiers shot people in residential areas, killing at least one, on Monday afternoon, a resident told Myanmar Now.

An 18-year-old boy who was shot in the head and pronounced dead at a hospital in Bago at around 7pm, the resident said.

A 40-year-old man is receiving treatment after he was shot while riding a motorbike in the town.

“[Soldiers and police] were on their way out of the neighbourhood and shot the man on a motorbike. I think it was a random shooting to scare people,” he said.

Monday’s confirmed deaths mean more than 160 have been killed so far, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
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