'Yellow colour' worshippers in Shwedagon

October 26, Mizzima News


A month after the monk-led protests' in September, several people in
yellow clothes gathered today in the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon,
eyewitnesses said.

Local residents, who visited the shrine, said several people came in the
evening to Shwedagon, which was the central location during last month's
protests, with yellow coloured candles to pray for peace.

"People in yellow clothes with yellow candles came to the pagoda, lighted
candles and prayed. They even placed yellow coloured flowers at the
pagoda," an eyewitness told Mizzima.

While the prayer goers chose yellow clothes, candles and flowers in
commemoration of last month's "Saffron Revolution", ruthlessly crushed by
the junta, eyewitness said, there was no sign of people coming together
for another round of protests.

"They just come in pairs or even singly, they were not in groups," said
the eyewitness.

The eyewitness also said, several security personnel and soldiers, who had
disappeared from the public eye for quite sometime now, were once again
seen at the foothills and areas surrounding Shwedagon.

"There were five to six security personnel in a group and there were
several groups. I think all together there were about 60 at least. They
were all armed and had teargas with them. They conducted searches on
visitors to the shrine," he added.

A small fire engine was also seen parked near the pagoda and passersby
were reportedly searched, though not much interrogation was done, added
the eyewitness.

On September 26, the Burmese military junta opened fire on peaceful
protesters in Rangoon, killing several people including a Japanese
photojournalist Kenji Nagai.

The protests, which began as sporadic agitation over the sudden fuel price
hike in August, took a different turn in September when the Buddhist
clergy took to the streets after the junta failed to comply with their
demand to apologize for ill-treating monks.

However, the junta on September 25 midnight began raiding several
monasteries and residences in Rangoon and arrested monks and activists.
The junta then opened fire on protesters on September 26 and 27.

The junta then began intimidating protestors by continuing the crackdown
in the form of midnight raids, random searches and arrests on streets.

However, the spirit of the protests seems to remain as several people were
seen today in yellow clothes to mark one month of the brutal crackdown on
protesters.