Free Arakan : Free Arakan

Five Detainees Missing in Arakan

2008-08-14T04:52:23Z

8/13/2008

Five detainees who were arrested on the 20th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising in Taungup are currently missing, as family members do not know where they are being detained by the authority, said one family member.

"We went to Thandwe prison yesterday to see them but the authorities at the prison denied that there are any youths from Taungup who were arrested recently," said the relative.

According to a local source, the authority brought the youths to Thandwe, a district town in southern Arakan, soon after they were arrested by police in Taungup.

"We received information from high officials that they are in Thandwe, but they are not there. Now I have heard the authority has detained them at army headquarters in Taungup. I am really worried about the reason why authorities have detained them at army headquarters," he said.

A source from the NLD youth wing in Taungup said over the phone that the authority has detained the five demonstrators at Sakhaka 5, the military Operation Command, based in Taungup.

A youth said, "We are preparing to send a letter to high officials here to request their release immediately. If no, we will be carrying out our plan to demand our colleagues' release."

The five missing detainees are Ko Moe Nay Soe, Ko Than Lwin, Ma Ni Ni May Myint, Ko Khin Maung Maung, and Ko Maung Maung Thet. They were arrested by the police on 8 August while they were marching in the streets of Taungup in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising in Burma.

Bloody massacre of 300 innocent civilians in Arakan committed by Burmese military regime

2008-08-13T17:29:24Z

Never Forget 13th August!!!

Never Forget 13th August!!!

�

BLOODY 13 AUGUST

By Khine Mongan

It
was Sunday on 13 August 1967. The day was cloudy unlike other wet
August days in Sitetway (Sittwe), the capital of Rakhine State in
Western Burma. General Ne Win was at the helm of the Burmese junta
ruling the country.

The capital town is situated at the mouth
of the Kalandan River that flows into the Bay of Bengal. Hundreds of
people marched along is roads and streets, each of the protester held a
banner, and cried out �Rice, rice, - give us rice�, �We Rakhine don't
eat boiled rice�, and �Down with the military regime�. At that time the
Burmese junta started selling rotten boiled rice to tackle the
artificial famine created by themselves in Rakhine State.

Each
year, Arakan (Rakhine) produce rice abundantly: in one working year
Arakan harvests enough rice for three years. That August, the rice
warehouses in every township were full of rice. But the Burmese junta
would not sell enough rice to the people of Rakhine State. Disregarding
the local needs, the junta exported the whole supply of rice stored in
the government warehouses to foreign countries. The farmers received
only 8% of the actual open-market price of rice for their rice sales to
the regime. Hundreds of people: children, old people, pregnant women,
workers and farmers died of diseases caused by malnutrition resulting
from hunger. This happened in Rakhine State, also known as Dhanyawaddy
the Land of rice!

At that time I was a student midwife in the
Akyab General Hospital (now, Rakhine State Hospital, Sittwe). That
Sunday was a day off for me. I went into the downtown area to join the
protesters, but I failed to join them, as I did not know the exact
location of the demonstration. So I went to see my family, and my
mother explained what had happened the night before.

The
rice mills and warehouses are on the Satt-ro-gya, a tributary creek of
the Kaladan River. Many people had already gone there to force the rice
warehouses open, my mother said. Hungry people started raiding the rice
warehouses and taking the rice bags away. My 12-year-old brother had
merely collected 3-4 kgs of rice when the army and navy arrived.

The gun-toting uniformed men caught some demonstrators from the spot.
My brother fled and got on to a boat that operated by a rope: he was
swinging from the end of a rope to cross the stretch of water and reach
the other bank. One soldier saw him and pushed him into the water.
Luckily he was able to swim across the creek. He had to hide from the
view of the military and move surreptitiously from one house to another
before he got home at midnight all wet and with about one kg of rice in
his possession.

My mother fearing all the arrests and
insecurity told me to go back to the student nurses� hostel. We,
students, were not allowed to go out of our homes after 6 pm. I got to
the hostel at about 3:30pm. The military to bring the situation under
control, stopped people from going to the rice mills and storage areas.
The protesters defied the ban, marched on shouting slogans to open the
warehouses. Finally, as the hungry people desperately needed rice and
kept trying to reach the storage areas braving the repeated warning by
the military, the junta ordered the soldiers to shoot. More than a
hundred people, including women and children, were gunned down. The
military just loaded the severely wounded into trucks and nothing of
them has ever been heard. Many of the wounded never reported to the
hospital but took medical treatment secretly for fear of arrests.

It was about 4 o�clock: the Akyab General Hospital was very quiet. The
view of the Kaladan River from the hospital offered spectacular
scenery. The Principal Surgeon�s house and the nurses� quarters
compound were to the right in front of the hospital. We noticed
truckloads of soldiers on the road. Soon the soldiers rounded off the
roadside, the hospital compound, the Principal Surgeon�s house and the
nurses� quarters. Everywhere we saw guntoting soldiers none was allowed
to go on the road or to the hospital. The trucks stopped at the
entrance of the hospital one by one. The soldiers, who were standing in
their trucks, got off when we saw the trucks full of wounded people.
Some women ran towards the hospital, but the soldiers held them at
gunpoint. People came running and tried to pull the women away. The
women refused to go back shouting at the top of their voice.

We saw the wounded people were being carried into the hospital, then
the trucks drove away with some wounded people still inside. WHY? HOW
MANY? WHO were THEY? We asked ourselves awestruck. We then realized
that those people were already dead. I wanted to go there to help, but
only on-duty nurses were allowed to go into the hospital. I could not
sleep the whole night, and got up early next morning and went to the
hospital.

There were many wounded people in the overcrowded
surgical ward, the eye ward, the Buddhist-monks� ward, and the
gynecological ward. They were lying on beds, on the floor, on the
trolleys and there was a long line in front of the operation theatre
and X-ray room. In the gynecological ward, there were no beds, no
mattresses. All wounded people were lying on the floor with no space
left. It was very difficult even to step around. They were all men. The
female patients had been moved to the nurses� sickroom. It was the
busiest day of my training life: pushing trolleys and wheelchairs from
place to place, from ward to ward with wounded and groaning people. The
nurses, the students, the doctors and all of the hospital staff were
restless, on duty the whole day and until midnight. From early morning,
crowds of people gathered in front of the hospital, looking for their
missing sons and daughters, husbands and fathers. They looked at the
inpatients� list and dead people�s list. Many people were missing. No
one knew how many people were dead and wounded. The government stated
that only 21 people were killed. The list of the dead only included
those who died in the hospital.

We heard that the critically
wounded, senseless and dead or presumably dead were picked up and drove
away out of the city and buried in undisclosed grounds. Slowly words
came out from the soldiers� quarters that even many of the people who
gained consciousness and shouting for help in the trucks were buried
alive to ensure that the true story of what happened that day and how
many were killed remains undisclosed.

The Rakhine people each
year remember with heavy hearts the mass killings on that day,
remembering the atrocities and the ethnic cleansing of the Burmese
junta perpetrated ever since upon their own people. The women hope that
if their missing husbands and sons were alive today they would have
taken up guns against the repressive, inhuman and racist Burmese
military junta to clinch freedom.

3 Nasaka Deserters Arrive in Bangladesh

2008-08-12T06:56:48Z

8/11/2008

Dhaka: Three men arrived on Friday in Bangladesh after deserting their posts with Nasaka, the infamous border security force based in western Burma.

The three were identified as Thwe Naing, Private No. TA 360757, Zaw Myo Tun, Private No. 360756, and Aung Than Win, Private No. 353584. They were serving at Nasaka headquarters in Kyi Kan Byint in Maungdaw.

Ko Zaw Myo Tun said, "We were tortured by officials in Nasaka and the officials also urged us to oppress the local people. We do not want to oppress people, so we deserted from Nasaka."

The three men are now sheltering in Bangladesh and are preparing to apply as refugees with the UNHCR office there.

"We are preparing to seek safety as refugees with UNHCR if we have the chance, because we are worried about our security here," he said.� According to a local source, most Nasaka men ranked as privates are facing hunger as their salaries are insufficient for their survival, and many men have deserted Nasaka due to this hardship.

He said, "The monthly salary is only 21,000 kyat for a Nasaka man, but in Maungdaw, the price of ordinary rice is 25,000 kyat a [50-kilogram] sack. All private Nasaka men are facing hunger due to their salary being inadequate for their daily survival."

"[Hunger] is also another reason for us to desert from the law enforcement of Nasaka," another deserter Ko Thwe Naing added.

Many Nasaka men on the western border are now involved in many sectors of corruption in order to get extra money from outside their jobs to maintain their daily life.

Police Raid Two Monasteries in Sittwe

2008-08-10T05:19:31Z

8/9/2008

Sittwe: Police raided two monasteries in Sittwe yesterday night in search of monks who are wanted by authorities, said an abbot from Sittwe.

The abbot said, "A police force led by the Inspector Soe Win from police station

number 2 with the help of some Rayaka ward authorities raided Kyin Thi Nat Kong monastery and Say Gri monastery last night.
Kyin The Nat Kong monastery is located in Ta Rar Thi Su Ward and Say Gri monastery is located in Bauk Thi Su Ward in Sittwe.

"I heard the police were searching for some monk leaders who prepared to stage a demonstration yesterday in Sittwe on the occasion of the historic 8-8-88 uprising," the abbot said. The police rummaged through all the rooms as well as the boxes of monks

at the monasteries, but no one was arrested during the raids.

According to a source from Sittwe, security has been tight in Sittwe recently and many armed forces have been deployed at key places in the city.

Meanwhile, information is being spread among the people that monks in Sittwe are preparing to stage another demonstration today.

Tropical storm hits Mon State , dozens of houses destroyed

2008-08-09T16:50:31Z

News - IMNA
Saturday, 09 August 2008
A tropical storm lashed Mudon Township Mon state last night destroying dozens of houses and farms.
At about 8 last night the storm hit Mudon town, and many villages in the area.
"Roofs of dozens of houses were blown off by the storm in Kaw-Pharao and Sat thit quarters. Most farms near the town were destroyed," a Mudon resident, told IMNA.
"At least 20 houses were flattened by the storm and many homes had their roofs blown off in my village," a Set-thawe villager said.
Many villages in southern Mudon Township were hit and Set-thawe, Ah-bit, Kyaik ywe villages suffered major damages. Due to the seriousness of the situation the Military Southeast Command, Major-General Thet Naing Win will come on inspection and till then residents have been told not to repair the houses.
Local authorities are preparing for the Major-General's visit and have placed tight security along the Moulmein -Ye motor road.
The storm also hit Moulmein uprooting trees, local resident said.
A tornado hit the day before yesterday and roofs of two houses in Pa-nga village, Thanpyuzayart township were blown away and some tree were uprooted in Set-thawe village Mudon township.

Protests in Arakan state's Taungup, 20 arrested

2008-08-09T05:07:51Z

News -

Mizzima News

Written by Phanida
Friday,

08 August 2008

Chiang Mai - Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the '8.8.88'
uprising today, at least 20 youths in Taungup town in Burma's Arakan
state were arrested after they took to the streets and began marching
in protest.
The
protesters, mainly youths from Nat Maw village, were whisked away by
the police as they marched across Taungup township police station,
sources said.
Thein Naing, Joint Secretary of the Taungup
Township National League for Democracy, Burma 's main opposition party,
told Mizzima that about 25 people from Nat Maw village on Friday
marched along the streets of Taungup town.

They begun marching
from Chaung Kauk ward and came along Ottama street but when they
arrived in front of the township police station, the road was blocked
with barbed wire barricades. They were taken away by the authorities,"
Thein Naing said.
Villagers of Nat Maw, about three miles from
Taungup town, on Thursday held a similar protest march joined by a
larger crowd of nearly 200 people.

On Thursday, about 200
villagers of Nat Maw held a commemoration service on the eve of the
20th anniversary of '8.8.88' protests at two Buddhist monasteries and
held a brief demonstration in front of the monasteries.
About
200 students, and youths including youth members of the NLD offered
'Swan' to the monks in commemoration of fallen comrades and held a
brief demonstration in front of the monasteries," Thein Naing said.
While
it was not clear, how the demonstrations were held on Thursday, so far
there are no reports of any arrest related to the event.

Sources said, authorities had tightened security, with security personnel seen everywhere in and around Taungup town.
Thein
Naing said, Burmese Army LIB 544 based in Taungup had taken charge of
security and police had blocked the road as well as the water way.
"Soldiers in full battle gear are seen every where in the town. I think I saw at least 60 of them," Thein Naing said.
Taungup town is about 250 miles northwest of Rangoon , Burma 's former capital.

Meanwhile,
in Rangoon , sources said heavy security presence is felt, with
soldiers seen everywhere in important street junctions and squares
including Sule Pagoda square in the heart of the city, and Shwe Dagon
Pagoda, the holiest shrine of the country.
Observers believe the
heavy security presence is preventive measures by the junta to stop any
movement or protests by activists in commemoration of the 20th
anniversary of popular protests in August 8, 2008, which was brutally
suppressed by killing at least 3000 people.

College Teacher Commits Suicide in Sittwe.

2008-08-08T12:20:45Z

8/8/2008

Sittwe: A teacher from the Government Technical College in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, committed suicide on Tuesday. The reason behind the suicide remains unknown.
U Aung Win Naing, aged about 45 years, committed suicide by taking poison.
The authority from the college has not publicly disclosed the incident because they are anxious that the news may provoke unrest among the students. Despite this, the information has been spreading among the students, many of who are mourning his death.
A source from Sittwe said the funeral was held on Thursday in Sittwe and many people, including teachers and students, were in attendance.
According to a report the authority is now conducting an enquiry to learn why the teacher committed suicide.

Rumors of Protests Spread in Sittwe

2008-08-08T05:34:24Z

8/7/2008

Sittwe:Rumors that anti-govern- ment protests will occur soon in Sittwe have been spreading throughout the city, while additional security forces are being deployed by authorities at many key areas in the Arakan State capital, said a town elder.

He said, "I do not if the rumor is true or not, but many people are talking about it. The people are enthusiastically watching events in Sittwe since the rumor began."

Since the rumor began, the high authority has deployed many additional security forces at key places in Sittwe, including Tows hall, U Ottama garden, Lawkar Nanda, Bura Gri temple, U Raykyaw Thu monastery, the inland water jetties, and the former Sittwe college compound.� A monk from Sittwe said over the phone that, "There are many sorts of rumors in Sittwe. One of them is that anti-government demonstrations will break out in Sittwe in the month of August. Nevertheless, I am taking care and do not allow the young monks to visit outside the monastery except at food offering times."�

According to a source from Sittwe, the military authorities are closely watching many monasteries in Sittwe that played a leading role in last year's Saffron Revolution. Some monasteries are facing questions by a local intelligence unit about whether monks from rural towns have come to stay at the monasteries.

A shopkeeper from Sittwe said, "The situation in Sittwe is normal in the daytime, but at night, many security forces can be seen on the streets and at important government buildings. It may be that something will happen in the near future."

Security forced are being deployed at key places throughout the city at night after some unidentified people spread anti-government posters in the streets and markets of Sittwe.

The posters urged Arakanese people to stage demonstrations against the military government. "It is proof, because some democracy activists, including monks, are preparing to stage a demonstration in Sittwe. If they were not planning it, why the anti-government posters spread in Sittwe?" the shopkeeper said.

It has also been learned that many people in Sittwe are waiting anxiously after the rumor of anti-government protests began spreading.

Warrants Out for 17 Farmers in Arakan

2008-08-05T05:06:46Z

Mrauk U: The Mrauk U Township authority has issued warrants for 17 farmers from a remote village in the township for being unable to pay money to the township authority in accordance with their demand, reports one farmer in the group.
He said, "U Hla Myo, Chairman of Mrauk U Township, issued the warrant for us as we could not afford his demands for leasing farms from the authority."

The farmers are from Out Thakan Village under Bu Wrat Village Tract in Mrauk U Township, and they are now attempting to avoid arrest by the authority.

A village source said the 17 farmers from the village began cultivating 48.13 acres of vacant land in 1997. Afterwards, the township authority announced the farmlands were owned by the state, and locals were not allowed to cultivate the land without the authorities' permission.

After the announcement, the villagers appealed to the Chairman of Mrauk U Township to lease the lands to them on a yearly basis.

U Hla Myo agreed to lease the land to the farmers and ordered them to pay 15 tinns of paddy per acre during the harvest season to Mrauk U Township.

"We have given the paddy to the authority every year in accordance with their demand since 1997, but last year U Hla Myo asked for 60,000 kyats per acre from us. We could not pay that high amount. So now the authority has issued a warrant to arrest us. So now we are culprits because we could not pay the demand," he said.

On 22 July, 2008, a group of police led by Senior Clerk U Maung Ni and Village Chairman U Maung Hla Aung came to the village to arrest the men, but they had luckily managed to escape being arrested that day.

The village source said the police force had come to look for U Kyaw Zan, U Aung Kyaw Thein, U Kyaw Tun Oo, U Maung Gri Chay, and U Tun Aung to arrest because they could not pay the authorities' demand for leasing the farmland.

Maungdaw income tax officer arrested

2008-08-03T04:09:45Z

Saturday, 02 August 2008
Maungdaw, Arakan: An officer of the Maungdaw Income Tax Department, U
Aye Win was arrested by the special Crime Investigation Department of
Maungdaw on July 30, said a local businessman.

The
officer was posted on the Burma-Bangladesh special trading gate in
Maungdwa town and his duty was to check and collect tax on
export-import goods from Burma and Bangladesh , he added.

On a
tip off, the officer was arrested after investigations at the outpost
revealed that he allowed contraband goods to be exported to Bangladesh
after taking bribes from traders of Maungdaw. He allowed mostly liquor
and other contraband goods which are not listed as export items, said a
trader who operates through the point.

This is the first time
an income tax officer has been arrested on the border trading point.�
His file has been sent to the authorities for necessary action.
Exemplary punishment to the culprit has been recommended as a lesson to
other officers working on the Burma- Bangladesh border trading points,
said a source in the Customs Department.

From BNI

Myitkyina hospital full of Dengue patients

2008-08-03T04:04:40Z

Saturday, 02 August 2008
Children suffering from Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) are crowding the
Myitkyina Public Hospital in Kachin State 's capital Myitkyina in
Northern Burma , hospital sources said.

There
is now no place to admit new patients in the children's ward in the
hospital because it already has over 80 DHF child patients. However,
the hospital has officially declared that it has about 20 patients
detected with the DHF disease following blood examination, said a
hospital staff to KNG today.

Since last week, five or more
patients who are not in a serious condition, though affected by DHF,
have been attending the hospital for medication every day, a duty
health worker in the children's ward told KNG.

A woman
eyewitness told KNG today, this morning she saw that some patients were
outside the children's ward free space and corridors because the ward
is full with DHF child patients.

A nurse in the hospital said,
"The number of DHF child patients have suddenly gone up this week in
the hospital and most patients are between the ages two and 14.� The
patients are suffering from high fever which is not declining.� The
patients have been mainly diagnosed with malaria and are being treated
with antibiotics."

However, all the cost of medicines has to be
paid by the patients and they also have to pay 5,000 Kyat (US $4.2) per
night when they hire a health staff in the hospital for taking care of
them, according to hospital sources.

Sometimes, the health
personnel have been coming to the aid of patients who do not have money
to buy medicines. They are collecting the cost of medicines from among
themselves in the hospital, added a hospital staff.

Meanwhile,
private clinics in Myitkyina are also full with Malaria and DHF
patients. The military authorities, however, are yet to take action
despite the serious condition arising out of DHF in the township, said
residents of Myitkyina.

Residents added, the DHF disease is
serious and the infection is caused by mosquito bites. Mainly children
are affected in Myitkyina because the military authorities in the
township are yet to take up proper Malaria prevention programmes this
rainy season.

Last year during this time, there were very few
patients who came to Myitkyina Pubic Hospital with Malaria and DHF
diseases, according to hospital sources.

From BNI

Iron Cross forced to delay show in support of cyclone victims by junta

2008-08-02T06:49:21Z


Friday, 01 August 2008
The Iron Cross (IC), the popular and famous music band in Rangoon has had to postpone its live performance to raise funds for Cyclone Nargis victims at the Thuwanha stadium because of the dilatory tactics of the ruling Burmese junta. The authorities told the music band earlier that they (authorities) had shifted dates from July 16 to August 24 because the military sports had to be held, according to source close to the IC. According to the source, "The authorities have delayed the live show thrice and if they delay it again the IC will not be able do the show to collect funds". Lay Phyu, Ahnge, Myo Gyi, and Wai Wai were to perform in the live show. According to IC fans, the authorities do not have much love for the IC because the band has not ever sung Burmese propaganda music. The IC band also planned to perform in Mon State earlier but the Southeast Command banned them after youths quarreled in the festival. However IC plans to have a stage show after the end of the Buddhist Lent in Kamawet village at the Kyaik Kamort Pagoda Festival in October 20, 2008. News - IMNA

Prominent writer, astrologer Min Thein Kha expires

2008-08-01T14:28:35Z

Prominent writer and astrologer Min Thein Kha died on Friday morning at
a private clinic in Rangoon after suffering from numerous ailments.

Min Thein Kha, (70) was a renowned writer and a famous astrologer. He
and was suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, and other
ailments over the last five years. He passed away on Friday at
Rangoon's ThukhaKaba clinic, one of his pupil said.

"He died this morning at about 6 a.m. He was hospitalized since July 4.
Doctors on July 15 discharged him from the clinic but since his health
deteriorated, we took him to the clinic again yesterday," the pupil
told Mizzima over telephone.

Min Thein Kha, who owns a ranch known as 'Ayudaw Mingalar' at Hmawbe
Township, is known for his adventurous novels, fictional detective and
historical and legendary stories. His characters including 'Sarpalin
Hninmaung and Sanay Maung Maung' are popular among readers in Burma.

He was also famous for his astrological predictions and particularly
known for giving names to famous actors, actresses and singers before
they began their careers as celebrities.

In Burma, despite the modern lifestyle fast being adapted, people still
believe in superstitious practices like renaming themselves before they
choose a career to be successful.

Despite his later popularity Min Thein Kha did not have a successful
beginning. As a young man, he worked hard as a waiter in a teashop in
Central Burma's Chuak town in Magwe division.

He was also famously known for his benevolence in providing free food
to whoever came to his 'Ayudaw Mingalar' ranch in Hmawbe township near
Rangoon.

From Mizzima News

Forced Labor Used at Castor Oil Plantation

2008-08-01T14:13:03Z

Sittwe: Many villagers have been forced by local authorities to work at a castor oil plantation in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, without any compensation, said a villager from the area.

The villager said, "The military government announced in 2000 that there is no forced labor in Burma, but in our area, forced labor is still alive and it has been used by the local authorities."

Villagers from Kwee Day, Amyint Kyunt, Par Dalike, Nga Tauk, and Chi Li Byint in Sittwe Township have been summoned by village authorities to work at the castor oil plantations.

"The forced labor is being used by the village council, Rayaka, on the orders of the Sittwe Township authority, and the villagers have to work at the castor oil plantation whenever the authority needs forced labor for the plantation," the villager said.

The authority has planted the castor oil plants on many acres of land in the area, after confiscating grazing lands that had been owned by local residents.

"Recently our villagers had to go to the castor plantation to work without any wage. We had to work there at many tasks, including putting up fences, making drains or gutters, and cleaning up brush on the plantation," the villager said.

The villagers in the area have been used by authorities at all times of the year, during both the rainy season and the dry season.

The Burmese military authorities have announced that there is no forced labor in Burma, but there have been reports that local authorities are using people as forced labor in many areas in Arakan State, where people are unable to complain of the violation to the ILO office inRangoon.

From Narinjara News

Military Authority Donates 70 Million Kyat of Food to Sittwe Monasteries

2008-08-01T14:05:47Z

Sittwe: The

Burmese military government donated food worth 70 million kyat recently to monasteries in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in order to protect against a food shortage in the city's monasteries during the rainy season, said an abbot from Sittwe.

The abbot said, "The donation was made by newly appointed Western Command Commander General Thaung Aye on behalf of the government recently in a donation ceremony that was held at Lawkarnada temple in Sittwe."

At the donation ceremony, 110 abbots from several monasteries in Sittwe attended and received the donation. The western command commander handed over the goods to each monastery during the ceremony.

A local source said that the biggest monastery in Sittwe, Pathein, received 170 rice bags, while another large monastery, Myoma, received 120 rice bags from the government.

"All monasteries in Sittwe received the donation of rice and other goods from the Burmese military government, but there was not equal distribution among the monasteries. If a monastery is close to the authority, it received more rice from the government," the abbot said.

The government donation included three staples - rice, cooking oil, and salt. Some monasteries, however, refused to accept the government's donation. Zawdi Karron monastery was among those that refused the donation.

The abbot said, "I do not know why the monastery refused to accept the donation, but the monastery maybe wants to live peacefully without any connection to the government."

Government representatives said during the ceremony that the donation is intended to secure food in all the monasteries in Sittwe, and that it is a goodwill present from the military government to the monks in Sittwe.

Many people in Sittwe, though, believe that the donation is intended to aid in organizing monks in support of the military government, and to lure the monks away from involvement with any anti-government protests in Sittwe in the future.

Such a large donation to monks in Sittwe has never been done before by the military government. Because of this, people suppose that thedonation has more to do with politics than goodwill.

From Narinjara