29 September 2013

100 Mile Walk: Hundreds March from Mandalay to Letpadaung Hill Call for the Preservation of Religious Buildings

Hundreds took part in a protest march today demanding the government to preserve the Buddhist religious heritage in the Letpadaung copper mining area. The Ledi Sayadaws Religious Buildings (Letpadaung Hill) Preservation Group held a news conference in Mandalay and released a statement calling on the government to preserve the Buddhist religious buildings of the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw U anadhaja (1846-1923), one of the most influential Buddhist monks in Burma. The group demands the government to implement and take any necessary measures in accord with the code of conduct for Buddhist monks (Vinaya) for the preservation of the pagoda, ordination hall, and monasteries in the copper mining area. Ten months ago today, Letpadaung anti-copper mine protest camps were brutally dispersed by the government using incendiary grenades. Several protesters including Buddhist monks suffered scald and burn injuries. Massive land confiscations and relocations of local villages for the expansion of the copper mine have resulted widespread protests not only by the locals but also by the entire country. In March 2013, the inquiry commission chaired by the opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi published a report providing the commission findings and recommendations for the mining project. Local authorities used excessive force in their attempts to prevent the march. U Ba Myint and U Zaw Win were detained and questioned at 10:00 am local time and later released around 11:00 am. The march began around 12:00 pm in Mandalay peacefully and silently except protesters wearing campaign T-shirts, and those at the front holding the Buddhist flags. When protesters arrived in Sagaing, a city 12 miles northwest of Mandalay, they were awaited by the blockades with barbed wires, prison vans and hundreds of anti-riot police. Two leading protesters, Ko Thant Zin and Ko Kyaw Gyi, were arrested briefly. Around 6 pm, peaceful walkers stopped for the night in a Buddhist community hall near Kaungmudaw Pagoda in Sagaing. Later in the evening, local authorities came to meet peaceful protesters and forced them not to continue the march the next day. However, protesters replied with a unanimous and firm decision that they would continue the march in the morning. Burma Contacts: Peaceful Walkers +95 9 420787366, +95 9 33098204, +95 9 73023157, +95 9 31383860 Letpadaung Area +95 9 33220968, +95 9 400407618, +95 9 401656816