A nine-day Rangoon diary
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A week of bloody suppression of peaceful demonstrations in Rangoon and other cities and in the country’s monasteries—a period that will go down in Burmese history as the Uprising of September 2007. Bangkok-based author and photojournalist Thierry Falise lived through the events in Rangoon and wrote a diary of the nine days of terror…
Friday, September 21—It has been raining nonstop for days. I rushed down from Mandalay yesterday when I heard about the first demonstrations by monks in the former capital. Around 3 p.m., while working in my hotel room, I hear some psalmody rising up from the street. From the window, I observe a couple of hundred monks walking in the rain. By the time I pack my photo equipment and rush down, they have reached the nearby Sule Pagoda. Most of the monks are under 30. A small crowd of civilians have joined them. Some applaud, others bow on the wet ground, a group of youths form a human chain as if to protect them against a still invisible enemy. The monks leave the City Hall area and, under torrential rain, start to walk at a quick pace on streets transformed into rivers. They repeatedly chant the Buddha’s loving kindness incantations. A smiling man offers to hold my umbrella while I am taking pictures. Two hours later, the procession ends at the Bohtataung Pagoda. I did not see any uniformed men during the whole afternoon, nobody has asked me any questions, but I am sure the crowd is infiltrated by plainclothes policemen and members of the government-back thuggish organization, Union Solidarity and Development Association. “See you tomorrow,” a man whispers. Saturday, September 22—After vainly looking for them around the Shwedagon Pagoda, I finally meet the demonstrators on their way to the Sule Pagoda. There are more monks and civilians than yesterday. A nasty-looking guy with a “Press” badge is filming the whole scene, apparently only interested in people’s faces... Read more... Source: Irrawaddy News |
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