More and more reports are emerging from Burma of the enormous scale of the massacres of unarmed protestors, including the young monks whose participation has been such a feature of the mass demonstrations of the last weeks. “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand”, says a high-ranking intelligence officer for the junta, who defected to Thailand at the end of September. Photographs of the mutilated bodies of monks floating in the rivers have appeared on the internet. A blog by a pro-democracy activist describes a raid on a monastery by riot police. “They systematically ordered all the monks to line up and banged and crushed each one’s head against the brick wall of the monastery. One by one, the peaceful, non-resisting monks fell to the ground, screaming in pain.” Read more...

Mass demonstrations in Burma/Myanmar have been defying the military dictatorship since late August, when initially small protest marches against the massive increase in fuel and natural gas prices were met with arrests and beatings by the police and army. One demonstration in the town of Pakokku was attacked by the police; several Buddhist monks were injured, causing others from the Pagoda to come out and demonstrate the next day. These actions temporarily put the regime on the back foot, not sure how to react to a demonstration led by a venerated institution in Burmese society. Read more...

The Burmese way crumbles

Burma’s military regime is in crisis. Julian Scholefleld explains the background and argues that neither the ‘Burmese Way” nor the plans of the liberal opposition can break imperialism’s stranglehold on the country Read more...