Two monks drive out a street vendor near Shwedagon pagoda

07 October 2017
Two monks drive out a street vendor near Shwedagon pagoda
These photos, posted on Facebook, purportedly show vendor Aung Than in the process of being forced to move on. Photo: Facebook

Two monks are reported to have driven a Muslim street vendor from selling his goods near Shwedagon Pagoda.
The vendor was reported to be a Myanmar national who was selling boiled quail eggs near the pagoda. He was chased away on the morning of October 5.
Myat Kyaw from the Anti-Injustice Acts Committee told Mizzima, “We met him. He has a NRC (National Registration Card). He was driven out from the place near Shwedagon pagoda while he was selling boiled quail eggs by two monks and two men. He was threatened by these people that he would be arrested by police unless he left this place.”
This Anti-injustice Acts Committee visited and met the vendor Aung Than on October 6 to ask about the incident.
The NGO said they would not register this case at the police station as was the wish of the vendor but they visited Bahan police station and told them about it. The police station reportedly replied them that they were not aware of that incident but they would report it to higher authorities.
There have been several cases where non-Buddhist vendors have been driven away from selling near the Shwedagon Pagoda.