Riot police were quick to crack down on a march in Hledan market in Yangon, beating several protesters on March 10.
A group of students and activists came onto the streets of Yangon at 2 pm in sympathy with the protesters who had been beaten in a melee of violence by police earlier in the day in Letpadan.
Speaking about the brief protest staged in Heldan, Ko Lin Htet Naing of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions said: “The police had weapons. A student protestor was beaten. We negotiated with the police in order to release the student, and they released the student. Therefore, we stopped our protest.”
Ko Lin Htet Naing told Mizzima, “We will make efforts by using various means until we get democratic education.”
About 1,000 students and activists took part in the protest, and the authorities used about 500 police to launch a crackdown.
The protestors marched along Pyay Road. When they approached Sitepyoyay bus-stop, scuffles broke out between the protestors and the police. Some protestors were beaten.
Ko Thant Zin, a student from Dagon University, said: “Nobody was arrested. A protestor was beaten, so the crowd dispersed.”
The protestors in Hledan shouted slogans calling for the immediate release of the students and activists who were arrested in Letpadan. The protesters in Letpadan were demonstrating for changes to the National Education Law and had been blocked from continuing their march to Yangon.
Riot police on Tuesday launched violent crackdown on student protestors’ camp in Letpadan, so on the same day, in Hledan, Yangon, some students and other people staged a brief protest against the “Letpadan crackdown”. But police launched a violent crackdown against the brief protest in Hledan, too.
Initially, student protestors in Letpadan announced that they would leave from Letpadan for Yangon on March 10. So students and activists in Yangon planned to stage a protest outside the Hledan market in Yangon if authorities did not allow the students in Letpadan to enter into Yangon. But authorities announced that they would allow students in Letpadan to enter into Yangon, so the plan of the activists in Yangon was cancelled.
Despite announcement, the riot police launched a violent crackdown against student protestors in Letpadan. So the students and activists in Yangon staged a protest at about 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday and the police in Yangon launched a violent crackdown on the brief protest.
Speaking on the brief protest staged in Heldan, Ko Lin Htet Naing of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions said, “The police had weapons. A student protestor was beaten. We negotiated with the police in order to release the student, and they release the student. So, we stopped our protest.”
“We will make efforts by using various ways until we get democratic education,” he said.
About 1,000 students and activists took part in the protest, and authorities used about 500 police to launch crackdown the protest, Mizzima witnessed.
The protestors marched along Pyay Road. When they reached near Sitepyoyay bus-stop, scuffles broke out between the protestors and the police. Some protestors were beaten.
Thant Zin, who is a student from Dagon University and participated in the protest, said “Nobody was arrested. A protestor was beaten, so the crowd was dispersed.”
The protestors (in Hledan) shouted slogans calling for the immediate release of the students and activists who were arrested in Letpadan.