Cantonese: 30 injured, 100 detained in Yunnan land clash

More than 30 people were injured, 10 of whom were hospitalized, after clashes in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan last Saturday, local residents told RFA’s Cantonese service.

“They sent armed police and police down here because they have offered the villagers compensation of just 83 yuan (U.S.$11) per square metre of land, and this is not enough,” one villager said. “The villagers refused to allow their houses to be demolished, and so they sent some police with earth-digging machinery to bulldoze their houses.

Burma: Comedian had ‘nice room’ in Insein

When I first read this I assumed that ‘military dogs’ means government soldiers. But then the presenter takes him literally … this man brings a bowl and a plastic spoon home from Insein prison as souvenirs of his stay there, and describes his cell as ‘nice’. Life, it seems, is beautiful…

Announcer: The 47-year-old comedian Zagana, greatly loved by people, was imprisoned for about 20 days by the authorities. He was unexpectedly released, after being told that he was going to be transferred to another prison. He came home in his prisoner uniform and brought along with him a plastic spoon and a bowl as mementos. He was in a building with military dogs, with no pillows or blankets but only a mat, and had to use his pa-hsoe [note: sarong] as a blanket, and that’s why he was still suffering from pneumonia until his release. He tells us the following:

Zagana: I started having pneumonia, and I was in trouble. I didn’t think I was going to be released. I was kept with the military dogs. How rude and wicked. I was there with thirty dogs.

Burma: A musician’s view of Insein prison

Intro: U Ye Lwin is a 60-year-old guitar player and singer-song writer from Myizzima Hlaing, the famous music band. On Sept. 27, he sat on Pansodan main road and prayed and demonstrated along with the monks and the public, and was released from prison on the 18th of this month. While in Insein prison (pictured here courtesy of Google maps), he met student leaders, including Min Ko Naing, the 1988 student leader. RFA Burmese service reporter Ko Nyo contacted U Ye Lwin and interviewed him. [Recent reporting on Burma in English on RFA’s Web site]:

Burma: Monks’ leader speaks

Image from NikNayman’s blog.
U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks’ Alliance that spearheaded nationwide protests in Burma in September, became a fugitive following the deadly Sept. 26-27 crackdown on protesters nationwide.

“My situation is not good. I have slept without shelter for two nights. I am not very well now. My security is pretty bad,” he said, speaking to RFA from an undisclosed location.

“Now these fellows are trying to butcher me. Now if you are done talking, as soon as you hang up, I have to move somewhere…The important thing for overseas Sanghas [monks] is to carry out the Burma’s cause continuously with unity. At the moment, as you know, we cannot do anything inside Burma. We have been assaulted very badly. Few got away. Few left. I am still trying to get away but still could not succeed.”

Burma: Detentions continue. Activist fears for her children.

Thet Thet Aung (female) was one of the activists hunted down by authorities for supporting the Sangha (monks’) movement. She and her husband both supported the Sangha movement, like many others. On 10/8/07 authorities tried to arrest Thet Thet Aung and her husband (Chit Ko Lin – her husband)) near Mingalar market in Rangoon, but only her husband was arrested and she escaped. After the crackdown on the monks’ movement, she and her family with three children moved to her mother-in-law’s house near Mingala market from their house located in Sanchaung, Rangoon. On Oct. 9, authorities searched where they were staying. She wasn’t there. On Wednesday the authorities came and arrested her mother and her mother-in-law (female- 70 years old). Among the three children the youngest, is just 1 year old and not in good health. Thet Thet Aung is still in hiding. After RFA broadcast the following interview, her mother-in-law (a 70 year-old woman) was released:

Burma: Who let the dogs out?

Online newspaper Irrawaddy reports:

A resident of Shwegondine, Bahan Township, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she saw a group of four dogs with pictures of the regime’s top generals around their necks.

Sightings were also reported in four other Rangoon townships—Tharkayta, Dawbon, Hlaing Tharyar and South Okkalapa.

Some sources said the canine protest had started at least a week ago, and was keeping the authorities busy trying to catch the offending dogs. “They seem quite good at avoiding arrest,” laughed one resident.

Burma: Diva sings for the monks

Burmese singer Mar Mar Aye, now in exile in the United States, explains why she made this recording in support of the monks in her homeland:

Mar Mar Aye: I’ve never participated enthusiastically like this in any of the uprisings before…Some of my singing colleagues have died already. This time, when I saw the monks demonstrating, I miss my friends and my country every day. My children tell me, “Mother, now this is a religious affair. You are also a sponsor of the monks. People need to know that you are also upset by this.”

Burma: Night-time evictions in Rangoon

I have received this petition twice in my Inbox this morning by e-mail. The image is part of an advertisement campaigners plan to take out in major newspapers Saturday. The following is a translation of an interview by RFA’s Burmese service with a Rangoon resident:

Man: Around 2 am in the morning they came with their trucks and woke up everyone in the houses and asked them to get out of their houses. It was around 3 am. They left only old people in the houses. Those who’d been asked to leave the houses were asked to bring three sets of clothing. I don’t know where they were taken. They were all put onto the trucks and taken away with their heads bowed, and their hands on their heads.

Burma: Rangoon closely guarded

“Oh, in town, there’s full security. The soldiers are sitting and waiting in their chairs with yellow and red things wrapped around [note: not mentioned, but according to the pictures, “around their necks”]. There are so many of them in Sule area. They are sitting there so that people cannot enter downtown. They are also circulating in their trucks.

Burma: Translations of interviews

View all Burma posts on this blog.

Speaker: About one hundred monks and 3,000 people left from Katheh-zu [note: name not sure] monastery. When we got to [note: place name not sure], near the bridge- when we got to the bridge near the clock tower, there was a group with shields blocking us. They were obstructing us. So we took another route and entered Anauk Yat. These places are called Gaung Ba wards [note: name not sure at all!]. When we got there, the police force started beating up the women. So we scattered away. I saw about fifteen truck-loads of them. Both the police and the military.