ISSUE 392 =12-03-2021

32 12/03/2021 NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
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Seven more dead in fresh Myanmar
protests, Suu Kyi faces new charge
Kolkata : At least seven people
have been killed in Myanmar
after security forces opened fire
on anti-coup protesters in two
towns on Thursday.
Signalling it is undeterred by
global criticism and an UN call
for restraint, the military junta
also stepped up the ante by formally
levelling allegations of
bribery against deposed leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
The violence on Thursday
came within a day of the United
Nations Security Council calling
on the military to "exercise
utmost restraint" in its response
to peaceful demonstrators and
rights group Amnesty
International accusing the junta
of adopting "battlefield tactics"
against peaceful demonstrators.
Six people were killed in the
central town of Myaing on
Thursday when security forces
fired on a protest rally.
Rescue workers confirmed at
least six protestors had died and
20 others were injured, some
seriously. Doctors in a Myaing
hospital said the death toll could
rise as at least five of those
injured were in serious condition.
A protest leader said that
the demonstrations were peaceful
and the firing "completely
unprovoked".
One person was killed in the
North Dagon district of Yangon,
Myanmar's biggest city, journalists
at Mizzima media said.
Mizzima is one of the four
Myanmar media outlets whose
license has been cancelled by the
military and its TV broadcasts
stopped. But Mizzima editor Soe
Myint, a folk hero of the 1988-
90 student-youth uprising, said,
in a statement, that his group will
continue to "oppose and expose
the illegal military junta".
Photographs posted on
Facebook showed a man lying
prone on the street, bleeding
from a head wound. Myanmar
Mangaluru (Karnataka) :
The Customs officials at the
Mangalore International Airport
on Thursday seized 2.41 kg gold,
valued at around Rs 1.10 crore,
from a woman passenger who
had concealed the yellow metal
slipped into chaos after its military
toppled the elected government
of Aung San Suu Kyi on
February 1 and huge protests
erupted nationwide.
The Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners advocacy
group claims security forces
have already killed more than 60
protesters and arrested more than
2,000 others in the ensuing
crackdown.
The army has justified the
coup on grounds that the
November 2020 election, won
by Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy, was marred by
fraud. But Myanmar's Election
Commission has refuted the
charge. On Thursday, military
spokesman Brigadier General
Zaw Min Tun, told a news conference
in the capital,
in her undergarments.
According to a release, the
accused has been identified as
Mohammed Ali Sameera from
Kasaragod in Kerala. She was
nabbed by the Customs officials
after she arrived here from
Naypyitaw, on Thursday that
Suu Kyi had accepted illegal
payments worth $600,000 as
well as gold while in the government.
He claimed the information
had been verified and many people
were being questioned.
He said President Win Myint
and several cabinet ministers had
also engaged in corruption and
that he had pressurised the
Election Commission not to act
on the military's reports of electoral
fraud.
Zaw Min Tun, however,
failed to provide any evidence of
the new allegations.
A member of Suu Kyi's legal
team said: "We assume that these
will be part of new charges
which will be used to extend
(Suu Kyi's) detention".
Woman hides 2.41 kg gold in
undergarment, held at Mangaluru airport
Dubai in an Air India flight.
The statement added that the
accused "tried to smuggle gold
by concealing it in both her inner
garments, including sanitary
pads, and also in her socks."
She was also carrying foreign
brand cigarettes in violation of
the Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products Act, 2003,
which were seized from her possession.
The team which seized the
gold was led by Kapil Gade,
Deputy Commissioner, Air
Customs, Mangaluru, the release
said, adding that an investigation
is on.
Zaw Min Tun also reiterated
on Thursday that the military
would only be in charge for a
certain period before holding an
election. "We are on the road to
authentic democracy," he said.
The military government has
previously promised a new election
within a year, but has not set
a date.
Analysts say the apparent
climbdown by the junta seemed
a response to heavy global criticism,
both in and outside the
UN.
The 15-member UN Security
Council on Wednesday strongly
condemned violence by
Myanmar security forces against
peaceful protesters, including
women, youth and children.
"The council calls for the military
to exercise utmost restraint
Sarpavaram (Andhra
Pradesh) : Two employees
were killed and four others
injured in a blast at a pharmaceutical
company in Andhra
Pradesh's East Godavari district
on Thursday afternoon, police
said.
The dead in the accident at
Tyche Industries were identified
as Kakarla Subrahmanyam (31)
and Thotakura Venkataramana
(37), both supervisors.
The injured include
Kudupudi Srinivasa Rao (49),
Nammi Simhadri Rao (31),
Kalagaa Satya Sai Babu (55) and
Regali Rajkumar (35). Srinivasa
and emphasises that it is following
the situation closely," it said
in a statement.
Language that would have
condemned the February 1 coup
and threatened possible further
action was removed from the
UK-drafted text, due to opposition
by China, Russia, India and
Vietnam. These countries want
to give possible mediation a
chance instead of driving the
junta inwards.
The Civil Disobedience
Movement, a campaign group,
said the latest killings demonstrate
the need for a "stronger
message" from the international
community. "Right after the
UNSC produces a condemnation
statement, the terrorist junta
again murdered people in broad
daylight. What kind of message
does it send to UNSC?" the
group said in a post on Twitter.
Amnesty International, meanwhile,
accused the military of
using an arsenal of battlefield
weapons in its "killing spree"
against protesters.
In its Thursday report, the
human rights group said the
weapons include light machine
guns, sniper rifles and semiautomatic
rifles. It added that
those involved in the shootings
were "unrepentant commanders
already implicated in crimes
against humanity" elsewhere in
the country. There was no immediate
comment from the military.
It has previously said it is acting
with the utmost restraint in
handling what it describes as
demonstrations by "riotous protesters",
whom it accuses of
attacking police and harming
national security and stability.
Despite the crackdowns,
protests were also staged in half
a dozen other towns on
Thursday, according to
Facebook posts. In Yangon's
central Sanchaung township,
people had another sleepless
Rao, Simhadri Rao and
Rajkumar are operators while
Babu is an assistant production
manager. Industries Minister
Mekapati Goutham Reddy
expressed sadness over the loss
night as security forces raided
apartments searching for lost
police weapons. "They used
sound bombs on every street,"
said one resident. "We are asking
friends who are outside of their
homes not to come back here
tonight because of the situation."
Overnight, people also defied
a curfew to hold several more
candlelit vigils in parts of
Yangon and also in Myingyan,
southwest of the second city of
Mandalay.
The US tightened sanctions
on Myanmar on Thursday,
announcing punishing measures
on two adult children of Min
Aung Hlaing, the army chief
who led the coup.
"The leaders of the coup, and
their adult family members,
should not be able to continue to
derive benefits from the regime
as it resorts to violence and tightens
its stranglehold on democracy,"
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said in a statement.
"We will not hesitate to take
further action against those who
instigate violence and suppress
the will of the people."
In New York, UN Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres said
he hoped Wednesday's Security
Council statement would push
the military to realise it "is
absolutely essential" that all prisoners
are released and that the
results of a November election
are respected. Reports from
India's Mizoram state said few
hundreds protestors were trying
to flee into India. Some including
policemen who refused to
open fire have already fled. The
Chin state administration has
asked Mizoram local authorities
to hand back the eight policemen
who have fled into the northeast
Indian state as a "goodwill gesture".
But human rights campaigners
in India have opposed
the move because they fear the
eight may be executed.
2 dead, 4 injured in Andhra
pharma company blast
of life in the accident and
also asked the officials to
ascertain the reason.
He instructed officials to
provide better treatment for
the injured workers.
Considering the forthcoming
summer season and
high temperatures, Reddy
directed officials to take
protective measures in all
industries, chemical plants
and especially pharmaceutical
companies.
The minister warned that he
would not tolerate any harm
caused to the workers and locals
by companies' lapses.