Anti-government posters appear in Aung Lan, central Burma

The continuing protests over the massive hike in prices of fuel have now spawned anti-government posters. They were pasted in market places and schools in Aung Lan Town of Magwe in central Burma on Sunday, residents said.

The posters read – ‘Military junta must be down’, ‘Democracy must succeed’, and ‘Commodity prices must decrease’. They were seen on the walls of the market, high school and some wards at about 5 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, an eyewitness told Mizzima.

However, not long after the discovery of the posters, police, special branch and military security affairs officers came and pulled down all the posters, the eyewitness added.

“The posters were pasted in Aung Lan market, high school and some parts of the wards. They contained three points and were pasted in the early hours of August 26. But soon, uniformed policemen, military security affairs and special police officers went to all the places and removed the posters,” the eyewitness said.

Following the sudden hike in fuel prices on August 14, there has been acute consternation among the people of Burma with a few hundreds coming out on to the streets in Rangoon and other parts of Burma in protest against the sharp rise in prices of essential commodities triggered by the fuel price hike.

Despite the anti-government posters in Aung Lan, locals said there has been no public demonstration.

However, following the fuel price hike, public vehicular transport has come to a near standstill as vehicle owners in Aung Lan said they could not afford fuel.

“The fuel price increase took vehicle owners by surprise, In fact they were shocked and they called back their drivers with the vehicles which stopped plying. So, transport is at a stand still. And essential commodity prices have also shot-up,” another local resident told Mizzima.

He added that bus fares from Aung Lan to Rangoon shot up to 4500 kyat (US$ 3.46) from 3300 kyat (US$ 2.53).