Myanmar junta reported to extend watch on monks to stave off protests

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's junta was reported Tuesday to have extended its watch over Buddhist monasteries in the bustling township of Bago, in an attempt to keep monks from taking part in the most sustained anti-government protests in a decade.

Myanmar's government is facing worldwide condemnation for its hard-line handling of demonstrations that began Aug. 19 to protest fuel price hikes and a rise in the cost of consumer goods. Scores of people have been detained for taking part in demonstrations, which have been broken up by pro-government toughs.

In northern Myanmar last week, monks — angry at being beaten up for protesting — temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

According to Mizzima News, a Web site run by exiled Myanmar journalists, monasteries in the city of Bago, also known as Pegu, have been put under close watch by security forces, who also have put members of the opposition National League for Democracy party under surveillance.

It said monks had been prevented from leaving their monasteries in Bago, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Yangon, and one of the country's biggest cities.

Dozens of protesters marched peacefully through Bago last month calling for a cut in prices.

The report could not be independently confirmed, but authorities had already taken similar surveillance measures in Yangon and Mandalay, according to witnesses.

Monks have said they may refuse alms from the military and ignore junta officials and their supporters at official functions if the government does not apologize by next week for their rough treatment in the northern town of Pakokku, according to The Irrawaddy, an independent Thailand-based news magazine that reports on Myanmar, and the pro-democracy group U.S. Campaign For Burma.

The monks — reportedly under the banner of a new organization called the National Front of Monks — are also demanding that authorities cut fuel prices, release all political prisoners and begin negotiations with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders, the U.S. Campaign For Burma said.

It was impossible to independently verify the front's existence or demands.

Historically, monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been at the forefront of protests — first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962. The uprising was brutally crushed by the military.

Myanmar's junta, meanwhile, pleaded with its citizens to stop protesting and to instead express their views through a promised referendum on a new constitution.

"Myanmar's democratic transition is in its infancy, so the nation should take great care to avert possible undesirable consequences," said a commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which closely reflects official viewpoints.

People should make their stances known when they have a chance to approve a new, yet-to-be-drafted constitution in a national referendum to be held "soon," the paper said.

The government has promised to eventually hold elections.

Earlier this month, the government wrapped up a 14-year national convention to draw up guidelines for a new constitution, the first stage of its seven-step "road map to democracy."

Critics have called the entire process a sham, saying the guidelines ensure the military a prominent role in politics and bar Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from holding elected office.

The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's NLD party won. Suu Kyi has been detained under house for more than 11 of the past 18 years.