A candlelit peace walk was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Tuesday 27 September to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the violent suppression of peaceful monk-led protests in Burma, known as the Saffron Revolution. More than 100 supporters marched through the streets to demand real change inside Burma. The demonstrators held candles to commemorate those lost in the popular uprising. The saffron revolution met a bloody end in late September 2007 when the Burmese military government ordered a crackdown on the protesters. With more than 100 people killed and thousands arrested the casualties were high. And although Burma is now ruled by a nominally civilian government, four years later many are still in jail. Ashin Issariya, a Buddhist monk who led protests in 2007 said without release of the imprisoned monks the government cannot demonstrate real change "in our country there are over 200 monks still in jail, they were never released. So we want to tell about that to all countries and people. Our country's military regime is telling the world; "now we are going the democratic way". This is only talk, they never change." In countries like Thailand, where many Burmese live in exile, people commemorate this anniversary for those inside Burma who do not have the freedom to do so. Earlier in the week Burmese police blocked a rare protest by pro-democracy activists in Rangoon. Around 200 people had planned to gather in Rangoon city Hall for the anniversary of the revolution ...
Keywords: saffron, 4th, anniversary
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