3000 people stage protest in Sittwe

(Sittwe, 4 February 2014): Over 3000 Arakanese Buddhist people staged a massive protest in Sittwe on Monday to raise their voices for a series of demands.
The demonstrators also shouted some slogans against the UN, INGOs and also the ‘Bengali migrated people’ in Arakan province of Burma.

“The demonstrators initially gathered at U Uttama garden at around 1 pm and then they marched to the Wonkabar ground in down town Sittwe for the protest meet,” said Daw Nyo Aye, one of the leading the demonstration.
She also added that the demonstrators called on the government to fulfill five-point demands for safeguarding the Arakan State from the invaders.
The demands include ‘to immediately implement 1982 citizenship law, not allowing temporary white card holders to cast their votes in any election, to modernize the police forces in Arakan with sophisticated arms, to guarantee  the security of  Rakhine people and to get out UN and INGO representatives from Arakan State’.
“We do not need the pro-Bengali organizations, which are bias in all aspects, in Arakan. So we shouted the slogans against the UN and INGOs too,” informed a demonstrator while talking to Narinjara over telephone.
The demonstration ended peacefully at around 2:30 pm, for which the local authority provided the permission.

Speaking to Narinjara, U Than Tun, a senior citizen said that it would not be easy for the government to fulfill all the demands raised by the Arakanese agitators, but it would help the authority to realize the importance of the situation.
“I believe that the government might fulfill some demands as the protesters have raised the issues rigorously,” he added.
Narinjara tried to contact the spokesperson of Arakan State government for the authority’s point of views on the demands, but the telephone went on constant ringing without any response.