Update on Situation in Rangoon

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Here is an update from sources in Rangoon:

During the day of October 23rd, there were no demonstrations in Rangoon, 
but there may be a demonstration tonight.  50 military trucks were seen 
entering Rangoon University campus, near the site of the recent 
demonstrations, this afternoon.  

The altercation that started the demonstrations broke out at a restuarant 
at a bus stop across from Mingaladon airport.  The students were from 
Rangoon Institute of Technology  and were beaten by some "galon", an 
auxiliary police force which usually goes after vendors who are selling 
in illegal locations.  They wear tan uniforms and have lesser 
responsibilities than the actual police force.  According to one 
unconfirmed report, a military officer was also involved in the 
beatings.  

The students organized demonstrations protesting police brutality and 
asking for an accurate report to be given in the official media.  They 
have presented the SLORC with a list of 8 demands, 4 of which the SLORC 
supposedly agreed to.  They are as follows:

1. The SLORC should not take any action against the demonstrators
2. Those who have been detained in connection with the incident must be 
released
3. Those who beat the students should be taken into custody
4. Accurate news reports of what happened must be put out by the SLORC

The SLORC has appointed the Deputy Minister for Education and the 
Minister for Railways to meet with the students.  They asked to meet with 
the top five student leaders, but the students responded that they were 
using a system of collective leadership and could not send 5 top leaders.

There is an UNCONFIRMED report that 1 student died from the beatings.

The SLORC media have put out 3 very different reports of the incident on 
Myawaddy TV, Radio Myanmar, and in the newspapers.  The students are not 
happy about this.

Some foreigners were seen videotaping the demonstrations.  It is not yet 
known who they were or if anything has happened to them (ie. if their 
film has been confiscated as it was from journalists filming during the 
September NLD Congress period).

Different student groups have been working together over the past couple 
of days.  Whether the demonstrations will spread is not yet clear.  
University lecturers were trying to encourage the students to go back to 
the classroom, but the students replied that university degrees in Burma 
today are useless and the lecturers themselves can't even make ends meet 
on their meagre salaries.

This incident is eerily similar to the incident in March, 1988 that lead 
to the massive uprisings later that summer.  This time, the military 
junta may be less likely to use guns to solve the problem, because the 
international community is watching them much more closely than they were 
eight years ago.