Mandalay back to life

“We lifted the curfew,” said Mandalay district general administrator Win Zaw Naing. He said officers at his office learnt of the decision on the morning of August 11 and started to alert residents.

Residents of the city were agitated with the month-long curfew, with calls rising last month that it should be lifted as the tension that followed the rioting had eased and the atmosphere in the city was peaceful and calm. 

Soe Moe, a guide who depends on tourism for his livelihood, said the situation had not only damaged his business but caused havoc for tourists who arrived in the city by trains, which are often late. “Trains rarely run on schedule and it is not good that police have to send tourists to hotels as soon as they arrive,” he said.

“The curfew needs to be lifted, not just relaxed. It is causing great damage to the tourism industry,” Soe Moe said last week.

Under the curfew, everyone has to be off the streets between 10pm and 3am. It was relaxed twice since it was first imposed on July 3. At the start, it was imposed between 9pm and 5am in seven townships of the city, following two nights of rioting on July 1 and 2. On July 21, the curfew was relaxed to between 9pm and 3am. On July 28, it was changed to 10pm to 3am. 

Local guides complained that the caused the number of tourists to dwindle. Mandalay is the second most-visited destination in the country, after Yangon. 

The riots were sparked by a false rumour on the Internet that a Buddhist woman had been raped by two Muslim men. Buddhist mobs subsequently went on the rampage through Muslim quarters of the city. Two people were killed and at least 14 were injured.

By late July, however, residents, especially business owners, said relaxing the curfew was not enough. They want it lifted so that they could resume their night-time businesses.

Advocate Thein Than Oo, a member of the Mandalay Peacekeeping Committee, said last week that plans were underway to send a formal request to the regional government to lift the curfew. However, he said then that it should only be lifted at an appropriate time and after monitoring the situation. 

A resident of Chanayethazan Township, in the city centre, recalled being unable to return home from an emergency trip because he lives in the curfew zone. By the time he got near, it was after 10pm. “It is best to lift the curfew entirely,” he said last week. 

The curfew had been a major setback for bus and truck terminals, as well as shops that operate at night. Truck driver Soe Thue said he and fellow drivers usually entered the city at night. Under the curfew they have to race to get in before 10pm or stop on the roadside before they reach the city. “Drivers who are unaware of the curfew are arrested,” he said. 

A general manager from a Mandalay hotel said guards at hotels, companies and banks had been arrested while providing night-time security. Families of those arrested are also affected as some curfew violators have been jailed for up to three months. 

Mandalay Region Police Force officers said about 1,400 people have been arrested for violating the curfew. Most received seven-day jail sentences, but some got up to three months. 

Lt-Colonel Zaw Min Oo from the regional police force said the punishments were not so harsh. Many curfew violators were just fined, while some of those jailed were carrying weapons at the time of their arrest. They were jailed not just because they violated the curfew, he said. 

Zaw Min Oo said courts generally imposed fines if the curfew violator had only been caught outside 10 or 15 minutes into the curfew hours, and had a good reason for being on the streets. He said those who had received three-month sentences were not only breaching curfew but also carrying knives, swords or sticks.