Myanmar student protesters given hours to disperse
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Student protesters calling for education reform said yesterday that riot police have ordered them to disperse within hours after surrounding them near a monastery in central Myanmar.
Some 300 young activists - many sporting bandanas with the fighting peacock symbol of student protest - remained encircled by police armed with sticks who have trapped them outside a monastery compound in the town of Letpadan since Monday.
Authorities have vowed to halt the activists' planned march to the nation's main city Yangon, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) further south and the scene of previous major student-led demonstrations.
Their protest is illegal in Myanmar, where almost half a century of military rule ended only in 2011.
The group has been given a deadline of 4pm local time to call off their protest, according to student leader Min Thwe Thit.
"We will not do it so maybe they will crack down," he told AFP.
On Monday, there was a tussle with police, as several students from Pyi Township attempted to show support to the students in the main protest column despite police blocking.
No one was injured in the fight, and the students from Pyi Township and some locals were ultimately granted entry. Locals also demanded the removal of the roadblocks because the authorities did not impose an official curfew.
On the night of March 2, about 100 police officers blocked nine local journalists. They were granted entry after ten minutes of interrogation.
