A spokesperson from the Bahan Township police station told Mizzima on 1December that the station is opening an investigation into a protest that broke out days before the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) began its tour through Myanmar.
Eight hundred people marched from Shwedagon Pagoda to Sule Pagoda on 12 November to voice their objections to the arrival of the OIC the following day. They had received permission to do so from the Dagon, Bahan, Kyauk Tadar, and MingaladonTownship police stations.
Bahan’s police spokesperson claimed that these demonstrations damaged interfaith trust and were detrimental to international relations, mostly due to their use of inflammatory posters and signs.
“[Although they received permission to march], the protestors did not mention that they would use placards during their rally,” reported another officer from the Bahan station. “We are still looking for the perpetrators and will charge them accordingly.”
However, Ko Khin Maung Lin, the head of the Rakhine Youth Association and the organizing force behind the protest, took responsibility for the unsanctioned use of these materials.
“Compared with the losses suffered by the Rakhine people, our use of signboards was nothing. I was the one who led the demonstration, so I will take responsibility for them,” he stated.
