Dhaka: The International Burmese Monks' Organization (Bangladesh) staged a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the Burmese embassy in Dhaka demanding the release of monk leader U Gambira and other political prisoners.
 
"We staged the demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy here in  honour of the first anniversary of last year's Saffron Revolution, but we strongly demanded that the military government release our leader Gambira and other political prisoners," U Thila Wantha, and organizer of the group said.
 
U Gambira, who led last year's Saffron Revolution in Burma, is being detained by authorities in Insein prison in Rangoon and is facing 10 separate charges in court.
 
"We let the Burmese military regime know through our demonstration about our desire for the detained monks, and also that their arrest was illegal and not just. So we want to see the release of monks in Burma immediately," U Thila said.
 
Many Bangladeshi policemen were deployed near the Burmese embassy before the demonstration and attempted to block the road towards the Burmese embassy, but the monks marched peacefully towards the embassy shouting anti-government slogans.
 
Bangladesh police later allowed the monks and demonstrators to continue their demonstration 10 yards from the embassy entrance. The demonstration lasted for an hour.
 
During the demonstration, three monks staged a performance as Burmese prisoners, wearing prison uniforms along with iron chains, and many staff members from other nearby embassies came outside to watch the monks.
 
"Our programme was successful because we got many people attracted to our movement and we let them know about Burma and what is happening there under the present military rule," U Khama, secretary of the monk organization said.
 
Before the demonstration was concluded, a democracy activist went to the entrance gate of the embassy to place a wreath with photographs of people who lost their lives during last September's protest, to honour their sacrifice.
 
Many local journalists in Dhaka came to the Burmese embassy to report on the demonstration.
 
Later, the demonstrators led by monks marched to the front of the Bangladesh high court and staged a demonstration in order to attract the attention of the Bangladeshi people to the Burmese democracy movement.
 
Over 40 monks participated in the demonstration, including Bangladeshi Buddhist monks from Chittagong, and 40 democracy activists. The demonstration started at 11 am and ended at 2 pm.