Pilgrims and locals have expressed concern as the Myanmar military and police are conducting security checks along the historical Sandawshin Pagoda Road in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State.
Locals are worried that visitors will not be able to properly celebrate the festival, which will be held for eight days from December 13-20, due to the security checks.
“I am worried the pagoda festival will not be crowded with visitors. The hawkers invested their money for the festival,” said U Aung Naing Htay, a local of Saw Mae Kyi village.
About 100 soldiers and police arrived on Saw Mae Kyi Island on December 3 to repair damaged stretches along the Sandawshin Pagoda Road, according to the pagoda board of trustees.
But because security personnel are inspecting pedestrians in the area, locals and pilgrims are concerned about the impact on festival attendance, according to another resident of Saw Mae Kyi village.
“I heard that the junta soldiers will be deployed until the pagoda festival is finished. The pagoda festival will not teem with visitors if junta soldiers are stationed [in the vicinity]. I want the junta soldiers and police to leave as soon as possible after the road is repaired,” the resident said.
“It would be better for the junta soldiers to return [to their barracks] before the pagoda festival to alleviate the worries of the pilgrims. I heard they will return after the pagoda festival,” said Ko Tun Tun Naing, a fellow Saw Mae Kyi villager.
Officials from the Sandawshin Pagoda Board of Trustees said they did not know when the junta’s security personnel would withdraw from the area.
“We have arranged to visit the Sandawshin Pagoda, but now we are worried about our safety due to the Myanmar military’s security checks,” said Ma Aye Yee, a resident of Sittwe. “There is a question of whether the junta soldiers will come back or not. We will not be able to visit the pagoda if the junta soldiers are present there.”
DMG attempted to contact Col. Kyaw Thura, the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs, and U Hla Thein, a spokesperson for the Arakan State Administration Council, about the Myanmar military presence along the Sandawshin Pagoda Road, but they could not be reached.
The Sandawshin Pagoda festival is celebrated for eight days, concluding on the Full Moon Day of Nadaw in the Myanmar calendar year. In addition to pilgrims from various parts of Arakan State, Yangon, Mandalay and other parts of Myanmar, the festival also draws some tourists.
