Myanmar coup: bloody crackdown continues as Pope calls for end to violence

Beijing has called for more protection of its interests, as workers reported a wage dispute at a Chinese-owned factory turned deadly

Myanmar’s most powerful association of Buddhist monks has also joined calls for an end to the violence

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Buddhist monks lend their support to anti-coup protesters in Mandalay. Photo: AP

Published: 2:12pm, 17 Mar 2021Updated: 7:56pm, 17 Mar 2021

A dispute over pay at a Chinese-owned factory in Myanmar’s commercial capital has reportedly seen six people killed, as the death toll among anti-coup protesters exceeded 200 and Pope Francis appealed on Wednesday for an end to the bloodshed.

The country’s most powerful Buddhist monks’ association has also called on the junta to end violence against protesters and accused an “armed minority” of torture and killing innocent civilians since last month’s coup, local media said.

The government-appointed State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (Mahana) planned to release a final statement after consulting the religious affairs minister on Thursday, the Myanmar Now news portal reported, citing a monk who attended a meeting of the committee. It would be the organisation’s most forthright condemnation yet of the military’s bloody crackdown.

Monks have a long history of activism in Myanmar and were at the forefront of a 2007 “Saffron Revolution” against military rule, an uprising which, though suppressed, helped usher in democratic reforms.

Mahana members could not immediately be reached for comment, but their reported stance signals a rift with authorities by a group that usually works closely with the government.