Monks march in Burma

More than 400 Buddhist monks today marched in Burma’s largest city, witnesses said, as part of a growing wave of anti-government protests that have rocked the country the past month.

The monks, chanting prayers and walking in rows of two and three, were briefly stopped by plainclothes officers as they headed toward the Shwedagon pagoda in central Rangoon, said witnesses, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals.

But they continued marching to the pagoda.

The monks had demanded that authorities apologise by yesterday for beating hundreds of them two weeks ago as they marched peacefully and chanted prayers in Pakokku, a centre of Buddhist learning. The apology never came.

As a result, monks across the country had threatened to march from their monasteries today, to cut off contact with the military and their families, and to refuse alms from them – a humiliating gesture that would likely embarrass the junta.

The march comes on the 19th anniversary of the coup in Burma, in which the current junta took over after crushing a failed pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962.