Mizzima News, 14 June 2008 - The Burmese military junta authorities sealed a pro-opposition Buddhist monastery in Rangoon yesterday.
The township chairman and security forces arrived at the Sasana Theikpan monastery compound of Chauk Htut Gyi pagoda, Bahan Township on Friday morning and told monks they would close the monastery until an official announcement by the new head of monastery was made.
Security forces told the monks that they had come with an order from the Rangoon military commander Brigadier General Hla Htay Win.
"They locked the door of the monastery with a lock they brought with them at 5 p.m. yesterday," a monk from Sasana Theikpan told Mizzima.
The monk believed that it was a ruse and he did not expect the monastery to be reopened. Three monks of Sansana Theikpan are taking temporary shelter in two nearby monasteries.
The former head of the Sasana Theikpan monastery died recently and dozens of pro-democracy opposition activists attended the funeral service on June 7 even as the authorities monitored the funeral service.
About a hundred pro-government civil militia of the Swan Arr Shin and members of Union Solidarity Development Association were standing by to crackdown, activists told Mizzima.
Buddhist monasteries were raided and some were sealed during and after monks led a mass uprising against the government in September 2007.
Sasana Theikpan and Sasana Gonye were among the monasteries raided by security forces in Bahan Township. The latter has been shut down since the raid.
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