Police rampage targets striking Myanmar railway workers

DEMONSTRATORS against Myanmar’s military takeover returned to the streets yesterday after a night of armed intimidation by security forces in the country’s second biggest city.

The police rampage in an area of Mandalay, where state railway workers are housed, showed the conflict between protesters and the new military government is increasingly focused on the businesses and government institutions that sustain the economy.

State railway workers had called a strike on Sunday, joining a loosely organised Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that was initiated by medical workers and is the backbone of the resistance to the February 1 coup that removed the elected civilian government. One labour activist who did not wish to be named said: “Many workers and citizens of Myanmar believe CDM is very effective for making the junta fail. That’s why health, education, transportation, different government departments and banks’ employees are participating in CDM together.”