STUDENT RIOTS IN ARAKAN STATE.

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04Nov96 BURMA: OPPOSITION RADIO REPORTS STUDENT RIOTS. 
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1100 gmt 2 Nov 96
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio broadcasting from Oslo
It has been learned that there was a riot in Kyaukpyu Township because the
students in that township were unable to buy airline tickets to travel to
their respective universities and colleges for the 1996 academic year. The
students reported collectively to the appropriate military officers that
they were facing difficulties buying airline tickets and the seats were not
available for them when they did. The military officers told the students
that it was not their responsibility and refused to resolve the problem.
The students again reported to the responsible authorities that the airline
tickets and seats were being reserved and allocated only to the Defence
Services, the township law and order restoration council and influential
business people, and that ordinary passengers were unable to fly. The
authorities did not resolve the problem and scolded the students for making
complaints.
As a result, the students burned down the Kyaukpyu Airport office building
and other government buildings in the town and clashed with police. The riot
ended when SLORC [State Law and Order Restoration Council] troops fired
shots to disperse the crowds in several locations. There were no casualties,
but the authorities arrested and took action against some students.
It has been learned that disenchanted students and a lecturer at the Sittwe
Akyab [phonetic] Degree College got into trouble because the lecturer always
spoke rudely to the students, saying: You Rakhine [Arakanese] have no
discipline; you are useless. You people are not Rakhine, but are Yakhi
[derogatory reference to Arakanese]. Do you not understand me? I am speaking
to you in Burmese.
It has been learned that there was a heated argument between the students
and the lecturer because of the lecturer's rudeness, which led to a
disturbance at the college on 8th July 1996. The police and military troops
intervened and dispersed the crowd and then arrested the students involved
in the disturbance. The local residents are unhappy because the authorities
did not arrest the lecturer, who practises racial discrimination and causes
race riots, but arrested only the students, who were being discriminated
against. The local residents say the regional authorities do not take action
against the lecturer, although they know all about his behaviour. That is
why the local residents believe that the lecturer may be someone sent by
SLORC intelligence unit to cause a race riot. The four student leaders are
still at large.
[The SLORC recently released Ma Than Yi, a student who was arrested during a
demonstration staged on 23rd October by students of the Rangoon Institute of
Technology and Rangoon University, according to Democratic Voice of Burma,
Oslo, in Burmese 1100 gmt 2 Nov 96. The radio added that, according to the
All Burma Students' Democratic Front, more than 100 students were still
being held.].
(c) BBC Monitoring Summary of World Broadcasts. 
BBC MONITORING SERVICE: ASIA-PACIFIC 4/11/96 
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