irrawaddy.org: Security Tight in Mandalay after Outbreak of Communal Violence

3.7.14

Security Tight in Mandalay after Outbreak of Communal Violence: [irrawaddy.org] Galoneni Sayadaw and other leading Buddhist monks from Burma’s second largest city attempted to calm down the angry mobs, but without much success.

“We tried our best, but they would not listen. Some of them were drunk and hard to control. Whatever happens to them depends only on their own behavior. We just don’t want to see Mandalay burn because of racial and religious hatred,” Galoneni Sayadaw told reporters at the scene.

As the riot spread late into the night, angry men carrying canes and bricks were seen wandering along 26th Street, between 86th and 81st Streets, where the majority of the city’s Muslims live.

Rioters from both sides used slingshots, stones and pieces of broken brick and concrete to attack each other. When the police came to control the situation, they were accused of siding with the Muslims and pelted with a shower of stones.