Accounts from inside Burma Buddhist monks are continuing their protests in Rangoon, despite the use of force by the Burmese security forces. People inside Burma have been e-mailing the BBC News website and talking to the BBC Burmese Service about the growing unrest. Tuesday, 25 September Monday, 24 September WEDNESDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER I just talked to my sister, who lives in Rangoon. She knows someone at the local hospital in Rangoon. They have been treating three monks, who were taken to the hospital by responsible taxi drivers. The monks had been beaten up with the back of rifles. One monk had a deep wound exposing his brain, and he has already died. The other two are being treated under intensive care. Many more people died today, but there is no information about it. Many taxi drivers who are at the site of the violence take injured monks to nearest hospitals. The junta are using dirty tactics - they don’t fire guns, but beat people with the back of their rifles. The monks defiantly did not fight back, endured the pain and died. Sanda, Stocksund, Sweden At 13:00 a silent and orderly line of several thousand monks has passed at the bottom of the street where my office is located. Not a sound from them, a calm and determined march. Traffic blocks up, buses and taxis open their doors, people stream out and go towards the marchers at an unusually quick pace. People just leave their cars at the side of the road. At the same time, while the sun is burning down, there are huge dark-grey clouds in the sky and loud thunder cracks over their heads. Win, Rangoon From the BBC Burmese Service: When monks and people reached the mid-level platform of the Shwedagon Pagoda around 12:20 PM, they closed the doors behind and riot police started to chase them and beat them up. Then about 200 were hauled off onto the trucks and driven away. About 80 monks were taken away. Anonymous eyewitness, Rangoon Police were beating monks and nuns in Shwedagon Pagoda this morning and then putting them onto trucks. There were two prison vans and two fire engines. More army and police forces are in Kandawgyi park near Shwedagon Pagoda. Armed forces and plain-clothes police are to be seen in many other important places in Rangoon. People have been waiting at Sule Pagoda since early in the morning, and there are six army trucks near the City Hall, but I haven’t seen any soldiers. The uniformed and plain-clothes police in front of the City Hall hold photos of monks leading the protests. We heard that over 50 monks and many students were arrested. Cherry, Rangoon Now the military junta is reducing the internet connection bandwidth and we have to wait for a long time to see a page. Security forces block the route of demonstrations. Yesterday night, the junta announced to people in Rangoon and Mandalay not to leave their houses 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM. I think if the junta decides, they will cut off communication such as internet and telephone lines so that no information can be leaked to the outside world. David, Rangoon Riot police and soldiers are beating monks and other protesters at the east gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. They are starting a crackdown by all means. Police forces are stationed at Sule Pagoda as well. Regardless of this, just after noon, about 1000 monks from a nearby monastery started a march to the Shwedagon Pagoda. Thila, Rangoon TUESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER At 11.30am, after a few moments of prayer at the Shwedagon Pagoda, the procession started. The number of marchers quickly swelled as other monks and groups joined having walked from different parts of the city. Many others formed a human chain on either side of them. Robert, Rangoon This is a precious chance to let the world know about what’s inside Burma. I haven’t seen the protests yet. My family does not allow me to go out when the protests are in progress. Everything I know I’ve heard it from my relatives who live in the town centre. They have witnessed UN officials, students, foreigners, some Muslim, Chinese and Indian people taking part in the protest. I saw a truck full of police with guns, which looked like AK47. There also is an announcement in every township of Rangon warning people not to get involved in protests. We are really motivated by the protests. I believe in the power of people. The military junta has been making us miserable for nearly two decades. Enough is enough. This really is the right time for the Burmese people to be united. But most people are still silent. We need good leadership and a good leader. Yi, Rangoon Protesters have defied warnings from the military government We don’t know what will happen today, we are waiting to see how the situation develops. The junta announced that they will suppress the demonstrations whether by civilians or monks, anyone who disobeys their orders. We have suffered for a long time under the wicket junta. We are so afraid of them and cannot say what we think of feel. We respect our Buddhist monks very much. Our country has many natural resources but we are very poor. We are a disgrace in the whole world because of our rulers. But we hope for a golden future. We hope for the freedom of Aung San Su Kyi. Kyi, Rangoon Today the city is quiet and people go to work as normal. There are lots of rumours, but for the time being everything is calm. People are anxious to see what’s going to happen. According to the government’s warnings, today could be a big day. China is key. The US have announced new sanctions, but this is nothing. Burmese people do not welcome them and do not care about them. They want help, not sanctions. If the US wants to make a change here, they should threaten that if China continues its support for the Burmese military, they won’t take part in the Olympics. Everything else is a joke. Michel, Rangoon From the BBC Burmese Service: The order (by the regime to people not to come out on the streets) is not justified. If it were a just order, we would be ready to abide by it. But we cannot accept any unjustified laws. We will resist it. Student protester, Rangoon From the BBC Burmese Service: About 700 students are taking part in protests today. Some students are in the middle of exams at this time. But they have left their exam rooms and come out the streets to joining hands with the public and to fight for the country under the guidance of the monks. Student protester, Rangoon This morning, government agents warned people by loudspeakers on the streets not to look, not to follow, not to encourage and not to participate in demonstrations. But a group of monks and ordinary people came out on the streets in the afternoon and headed towards the Sule Pagoda. A well-known poet gave a speech to the crowd and they continued their march. But I think that the participants are half the number they were yesterday. Some people are worried and they are thinking carefully about the crisis that may be created by a junta response. Cherry, Rangoon I walked with the monks, nuns and students all the way from Shwedagon to Sule, then to the former Secretariat building, then walked pass Kandawgalay. Then we went to the Royal Lake and walked pass Aung San bronze statute. We started at 1 PM and finished at 5 PM at Shwedagon east gate. It was very moving. People went all the way and some were in tears. I wasn’t worried that there might be a crackdown. Gradually I got some energy and was just not afraid to proceed. Win, Rangoon MONDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER I witnessed the big protests in Rangoon today. I am really sorry for our country and our people because we are under the control of the wicked junta. We haven’t got arms, we wish for peace, a better future and democracy. We are hoping that the UN security council will put a pressure on the junta. Kyi Kyi, Rangoon I saw more than 100,000 monks marching today. I’m not sure where the protests will lead to. This situation could get worse. We want some changes in Burma, but we want these changes leading to a better future. Sun, Rangoon I saw about 40,000 to 50,000 people, including monks, nuns and ordinary people, marching along Prome road. That was at around 3:30pm. The protests will grow bigger day by day and I hope that they are not going to start killing people. We need help to save our people. Mr Tun, Rangoon It is astounding to see such a great mass of people on both sides of the roads, some clapping and some crying, but all demonstrating their support for the monks and those chanting prayers. It’s for sure that all these people showing their support are willing to be part of the mass protest. They do not trust the government though and think that they could be crushed, just like it happened in 1988. But if we are just bystanders, today’s rare and momentous events might not lead to the fall of the regime. Kyaw, Rangoon I am not sure where these protests are going to lead to, but I am sure that it’s not at all a good sign. Many people are expecting that there will be a great change coming soon. I am not sure if the monks will be joined by students, workers, or even soldiers. We are very insecure because we don’t know what the government is planning to do. There are some news in the government-controlled newspapers that the monks are trying to agitate the public. This can be a big excuse for them to start attacking the monks. I really want some changes in Burma but I am not sure where the change is going to lead us to. I hope there won’t be any blood bath this time like there was in 1988. Soe Soe, Mandalay The current situation can lead to civil war because the junta still holds the power and the opposition might use this opportunity to form an armed struggle. We want things to change peacefully, not through a civil war. But if there’s no way to avoid the arms struggle, the people will choose it and the conditions in our poor country may become worse. The international pressure, including from China and Russia, is very important for the future of Burma at this moment. Mg Khar, Rangoon One of the monks who took part in the protests came to us and told us about his experiences. He said: “We are not afraid, we haven’t committed a crime, we just say prayers and take part in the protests. We haven’t accepted money from onlookers although they offered us a lot. We just accept water. People clapped, smiled and cheered us.” The monk seemed very happy, excited and proud. But I’m worried for them. They care for us and we pray for them not to get harmed. Mya, Rangoon