Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) demanded an inquiry yesterday into clashes between police protesters in which students, monks and journalists were beaten with batons and more than 100 people were arrested.
The violence erupted on Tuesday in the town of Letpadan, about 140 km (90 miles) to the north of Yangon. Students protesting against a proposed education law were blocked from marching to Yangon and were forcibly dispersed after a standoff which lasted more than a week.
“An investigation commission should be organised and its statement should be made to the public very soon,” the NLD, headed by Noble Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, said in a statement.
The government has not commented on the clashes but the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper blamed protesters, saying they turned the sit-in protest to “violence between both sides.”
