BBC News-Asia

The UN human rights envoy to Burma has accused the country’s government of failing to protect him when his convoy came under attack this week.

Tomas Ojea Quintan said this happened during his visit to the central town of Meiktila, the scene of recent deadly clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.

He said some 200 people surrounded his car, punching the doors and windows.

No-one was hurt, but the envoy said he now had an insight into how people would have felt during March’s clashes.

“The state failed to protect me,” Mr Quintan told reporters at the end of his 10-day visit to Burma (Myanmar).

BANGKOK: Myanmar must address anti-Muslim propaganda and stamp out a culture of impunity for religious violence or risk “catastrophic” levels of conflict, a rights group warned Tuesday.

Physicians for Human Rights described attacks on Muslims, that have swept the country since fighting first broke out last year as “widespread and systematic”, in a report examining unrest that has killed around 250 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

The US-based group said that while the situation in the country currently appeared calm, a failure to properly investigate and deal with the causes of the tensions risks further clashes.

This Week in History provides brief synopses of important historical events whose anniversaries fall this week.

25 years ago: Burmese military regime totters

In response to the continuing mass demonstrations across the country, a civilian, Dr. U Maung Maung, was appointed president on August 19, 1988. The biographer of longtime military strongman Ne Win, Maung Maung was known to be closely aligned with the military government.

Hundreds of thousands continued to demonstrate in major cities across Burma, demanding the resignation of the newly-appointed president—the third in less than a month. In the capital of Rangoon, 200,000 to 300,000 surged through the streets, bringing the city to a standstill. The country’s second largest city, Mandalay, saw a demonstration of 250,000 people—half the city’s population. Transport was shut down as train and bus workers went on strike.

By MIN ZIN

Well-known Burmese writer and poet Dagon Taya passed away at his home in the town of Aungban, Shan State, on Monday at 1 pm. He was 95 years old.

Here is a story about Dagon Taya, known as one of Burma’s greatest literary figures, from the July 2000 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. Stay tuned for more coverage soon.

Dagon Taya, Burma’s greatest living literary figure, continues to draw strength from his convictions despite attacks from critics and political opponents. At the turn of the 20th century, Burmese literature made a remarkable departure from its traditional classicism.

By LAWI WENG & SAW YAN NAING

RANGOON — Separate clashes were reported over the weekend in north Burma’s Kachin State and east Burma’s Karen State between government-backed militias and non-state armed groups.

In Kachin State, clashes reportedly occurred on Saturday between the government-backed Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

San Aung, a peace broker with the KIA’s political wing—the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)—said fighting broke out after BGF members attacked KIA bases in Chi Pwe and Sawlaw, two towns in Pangwa region, in the northern part of the state.