Mandalay Division Authorities Lift Blockade on Student March

By The Irrawaddy 27 January 2015

Some 500 of students marching from Mandalay to Rangoon were allowed to pass through southwestern Mandalay Division’s Taung Tha Township on Tuesday evening after they held negotiations with local authorities. A local official told The Irrawaddy that the students were allowed to march on upon the order from Mandalay’s Chief Minister Ye Myint.

Tensions rose earlier in the day when about 100 policemen took up positions to block students, who are protesting against the National Education Law, from resuming their march between Mandalay and Rangoon from Myingyan Township this morning.

Taung Tha is infamous as the stronghold of Aung Thaung, a senior leader from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, and many of the villages in the area are strong supporters of the party.