What started out as a peaceful protest at the Burmese Embassy in Pretoria quickly turned violent after angry protestors tried to break down the gate and enter the compound.
One person was also slightly injured when a rock was thrown at him by the crowd consisting mostly foreign nationals.
Hundreds of people including a Buddhist monk had gathered at the embassy yesterday to protest the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
The United Nations says at least 370,000 Rohingya people have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh in recent weeks due to the violence.
The organizers of the protest were about to hand over a memorandum to Burmese officials at the embassy when chaos erupted.
Protestors violently shook the gate of the embassy forcing police to fire stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Secretary General of the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa Moulana Ebrahim Bham tried to calm down the angry protestors.
“I understand people’s anger and we appreciate it. We are also angry but we have to channel our in a correct way and not incorrect way.”
Earlier, former deputy International Relations Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim condemned the atrocities taking place in Burma and urged the international community to demand that leader Aung San Suu Kyi return her Nobel peace prize.
“I don’t know of any Nobel laureate who has supported violence against other people. And also we call on the government of South Africa to call in the ambassador of Myanmar and to give him a strong message of protest that South African people condemn what is happening in Burma.”
The memorandum was handed over to Burmese official once the situation had calmed down.
[Source: Radio Islam – Faizel Patel]
