Scuffles Over Order To Withdraw Monks From Red Protest

(29 April) Some Redshirt protesters clashed briefly with representatives from the national Buddhist authorities who visited their protest site in front of the Constitutional Court to ask the monk protesters to return to their temples.

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Representatives from National Office of Buddhism arrived at the Redshirts camp around 13.15 and informed the 4 monks who had been camping alongside their fellow protesters for days that the Office had decided that attending protests is an inappropriate act for monks, and asked the monks to go back to their temples.

However, our correspondent said, the monks refused to move, prompting the agents to forcefully drag them away. A number protesters then confronted the agents, some shouting that the officials were sent from a Yellow-backed Buddhist temple to disrupt the protest, and a brief fistfight ensued.

The Redshirts guards eventually stopped the scuffle while protest leaders urged the Redshirts to remain calm. No serious injury was reported.

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