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YANGON: A week after Myanmar's military government cracked down on peaceful protests against soaring fuel costs here, residents now live in fear, with few daring to venture out into a city swarming with plainclothes police.
The streets of Yangon were nearly deserted on Sunday, with most markets closed and barely any passengers waiting at the usually crowded bus stops in the country's commercial capital.
"People are too afraid to go out after the protests," said one banana vendor in his 50s, adding he had had far fewer customers in the past week since demonstrators took to the streets over a massive hike in fuel prices.
Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, tolerates little public dissent, but analysts say the regime has been shaken by the persistence of the protesters, who rallied four times in a week despite stepped-up police action.
Dozens of people have already been arrested including some of the country's most prominent pro-democracy activists. Some of them were hauled off with the help of plainclothes police and pro-military mobs.
Security officials, some disguised as street-sweepers, were seen everywhere in Yangon, especially at markets, pagodas, office buildings and Yangon City Hall, where more than 20 plainclothes police stood guard Sunday.
For one Yangon taxi driver, the presence of the security forces was enough to keep him from attending future demonstrations.
"For ordinary people like myself, living is more important than politics. Most people think nothing can change our government's mind. What can we do? We don't have weapons. This is just our fate," said the man in his 50s.
Among those who have been detained is Min Ko Naing, who is considered Myanmar's most prominent pro-democracy leader after detained opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Min Ko Naing was arrested along with 12 activists for leading about 500 protesters in a peaceful march in Yangon last Sunday -- the biggest anti-government rally here in at least nine years.
They were sent to Myanmar's notorious Insein prison in northern Yangon, home to some of the nation's estimated 1,100 political prisoners. International rights groups have alleged abuse and torture are rampant at the prison.
Myanmar's state media has said only that authorities were interrogating Min Ko Naing and the 12 others and that the military government would take legal action against them.
The 13 were members of the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students group, which is made up of former student leaders who led an uprising against military rule in 1988.
That uprising, which initially began as a protest over Myanmar's harsh economic conditions, ended with soldiers firing into a crowd of students, killing hundreds if not thousands.
One Asian diplomat in Yangon said residents still remembered the horror of the 1988 uprising, and that fear would keep them from fighting the generals, despite the economic hardships faced by most people here.
"People are simply too scared of the authorities," said the diplomat, who declined to be named.
A senior member of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy, agreed, saying: "Most people are so scared of authorities, and they don't want to risk their lives."
A Yangon businessman in his 30s said he felt hopeless.
"I don't want to participate in the protests. If I do, my career and my life will be in trouble," he said.
"There is nothing we can do against the government. Authorities have power. They can do anything." - AFP/ac
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