(DVB) - Eight leaders and organising members of Shan State Literature and Culture Committee including its chairman Dr. Sai Maw Kham, were arrested on 3 December by Burmese military authorities.

It is still not clear as to why they were arrested, as Maj-Gen Myint, the commander of Northeast Command based in Lashio in northeast Shan State, had been ‘persuading’ these leaders to celebrate their national New Year long before the event was held at the end of November and early December.

Some observers said that having allowed the Shan leaders to celebrate the New Year, the Burmese military authorities were not very pleased with the fact that many Shan nationals throughout the state came to celebrate the event with banners and pennants in triumphant mood.

Moreover, they believe that Shan leaders were arrested because they were/are close friends of detained Shan leaders including Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo and Shan State Peace Council (SSPC) patron Gen Hso Ten who were given lengthy jail terms by the junta.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma