The military council is reportedly threatening and ordering government staff and local residents from various townships in Magway Region to mandatorily attend the Man Shwesettaw Pagoda Festival in Minbu Township. The festival, which runs for 75 days from February 2 to April 17, has seen low attendance, prompting the military council to issue directives to the Magway Region military council to increase public participation at the Buddha Puzaniya Pagoda Festival.
The Magway Region military council has been organizing government staff and their family members to attend the festival in groups arranged by township and department. They are providing travel expenses and transportation arrangements, implementing a rotation system for attendance, and granting leave days, according to a schoolteacher from Magway city. Additionally, following instructions from the Magway Region General Administration Department, ward and village administrators are gathering and escorting residents from villages within Minbu Township to the festival.
According to a local resident from Minbu Township, due to low festival attendance, authorities are collecting people from villages and arranging transportation for them. Administrative officials are compiling population lists, with hundred-household and ten-household leaders leading groups to the festival. Despite the military council constructing over 300 accommodation rooms and approximately 350 shop stalls for the festival, locals report that the forced attendance measures are being implemented due to the lack of natural public participation. The military council’s coercive actions to boost festival attendance highlight their continued pressure on civilians and government employees in the region.
