RANGOON: Armed British and Burmese troops and police guarded important centres in Rang­oon today [Jan 20] after a threat by ‘Red Flag’ Communists to “storm” the Government offices. An air of tense expectancy prevailed throughout the city. At the Government of Burma Secretariat, police turned a hose on the huge crowd which refused to disperse. Elaborate police and military precautions have been in force since yesterday and over 1,000 troops and police have been on duty inside the Secretariat grounds.

At the ‘Red Flag’ headquarters, 30-year-old Thakin Soe, the Party’s leader, supervised drilling and training of hundreds of his followers for the demonstration. U. Soe told Reuter: “This is going to be a ‘do or die’ struggle. Let them (troops and police) shoot us if they desire. They will know what backing we have throughout the cou­ntry.” The demonstrators … included scores of young and old women carrying Communist flags… .

[Meanwhile, as reported from London,] …Dr. Edward Wilson is campaigning for the formation of a League of Bachelor Motherhood in the belief that polygamy is essential for Britain’s 2,000,000 spinsters … to escape physical and mental disorders resulting from celibacy.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2022