[Church:] Myanmar is just days from a landmark parliamentary election. But pro democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, says the process so far has not been free and fair. She says there have been irregularities in advanced voting, as well as fraud and intimidation. Despite this, Suu Kyi's party is expected to do well at the polls Sunday, but Western expectations for democracy in Myanmar, she says, are too high.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar Opposition Leader:] Let's wait to see whether that will be the case after the election. So far, I think it's still the case. I think there are other Western countries who have been overly optimistic about the so-called democratization process that's been taking place here since 2010. I would like to remind you since 2012, I have been saying what we need is a healthy dose of skepticism and all this over optimism is not helping.
[Church:] And there's cautious optimism in Myanmar as the country prepares for the election, but many are questioning how far their limited democratic freedoms will go. CNN's Ivan Watson has the details.
[Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Protesters rushed through the streets.
[Watson:] They move swiftly, fired up with adrenaline, demanding the release of student activists stuck in jail.
[Unidentified Male:] We want freedom. We want freedom.
[Watson:] Police watch closely, but for the moment, they do not intervene. Last March, other demonstrators weren't so lucky. That's when police cracked down hard on a student protest. Activists were on a march to the commercial capital to demand changes to an education law. But police stopped the march, arresting scores of demonstrators, and released their furry on a protester's truck. [on camera]: Things like this police crackdown were supposed to be a thing of past. Four years ago, the military junta that long ruled this country made the decision to open up the country to reform to transition to a civilian government. But the prosecution of student protesters has led many to question the new government's commitment to democracy. [voice-over]: On a rainy day, supporters gather at a courthouse where dozens of the student activists arrested last March are now standing trial. This 28-year-old, a long-time political dissident, faces a possible sentence of nine years in prison for participating in an illegal protest.
[Unidentified Political Dissident:] This is not real democracy.
[Watson:] Human rights monitors argue talk of Democratic reform in Myanmar is little more than window dressing.
[Unidentified Human Right Monitor:] I think it really shows that there are some people within the government, pro-military elements, that do not want to reform any further in the country, that this is the limit.
[Watson:] This is another political dissident who spent four years in prison. She may now go back to prison again.
[Unidentified Political Dissident:] I try to change our education, to get democratic education. After that, I was sent to the prison again.
[Watson:] After the judge approves yet another delay in court proceedings, the prisoners march out, chanting defiantly. This dissident takes her place on a police truck back to jail. The prisoners sing a full-throated song of protests. Myanmar is in the midst of an historic period of transition but no one knows where this bumpy road will take the country next. Ivan Watson, CNN, Myanmar.
[Church:] And the spokesman for Myanmar's president has defended the arrests. He told CNN the government has a responsibility to balance new freedoms with maintaining law and order during the difficult transition from decades of authoritarian rule. Well, there's growing concern over an increase in religious intolerance in the world's largest democracy and recent attacks on Muslims are at the center of it. As Sumnima Udas reports, opponents are blaming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what some are calling the rise of Hindu nationalism.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose.
[Sumnima Udas, Cnn Correspondent:] It's something even President Barack Obama alluded to during his India visit earlier this year.
[Obama:] India will succeed so long as it's not splintered along the lines of religious faith.
[Udas:] But today, religious decisions are dominating headlines.
[Unidentified Female:] Even if it was this, do we live in a country where a man should be killed?
[Udas:] On September 28th, a Muslim man is lynched after rumors he ate beef. October 9th, one young Muslim is set ablaze on rumors he was transporting beef. On October 15th, another Muslim man was killed for smuggling cows. Hindus believe cows are sacred. Slaughtering them has been banned for decades. But enforcement was lax. Now hard-core Hindu groups appear to be turning to taking the law in their own hands. Concerning to many who say they see growing intolerance and it goes beyond religion. This man was smeared in black ink last month by allies of Modi's Hindu National Party for organizing a book launch with a Pakistani politician-turned author.
[Unidentified Male:] What outrages us, it seemed the design to subvert a pluralistic idea of India.
[Udas:] This is one of more than 40 writers who returned their literary awards in protest of what they call an assault on India's diversity.
[Unidentified Male:] In the great Indian tradition, there has always been space and respect for dissent, space for debate and discussion.
[Udas:] What's at stake here?
[Unidentified Male:] The entire concept of India.
[Udas:] Violence along religious lines is not new to India. But the recent attacks on Muslims has sparked renewed debate over whether Prime Minister Modi's rise to power has emboldened his extremist Hindu supporters, looking to push a Hindu or religious agenda, and whether his government is doing enough to stop it. [voice-over]: But he rejects that criticism saying he has condemned religious violence. His spokesman says the criticism is manufactured by opposition parties and opponents.
[Presidential Spokesman:] The propaganda happens. Everybody falls for the propaganda. To say one or two incidents here and there, are reflecting as intolerance.
[Udas:] Propaganda or real protests, in the world's biggest democracy with the second-largest Muslim population, some worry the perception of growing intolerance may overshadow Modi's mandate for development and economic growth. Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
[Church:] And we'll take a very short break. Coming up, heavy snow is expected to hit eastern China. Around 20 centimeters of snow are possible in the mountains. We'll have that story when we come back. Stay with us.