Tens of thousands of protesters return to Myanmar streets to oppose the military coup
By Andrew Nachemson and Shibani Mahtani,
Reuters
YANGON, Myanmar — Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, for the second day in a row on Sunday in defiance of the military’s overthrow of the democratically elected government and demanded the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The largely peaceful protests, which happened despite a shutdown of the Internet over the weekend until late Sunday afternoon, represented the biggest display of resistance against the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, since the 2007 Saffron Revolution protests. Those demonstrations in 2007, like every other popular uprising in Myanmar’s recent history, were brutally crushed — raising the stakes for what follows and how the military government will respond. Many in the international community, including Pope Francis on Sunday, have expressed support for the protesters.
Myanmar’s military seized power from the democratically elected civilian government, led by Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, in a predawn raid on Monday. The military and its proxy political party had for months before the coup complained of widespread fraud in the November elections, with little evidence, in an apparent effort to discredit the NLD’s landslide win and claim power for themselves.
[Myanmar’s military is back in charge after coup. But it faces a nation transformed.]
Since the coup, a steady drumbeat of resistance has been building in the country, where Suu Kyi is singularly beloved, with a civil disobedience movement that swelled this weekend into street protests. Suu Kyi remains in detention, along with Win Myint, Myanmar’s president. The government is now controlled by Min Aung Hlaing, commander in chief of the military, who has also replaced the cabinet with former generals.
The military “thinks they can break the law and do whatever they like,” said a 23-year-old student who spoke on the condition that only part of her name, Thu, be used out of fear of repercussions. “We won’t accept it. Our leader is our hope,” she added, referencing Suu Kyi.
Protesters flowed in from townships on Yangon’s fringes and all over the city, converging on the area around Sule Pagoda, a sparkling, golden stupa that is the heart of the city center. They held up the three-finger salute, a gesture of resistance popularized by the Hunger Games trilogy and later used by anti-junta protesters in Thailand. Residents who were not already at the demonstrations rushed out from their homes in support of the protesters, while cars honked their horns in support and cheered them on.
Police, armed with water cannons, largely stood by, watching, barricading off important landmarks in Yangon, such as the city hall, and stopping protesters from marching toward the U.S. Embassy. Protesters offered water, snacks, flowers and cigarettes to the officers, chanting that they should be for the citizens and stand on their side.
There were also protests in numerous other cities outside of Yangon. In Pathein, a city in the country’s Delta region about 120 miles west, people began to gather at around 8 a.m. Some 400 people, many riding motorbikes and holding up three-finger salutes, choked the streets in a show of defiance.
Reuters
People hold flags and flowers as they protest in Yangon on Feb. 7.
“Some people who experienced the ’88 revolution don’t dare go out,” an owner of a rice shop said, referencing the 1988 uprising in which millions of people took to the streets before the military opened fire on them, killing hundreds. “But young people are not afraid of the military.”
“They blocked the Internet, whatever, we will keep going,” she added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of fear of repercussions.
When the first signs of resistance and civil disobedience campaigns began emerging on Facebook, one of the main online platforms in Myanmar, authorities moved to block access, later expanding that to other social media sites, such as Twitter and Instagram. Then, on Saturday, all mobile Internet connectivity was disrupted. NetBlocks, a website that tracks real-time Internet disruptions, said Sunday that connectivity was just 14 percent of ordinary levels.
By late afternoon Sunday, Telenor, one of Myanmar’s telecommunications operators, announced that it had restored the network, following instructions from authorities.
International pressure, meanwhile, is growing. Thomas Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar, pointed out that more than 160 people have been arrested since the coup, including representatives of the elected government and prominent activists. He urged the Human Rights Council to hold a special session on the crisis.
“The military must accept public acts of opposition for what they are — a peaceful demand for justice and democracy,” he said. “We must all stand with the people of Myanmar in their hour of danger and need.”
In his Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square, the pope said he was following the situation “with deep concern” and expressed solidarity with the people of Myanmar.
Mahtani reported from Hong Kong. Timothy McLaughlin in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
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