As we reported in our 9 February article, “MYANMAR PROTESTS SURGE, JUNTA CLAMPS DOWN,” protests in Myanmar have raged across the country since the 1 February coup, and demonstrators risk jail and a growing assertiveness by the military-backed police in the country.
The protesters are demanding the release of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and others arrested by the military as well as for the civilian government to be put back in power. The generals have declared a year-long state of emergency and ousted Myanmar’s leadership, accusing Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party (NLD) of rigging last November’s general election.
Suu Kyi’s party called on the country of 54.05 million to “protest against the coup.” The report said her party easily won the election in November, but the military has not accepted the results.
Barely a Peep from Presstitutes
Reports say that more than 54 people have been killed, including 38 last Wednesday. Yet, the killings have not deterred thousands of more protesters from taking to the streets in major hubs throughout the country, including its largest city, Yangon, where protesters built roadblocks. Authorities later fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the demonstrations.
A 19-year-old protester named Angel was killed on Wednesday after being shot in the head. She was a dancer and taekwondo champion, according to Reuters. Before she attended the protest in Mandalay, she took to Facebook to identify her blood type and requested that her organs be donated if she died. One witness told the news agency that moments before police opened fire, Angel said, “We won’t run,” and “Blood must not be shed.”
On Friday, Singapore called the police crackdown on protesters a “national shame,” according to Reuters. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s foreign minister, said, “It’s the height of national shame for the armed forces of any country to turn its arms against its own people.”
The Economist reported that anti-coup protesters have been seen with posters condemning China for supporting the military junta and call on the U.S. to intervene.
DW.com reported that besides the traditional street protests, protesters in the country have also taken part in a “Civil Disobedience Movement,” which has threatened the country’s infrastructure. The movement prompted the government to warn civil servants from staying home from their jobs and said if they do not go to work by 8 March, they should consider themselves fired.
The report said this protest has been felt “at every level of the national infrastructure” including closed hospitals and banks.
Last month, we reported that bank employees in Myanmar have followed the lead of workers in other industries who decided to stop showing up to work to further damage the country’s economic infrastructure amid the coup.
“Shutdowns in the banking system—by making payments to thousands of businesses and payrolls to more than a million people nearly impossible—are more likely than anything else to bring the political stand-off to a head,” Thant Myint-U, a historian and author, told the Financial Times.
TREND FORECAST: We had forecast three weeks ago that military rule will continue in Myanmar, and threats by the U.N., the U.S., and other nations will achieve nothing in terms of bringing so-called “Democracy” to Myanmar. The DW.com report said these generals have shown no interest in bowing to international pressure. Despite protests continuing throughout the country, even their attendance seems to be diminishing.
Moreover, this is also a major element of the “Youth Revolution” megatrend we had forecast as a Top Trend for 2021. Thus, while the rebellion will be stamped down by the military, the young people with no future of freedom, peace, or justice will continue their uprisings in Myanmar and many other nations.
