Protesters risk being killed in demonstrations against Myanmar’s military coup. But an entire generation is still showing up to fight




© Provided by ABC NEWS
The military has justified the coup saying complaints of voter fraud were ignored. (ABC News: Phone Myint Min)

For many in Myanmar, showing up to protest has now become a life-or-death decision.

Mothers have taken to writing their phone numbers on their children’s arms in case they are caught up in the fray.

Some even include their child’s blood group, knowing there is a very real possibility they will end up in hospital.

“It’s … a really sad thing to see that the mothers are giving them blessing to go out [to protest] knowing they might never come back home or they might be arrested,” Myanmar analyst Dr Khin Mar Mar Kyi said.

“And yet they feel they do not have other options.”

Mya Thwaite Thwaite Khiang was the first person to be killed in the unrest in Myanmar.

While at a peaceful protest in Yangon demonstrating against the military coup, Ms Khiang was shot in the head by security forces and died later in hospital.

She was only 19 years old.

But her death hasn’t deterred protesters from joining the anti-coup movement.

“No, she actually gives me strength to fight for the freedom, the democracy that we deserve,” 21-year-old protester Khon Cho Thawdar told the ABC.

“Did it scare me? Yes, I am scared to die, of course everybody is scared to die.

“But life without hope is the same as dying, I am more scared of my future that is dark and hopeless.”

Ms Thawdar works at an English language school but fears her job and any future career prospects are now at risk in a country under military rule.

“I have plans, I have hopes, I have dreams that I want to become,” she said.

“If we were not in this kind of coup situation these dreams might be on their way, but now I don’t know.”

An entire generation fighting for their future

Every day for more than a month Ms Thawdar has grabbed her bright yellow ‘No Coup!’ placard and joined her friends at mass protests on the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon.

She’s one of hundreds of thousands of young people who have defied a ban on large gatherings set by the military junta to stand up for what they want — a future.

“We, Generation Z, are fighting for our future, for our country’s future,” Ms Thawdar told the ABC.

“I have been joining the protests since the beginning because as a responsible citizen I have to join this, I have to stand on the right side.

“I have to stand for what is right.”

Myanmar had been a democracy — albeit a fragile one — since 2011, after almost 50 years of military rule.

But on February 1, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup by detaining Ms Suu Kyi and other key figures of her governing National League for Democracy (NLD) Party.

The Generals claim last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide with 83 per cent of the vote, was fraudulent. But they have offered no evidence to back that up.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Myanmar’s cities and towns almost every day since then to denounce the military’s actions and demand the release of Ms Suu Kyi and others from detention.

In response, security forces have used tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and live ammunition to try to disperse the crowds, leading to the deaths of more than 50 people.

Rebellion reminiscent of the 1988 uprising

For Myanmar analyst Dr Khin Mar Mar Kyi from the University of Oxford, there is a sense of deja vu watching these protests unfold.

She was arrested as part of the uprisings in 1988, when a disagreement between university students and people linked to the government grew into a pro-democracy movement.

“In 1988, many of us were involved in the democracy movement and oppressed in the crackdown, sent to jail and [some] died,” she said.

“So we know what is it like, the oppression of the military.”

It was during these protests that Ms Suu Kyi first rose to prominence.

More than 30 years later, Dr Mar says her generation feels as though “history is repeating itself”.

But there are some key differences this time around. Since the coup, military rulers have frequently blocked access to the internet to try to stop the spread of what it has called “fake news”.

For a generation that’s grown up with a 4G connection to the outside world, losing that link has been a shock.

“Even last year we were in the pandemic [in lockdown] we had access to the internet, we could connect to all over the world,” Ms Thawdar said.

“But now we are in this [coup] we are being suppressed.

“We cannot access the internet so no classes, no school, I might even lose my job because we need an internet connection for my organisation to run.

“I am scared to think of what future might come if this keeps going on.”

Myanmar accused of going back to the ‘stone age’

Student Hsu Thinzar Htun, 19, is also worried about what lies ahead for Myanmar, especially if the international community imposes sanctions.

“Over the past five years during the rule of Mother Suu [Ms Suu Kyi] and President U Win Myint, our lives were peaceful,” she told the ABC.

“In these recent years our country changed a lot and developed so fast and the world recognised Myanmar.

“But if our country is not in a good situation — ruled by the military junta, and standing alone in self-isolation from the world — our future will be lost.”

Ms Htun said she would continue to come out and protest and has been encouraging others to do the same.

“It’s very simple, if our country has no opportunity… there is no opportunity for us,” she said.

An estimated five million first-time voters cast their ballot in last November’s election.

But many, including student Ko Sai, 27, are angry their choice of government has not been respected.

“We are not afraid to protest on the roads, we are not afraid to be shot, because our future has already been destroyed by this military coup,” he told the ABC.

“We think this is really unfair to disrespect our votes, and also our country was transforming into a democracy just a few years ago, but right now we are going back to the stone age.”

Source: Thanks msn.com