UCA News
Contribute

Anti-coup protest movement launches in Myanmar

Doctors and nurses join a civil disobedience campaign to call for an end to military rule
Anti-coup protest movement launches in Myanmar

Medical staff make a three-finger salute with red ribbons on their uniforms at Yangon General Hospital on Feb. 3 as a civil disobedience campaign gathers pace following the military coup that detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Photo: AFP)

Published: February 03, 2021 07:34 AM GMT
Updated: February 03, 2021 07:34 AM GMT

Dozens of people in Yangon and Mandalay banged pots and pans and sounded car horns in a show of public resistance to Myanmar’s military coup.

The campaign led by pro-democracy activists urged people across the country to make a noise at 8pm on Feb. 2 and to shout for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and an end to dictatorship.

According to Myanmar’s culture, beating a drum helps to kick out devils or bad karma.

Starting from Feb. 3, doctors and nurses in several hospitals across the country including Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw are taking part in the civil disobedience campaign as a peaceful protest against the military junta.

“We will only follow and obey the orders from our democratically elected government,” said a statement from medics.

Several doctors at government-run and private hospitals and clinics posted on Facebook that they would stand together with people taking part in the civil disobedience campaign.

The public movement followed Suu Kyi’s call on Facebook for people to resist the coup through civil disobedience.

Win Htein, a patron of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said on Feb. 2 that all the people who voted for the NLD in the 2020 election should follow her instructions.

A close aide of Suu Kyi blasted the coup as being not smart and courageous but motivated by power and personal interest.

“While people are struggling for their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic, they [the military] have seized power, which will delay vaccinations, damage the economy and bring condemnation from the world,” he said.

On Feb. 2, the NLD called for the release of all detainees including State Counselor Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and to respect the 2020 election result.

It declared that the Feb. 1 coup violated the constitution and denied the rights of citizens.

Suu Kyi has remained under house arrest in Naypyitaw, while elected lawmakers, who had been confined to a government-run compound with tight security since Feb. 1, were released on Feb. 2 and told to return to their homes, according to local media reports.

Military chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has appointed himself head of a new cabinet, said at its first meeting on Feb. 2 that the coup was inevitable due to civilian leaders’ failure to resolve election fraud warnings by the military.

The military has declared a one-year state of emergency and said it would hold new elections once allegations of voting fraud were resolved. It said it would return power to the winner without giving a specific timeframe.

The coup has brought strong condemnation from the United Nations and countries including the US, Britain and Japan.

Myanmar’s situation was discussed in a closed-door meeting of the 15-member United Nations Security Council but the meeting failed to agree on condemning the coup, according to media reports.

Myanmar’s ally China, which has veto powers, has always shielded the country from punitive UN actions.

Myanmar became one of the poorest nations in the world due to decades-long military rule. In 2011, it started a a transition to democracy under political and economic reforms led by General Thein Sein.

Suu Kyi’s NLD won a resounding victory in 2015 elections when it trounced the military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and led the new government in 2016.

The Nobel laureate and democracy icon has remained popular across the country and the NLD won a second landslide victory last November.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia