YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Hundreds of students and teachers took to the streets of Myanmar on Friday to demand the return of military power to elected politicians, while resistance to a coup increased with demonstrations in various parts of the country, even in the capital. tightly controlled.
At the biggest rallies since the takeover, protesters at two universities in Yangon saluted with three fingers, a sign of resistance borrowed from the “Hunger Games” films, which they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighboring Thailand. They shouted “Long live Mother Suu” – a reference to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested – and “We don’t want the military dictatorship.”
“We will never be together with them,” said lecturer Dr. Nwe Thazin of the military in a protest at Yangon University of Education. “We want this type of government to collapse as quickly as possible.”
Resistance has been gaining momentum since the military declared on Monday that it would take power for a year – a shocking setback for the Southeast Asian country that had been making significant, though uneven, progress toward democracy after decades of military rule . The opposition started with people hitting pots and pans outside their windows in Yangon, the country’s largest city – under the cover of darkness every night to avoid being targeted. But now people are starting to take to the streets, including students and medical professionals, some of whom refuse to work.
The students were instrumental in previous protest movements against the military dictatorship.
The military tried to crack down on the opposition with selective arrests and blocking Facebook to prevent users from organizing protests. Facebook is the main tool for accessing information on the Internet for most people in Myanmar, where traditional media is controlled by the state or self-censored due to threats of legal action by the state.
The last politician arrested is Win Htein, a senior member of the deposed party of the National League for Democracy of Suu Kyi.
Despite this resistance, on Friday, about 200 people joined the protest at Yangon University of Education, and a similar number marched at the city’s Dagon University, with many carrying papers printed with images of red ribbons – the symbol of the campaign of civil disobedience that Suu Kyi’s party asked for.
Leading the march were four students carrying the red flag adorned with party peacocks. At the student union, another was holding a sign saying, in English, “soldier back in barracks!”
“I believe we will have to lead this movement,” said student Min Han Htet. “All people, including students, will have to bring down the military junta. We will have to ensure that the joints never appear again in the next generation. “
The military takeover on Monday started with the arrest of senior government officials, including Suu Kyi, who was the de facto leader of the country. She is healthy and remains under house arrest at her official residence in the capital, Naypyitaw, said party spokesman Kyi Toe.
Win Htein, Suu Kyi’s longtime confidant, meanwhile, was taken from his home in Yangon to Naypyitaw on Friday, according to Kyi Toe.
The 79-year-old man publicly called for civil disobedience to oppose the coup. He told British BBC radio on a phone call on Friday that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
There was also at least one demonstration on Friday in Naypyitaw – very unusual for the city, which was built under the previous military government, has a strong military presence and does not have a tradition of protest in the old capital, Yangon. Medical staff at the city’s largest hospital gathered behind a large banner condemning the coup. Medical personnel are at the forefront of resistance.
Another protest was held in the Tanintharyi region of southern Myanmar, where about 50 people chanted marched, reported online news agency Dawei Watch.
According to the Myanmar Political Prisoner Assistance Association, at least 133 officials or lawmakers and 14 civil society activists have been detained by the military in connection with its acquisition, although some have already been released. The NLD said Suu Kyi and the deposed president, Win Myint, are being held on minor charges unrelated to their official duties – seen by many as just a legal veneer for the military to detain them.
The acquisition was criticized by US President Joe Biden and other internationals who pushed for the restoration of the elected government.
“The Burmese military must renounce the power they have taken, release the defenders, activists and officials they have held, lift restrictions on telecommunications and prevent violence,” said Biden on Thursday at the US State Department in Washington, using the name Myanmar.
The UN Security Council, in its first statement on the matter, “emphasized the need to defend democratic institutions and processes, avoid violence and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law”. Although the United States and others described the military actions as a coup, the Security Council’s unanimous statement did not.
Protests against the coup were also held on Friday in India, Indonesia and South Korea, sometimes led by people from Myanmar.
The military seized power shortly before a new session of Parliament was convened, accusing the Suu Kyi government of refusing to address allegations of irregularities in the election vote his party won in a landslide. The state election commission said it found no evidence of fraud.
The military assumed all state powers and formed a new electoral commission to investigate allegations of fraud. He said he will hold a new election in a year and will hand over power to the winner.
Myanmar was under military rule for five decades after a 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as leader was his most democratic period, despite the continued use of colonial-era repressive laws.