Protesters yesterday took to the streets across Myanmar to mark the anniversary of 1962 student protests against the country’s first junta, vowing defiance against its latest incarnation more than five months after it seized power.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since generals in February ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, with democracy protests met by a military crackdown that has killed more than 880 people, a local monitoring group said.
The economy is in freefall with thousands of civil servants and doctors on strike.
Photo: AFP
About 100 protesters moved quickly through the commercial capital, Yangon, early yesterday to mark the 1962 Yangon university protests against the first imposition of military rule in Myanmar, reporters said.
Hundreds were killed by troops and thousands disappeared in a brutal crackdown that many see being repeated almost seven decades later.
“Let’s root out the fascist army,” they chanted yesterday as some let off smoke bombs in orange and blue. “Keep the spirit of July 7 and fight the military dictatorship.”
Two minutes later they had gone — scattering quickly down side streets or jumping into waiting vehicles — as informants have tipped off police to previous flashmobs and protesters have been arrested.
Dozens also gathered in the second city of Mandalay holding signs, while in the central Sagaing region, protesters burned a Burmese army flag, images on local media showed.
Myanmar has been ruled almost continually by the military since 1962, just over a decade since independence.
It emerged from outright military rule in 2011, enacting economic and political reforms, including multiparty elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a thumping majority in elections in 2015 and again last year, relegating the main military-backed party to the opposition.
Protests that drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets in February and March have given way to more nimble rallies in the face of a crackdown that has seen security forces use semi-automatic weapons on protesters.
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