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YANGON: Martial law was declared in parts of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Monday (February 8), after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated across the country against the coup and the military issued a statement. stern warning against further protests.
The orders cover seven municipalities in Mandalay, prohibit people from protesting or gathering in groups of more than five, and the curfew will run from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., the general administration department said in a statement.
A similar statement has been made in a township in Ayeyarwaddy further south and announcements about other towns are expected tonight.
“This order applies until further notice,” said a statement from Mandalay Township.
“Some people … are behaving in a disturbing way that may harm the safety of the public and law enforcement agencies. Such behaviors may affect the stability, the safety of the people, law enforcement agencies and the peaceful existence of villages and they could create disturbances, that is why this order prohibits gathering, speaking in public, protesting through the use of vehicles, rallies, “the statement said.
Buddhist monks wave a defiant three-finger salute in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb. 8, 2021. (AP Photo)
READ: Myanmar police fire a water cannon in Naypyidaw and warn protesters to disperse or face force
So far, the junta has refrained from using deadly force against the demonstrations sweeping through most of the country, but as pressure mounted, riot police fired water cannons in an attempt to disperse thousands of people gathered in Naypyidaw. .
Last week, the army detained Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of other members of her National League for Democracy party, ending a decade of partial civilian rule and drawing international condemnation.
Faced with an increasingly bold wave of defiance, state broadcaster MRTV warned that opposition to the junta was illegal and pointed to possible crackdown.
“We must act in accordance with the law with effective measures against crimes that disturb, impede and destroy the stability of the state, public security and the rule of law,” said a statement read by a broadcaster on the channel.
Demonstrators who march and drive motorcycles fill a highway in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb. 8, 2021. (AP Photo)
LEE: Tens of thousands protest in Myanmar against the military coup
Tens of thousands of people broke through an internet blackout across the country to demonstrate over the weekend in the first major demonstrations in opposition to the coup.
The movement was built on Monday, with protests across the country and the start of a nationwide strike.
In Yangon, the nation’s commercial capital, crowds spread out along the city’s main roads, immobilizing traffic and dwarfing the previous day’s rally.
“Down with the military dictatorship” and “Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and arrested persons,” the protesters chanted, displaying the three-finger salute that has come to symbolize their movement as car horns were honked in support.
Calls for a nationwide strike gained momentum over the weekend, with textile workers, civil servants and railroad employees out of work at the mall.
“This is a working day, but we are not going to work even if our wages are cut,” a protester, Hnin Thazin, a 28-year-old garment factory worker, told AFP.
Construction worker Chit Min, 18, joined the Yangon rally and said his loyalty to Suu Kyi outweighed concerns about her financial situation.
“I have been out of work for a week because of the military coup and I am worried about my survival,” he told AFP.
Similarly, large crowds marched in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, many with photos of Suu Kyi and waving her party’s red flags.
Police tried to disperse thousands of people gathered on a road in Naypyidaw, where the deposed leader is believed to be detained.
A water cannon was fired into the crowd, injuring at least two protesters, according to a photographer at the scene.
Large demonstrations were also reported across much of the country, from Muse on the Chinese border to the southern cities of Dawei and Hpa-an.
The protesters began to disperse early in the evening.
A protester holds a monk’s bowl upside down as a symbol of boycott during the march around Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb. 8, 2021. (AP Photo)
Commentary: Myanmar Coup Raises Biden’s First Foreign Policy Test in Southeast Asia
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Myanmar generals detained Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, and other top NLD leaders in pre-dawn raids last Monday, justifying the coup by alleging fraud in last November’s elections, which the party won from overwhelming way.
The junta proclaimed a state of emergency for one year, promising to hold new elections after that without offering a precise deadline.
United States President Joe Biden has led global calls for generals to step down from power.
Pope Francis on Monday called for the speedy release of the jailed political leaders.
“The path to democracy undertaken in recent years was abruptly interrupted by last week’s coup,” he told a meeting of diplomats.
“This has led to the imprisonment of different political leaders, who I hope will be released soon as a show of encouragement for sincere dialogue.”
Lawmakers in Southeast Asia have also urged the Myanmar military to respect people’s right to protest.
“As peaceful demonstrations increase, the risk of violence is real. We all know what the Myanmar military is capable of: mass atrocities, killings of civilians, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detentions, among others,” said Tom Villarin ASEAN Parliamentary for Human Rights, he said.
Protesters holding an image with an X on the face of Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, Major General Min Aung Hlaing, confront lines of riot police in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on February 8, 2021 (Photo: AP).
Comment: Myanmar’s military never intended to give up power
CHALLENGE
Other bold displays of defiance within Myanmar have included a nightly clamor of people banging on pots and pans, a practice traditionally associated with the driving out of evil spirits.
Myanmar’s military ruled the country for decades before allowing civilian rule a decade ago.
Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of her life under house arrest for her opposition to the previous dictatorship, winning the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.
Kyaw Zin Tun, an engineer, said on Monday while protesting in Yangon that he remembered the fear he felt growing up under junta rule in the 1990s.
“In the last five years under democratic rule, our fears were eliminated. But now fear is back with us, therefore, we have to throw out this military junta for the future of all of us,” said the 29-year-old. . he told AFP.
