Myanmar protesters call for general strike raises threat from junta

YANGON: The ruling junta responded to the call for a general strike on Monday (February 22) by protesters in Myanmar protesting the military’s seizure of power with a thinly veiled threat to use deadly force, increasing the possibility of major clashes.

The call for a general strike was made on Sunday by the Civil Disobedience Movement, a loosely organized group that leads the resistance to the army’s seizure of power. He asked people to come together for the Five Twos – referring to the digits of Monday’s date – to make a “Spring Revolution.”

State television station MRTV aired a public announcement from the board, formally called the State Board of Directors, on Sunday night warning against the general strike.

“It is found that the protesters have lifted their incitement to the mob of mutiny and anarchy on February 22. The protesters are now inciting people, especially emotional teenagers and young people, onto a path of confrontation where they will suffer the loss of life, ”he said in an English text displayed on the screen. The spoken announcement in Burmese said the same thing.

Elsewhere in the statement, protesters, whose number allegedly included criminal gangs, were blamed for the violence at the demonstrations, with the result that “members of the security forces had to respond.” So far, three protesters have been shot dead.

The protest movement has embraced non-violence, only occasionally getting into pushing matches with police and throwing bottles at them when provoked.

In Yangon, the country’s largest city and commercial capital, trucks hit the streets Sunday night loudly announcing that people should not attend Monday’s protests and should abide by the ban on gatherings of five or more people.

The ban on gathering was issued shortly after the coup, but was not enforced in Yangon, which for the past two weeks has been the scene of large daily demonstrations.

READ: Myanmar protesters rally again after worst day of violence

Many social media posts ahead of the internet access service’s scheduled 1 a.m. shutdown said security forces had placed barricades at strategic points in the city, including bridges and streets leading to foreign embassies.

Information on Twitter accounts that have proven to be reliable in the past says that the normal blocking of internet access from 1 am to 9 am will be extended until noon in Yangon.

Earlier on Sunday, crowds in the Myanmar capital attended a funeral for the young woman who was the first person confirmed dead in the protests, while protesters also mourned two other protesters who were shot and killed on Saturday.

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing was shot in the head by police on February 9, two days before her 20th birthday, at a protest in Naypyidaw, and died on Friday.

Mourners lined up at the entrance to a cemetery in the city when the hearse carrying her body arrived and was taken to a crematorium where more people had gathered. They silently raised their hands in three-fingered salutes, a sign of defiance and resistance embraced by neighboring Thailand, as the black and gold vehicle slowly passed.

READ: Myanmar protesters cry as funeral rites are performed for woman who was shot in the head

Inside the crematorium room, the lid of Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing’s coffin was partially removed to allow one last glimpse of her head resting on a bed of red and white roses before being cremated. Members of the crowd outside chanted, “Our uprising must succeed!”

In other parts of Myanmar, protesters against the coup that toppled the nation’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, met again on Sunday.

Protesters flocked to Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, where security forces shot dead two people on Saturday near a shipyard where authorities had been trying to force workers to load a boat. Workers, such as railroad and truck drivers and many public officials, have joined the campaign of civil disobedience against the junta.

The shooting broke out after neighborhood residents rushed to the Yadanabon Pier to try to help the workers in their resistance. One of the victims, described as a teenager, was shot in the head and died immediately, while another was shot in the chest and died on the way to hospital.

The new deaths provoked rapid and strong reactions from the international community.

“I am appalled at further loss of life, including a teenager in Mandalay, as the ruling junta intensifies its brutality in Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, an independent United Nations researcher for human rights in the country, said on Twitter.

“From water cannons to rubber bullets and tear gas and now hardened troops firing point-blank at peaceful protesters. This madness must end, now! “

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Authorities have continued with the arrests that began on the day of the February 1 coup, when Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the government were detained. According to the independent Political Prisoners Assistance Association, 640 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced, and 593, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, remain in detention.

The junta seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and preventing parliament from meeting, claiming that last November’s elections were tainted by voting irregularities. The election result, in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by an overwhelming majority, was confirmed by an electoral commission that has since been replaced by the military. The board says it will hold new elections in a year.

The coup was a major setback for Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of army rule that began with a 1962 coup.

Aung San Suu Kyi came to power after her party won the 2015 elections, but the generals retained substantial power under the constitution, which had been adopted under a military regime.