Bandana Pattanaik
February began with the disturbing news of Myanmar’s armed forces seizing power and declaring state of emergency for a year. The month ended on a more distressing note. At least 23 people were killed and many more injured when security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters on Sunday, 28 February.
One month into the coup, we have seen much that was predictable: a UN Security Council Statement, imposition of economic sanctions by the US, strong denial by China that it was backing the coup and turmoil with ASEAN regarding an appropriate action step. While the military’s action, the rhetoric of western countries and ASEAN’s inaction are from their old playbooks, what is new is the massive protest within Myanmar.
Millions of workers from public and private sectors – teachers, doctors, journalists and garment factory workers -- have come forward to strike. People have expressed dissent in innovative ways by banging pots and pans at 8 PM every evening to ‘drive away the evil spirit of the coup’ and the artist community of Yangon has joined hands by projecting satirical images on social media and city walls. Young people are singing the protest songs of the famous 8888 era.
The labour rights movement within the country, which has gathered strength over the last decade, is at the forefront of the protests. Organised workers, many of whom are women employed by the export-oriented garment sector, are out on the streets. They had led a series of strikes in 2019 demanding better working conditions. Now, they are demanding an end to the coup. As Moe Sandar Myint, one of the garment worker leaders puts it, “Our network of federations is built on strong communication. We are proactive, we are democratic, and we are decisive under pressure.” Predictably, the military regime has now declared the labour rights groups illegal.
Thousands of migrant workers from Myanmar in nearby countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Japan and Taiwan have protested in front of their embassies. Local youth in these countries have stood in solidarity with the migrants from Myanmar. It is also important to note that the current civil disobedience movement in Myanmar cuts across ethnic divides.
Will the military become more violent in its attempt to crush the resistance? Will the leaders of ASEAN somehow find a diplomatic solution? How long will this situation continue?
As analysts point out, the 2021 movement is very different from the opposition to the 1962 coup or the 1988 student uprising or even the saffron revolution of 2007. The tech savvy protesters of today, Myanmar’s Generation Z, are keeping the flow of information alive within the country and uniting people despite the military’s attempt to shut down the internet.
The Myanmar of 2021 is also strikingly different in another respect. It is not a regime that would be negatively impacted by sanctions of Western governments nor by their denunciation. The largest sources of foreign capital in Myanmar are its Asian neighbours. China, Thailand and Singapore are more important to Myanmar’s economy than any Western country. In this scenario, the diplomacy of Myanmar’s neighbours and the resilience of its own people may prove more effective than the rhetoric of the West.
Geoffrey Aung concludes his thoughtful and poignant interview to the Spectre with the following words:
“Can we maintain this resistance? How can we keep our friends and comrades in the streets? How do we hold onto this power, and claim a different political future? Every day, people across the country are flooding the streets, looking around, and asking each other these questions. The future depends on their answers.
We will see. We will see together.”
It is important to note that the last several months have been marked by a number of mass protests all over the world. The protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the US, the on-going protest against electoral fraud in Belarus, the demand for free and fair election in Bolivia, the on-going youth-led movement for democracy in Thailand and the months-long farmers protests in India are just a few examples of peaceful voices of dissent by people around the world. While COVID-19 may have temporarily brought a pause to public demonstrations, it is clear that the slowing down of economies and deepening inequalities will lead to many more protests. The strategies of governments in the coming years and the staying power of movements will define future global scenario at multiple levels.
We at GAATW-IS extend our solidarity to people of Myanmar and hope that they succeed in achieving a peaceful transition to democracy.