Hundreds protest coup as resistance spreads

YANGON (AP):

Hundreds of students and teachers took to Myanmar’s streets on Friday to demand the military hand power back to elected politicians, as resistance to a coup swelled with demonstrations in several parts of the country, even in the tightly controlled capital.

In the largest rallies since the takeover, protesters at two universities in Yangon flashed a three-fingered salute, a sign of resistance borrowed from The Hunger Games movies, that they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighbouring Thailand. They chanted “Long live Mother Suu” – a reference to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained – and “We don’t want military dictatorship”.

“We will never be together with them,” lecturer Dr Nwe Thazin said of the military at a protest at the Yangon University of Education. “We want that kind of government to collapse as soon as possible.”

Resistance has been gathering steam since the military declared Monday that it would take power for one year – a shocking setback for the Southeast Asian country that had been making significant, if uneven progress, toward democracy after decades of military rule. The opposition began with people banging pots and pans outside their windows in Yangon, the country’s largest city – under the cover of darkness each evening to avoid being targeted. But now people are beginning to take to the streets, including students and medical workers, some of whom are refusing to work.

Students’ Role

Students have been central to previous protest movements against military dictatorship.

The military has tried to quash the opposition with selective arrests and by blocking Facebook to prevent users from organising demonstrations. Facebook is the primary tool for accessing information on the Internet for most people in Myanmar, where traditional media is state-controlled or self-censored because of threats of legal action by the state.

The latest politician detained is Win Htein, a senior member of Suu Kyi’s deposed National League for Democracy party.

Despite that pushback, on Friday about 200 people joined the protest at the 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 civil disobedience campaign that Suu Kyi’s party has called for.

Leading that march were four students carrying the party’s peacock-adorned red flag. At the student union, another held a sign saying, in English, “soldier back to barrack!”

“I believe we will have to lead this movement,” said student Min Han Htet. “All the people, including the students, will have to bring down the military junta. We will have to make sure that juntas never appear again in the next generation.”

The military’s takeover Monday began with the detention of senior government officials, including Suu Kyi, who was the country’s de facto leader. She is healthy and remains under house arrest at her official residence in the capital, Naypyitaw, party spokesman Kyi Toe said.