16 June 2021
Lives and livelihoods have been laid down for democracy. The economy is on the brink of collapse. The world must support the people’s quest to end military rule once and for all, writes Preeti Jha.
We shall not be moved! Anti-coup protesters remain seated in front of a line of riot police trying to clear roads in Yangon. Partially visible is a poster urging citizens to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. PANOS PICTURES
When the soldiers came knocking in the middle of the night, some ministers had already packed a bag. After days of hushed rumours, Myanmar awoke to a crushing new reality: its decade-long experiment in democracy, for all its flaws, was over.
The 1 February coup forced the nation of 54 million back under military rule. It marked the latest slide to autocracy in Asia, where democratic freedoms have been in retreat from Thailand and Cambodia to Hong Kong. In Myanmar, though, the generals had never even left the chamber.
Under a constitution they engineered for a ‘disciplined democracy’, the military was guaranteed a quarter of parliamentary seats – enough for veto powers. The army also controlled three key ministries, enshrining its grip over a country it had impoverished over half a century of authoritarian rule.