Myanmar coup anniversary: ‘Silent strike’ marks two years of military rule

Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar are holding the “silent strike” to mark two years considering that a military coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi from power.

Streets in many cities fell silent after protesters advised people to stay inside and asked companies to close.

Meanwhile, the army administration in the country offers extended a state of emergency for six months.

The UK, US, Canada and Sydney have announced new sanctions against army-linked firms.

Large parts of Myanmar descended directly into chaos after the government’s overthrow two years back , displacing greater than a million people.

The army had made allegations of widespread fraud within a vote held several weeks earlier, in Nov 2020, which Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won using more than 80% of the vote.

The military’s claims have been dismissed as baseless from the vast majority of the global community, and programs to hold new elections to cement junta rule have been terminated as a “sham”, including by the UN.

Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a pro-democracy activist, said resistance against the military has been continuing, particularly in rural areas.

“The main information of the silent hit is to honour the particular fallen heroes plus heroines and to reclaim the public space because our own, ” the girl told the BBC, adding that the aim was to send a definite message that the army “shall never guideline us”.

Protesters also gathered outdoors Myanmar’s embassies within Thailand and Japan, chanting anti-military slogans and holding pictures of Ms Suu Kyi.

A small pro-military demonstration took place within Yangon, where approximately 200 supporters marched through the city center escorted part of the method by soldiers, AFP news agency documented.

Two years after the coup, which usually catastrophically misread the general public mood in Myanmar, the statistics inform their own, dismal story.

More than 2, 900 people have already been killed during the junta’s crackdown on dissent, according to monitoring group the Assistance Association regarding Political Prisoners.

One-and-a-half million people have been displaced, 40, 000 homes have been burned down, eight million children are no longer at school, and 15 mil people are judged from the UN to be alarmingly short of food.

Much of the country can be caught up in a challenging civil war. The military is still neglecting to negotiate using its opponents, as it guaranteed to do in a meeting with neighbouring countries shortly after the coup.

Instead, it has plans for an election which may almost certainly exclude Ms Suu Kyi, who have resoundingly won the last election, and much of her party, the particular NLD.

Those faithful to her are asking citizens to boycott any poll organized by the military, quarrelling it would be illegitimate and impractical. The UN says these would be “sham elections”.

The military’s acceptance this week that it acquired failed to normalise the problem may force it to postpone the election – originally scheduled for Aug this year – having right now extended the state of emergency, prolonging the grim stalemate in which Myanmar is trapped.

Western nations used Wednesday’s anniversary to coordinate new rounds associated with sanctions against the military and its supporters.

The UK targeted, and others, companies supplying aviators fuel to the army, which it mentioned were “enabling the barbaric air-raiding campaign in an attempt to maintain power”.

British Foreign Admin James Cleverly stated the sanctions had been aimed at “reducing the military’s access to financing, fuel, arms plus equipment”.

Quotes announced its first sanctions against the army, aimed at 16 people “responsible for egregious human rights abuses”, as well as two main military-controlled conglomerates, which dominate the nation’s economy.

Sanctions by the US targeted the military-approved election commission, which “the regime has deployed to advance its programs for deeply problematic elections”.

The National Unity Authorities – a parallel administration that leads resistance to the military – welcomed the sanctions, calling them “significant measures” to tackle the conflict, particularly air strikes by military.

It called on countries to place further “aggressive, focused sanctions” on the army regime and those whom supported and provided it.

Amnesty International’s Montse Ferrer told the BBC that moves to stop the supply of aviation gas to the Myanmar military were “an essential step” but that more needed to be completed.

“Other states should follow Canada’s lead in suspending the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer : including transit, trans-shipment and brokering : of aviation energy to Myanmar, ” she said.