Myanmar protest continues as more civil servants join movement

People returned to the streets of Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, and Yangon, the country’s biggest city on Wednesday, after police used rubber bullets and water cannon to break up protests leaving two people in hospital.

Several civil servants from the energy ministry were seen walking out of their workplace on Wednesday, as they denounced the coup leaders and called for the restoration of parliament.

“The coup must fail,” the protesters shouted.

In Yangon, thousands of protesters also took to the streets, with many young female demonstrators wearing costumes as a way to creatively show their opposition to the military.

Meanwhile, images on social media showed dozens of Myanmar police officers from Kayah State joining the protest and raising the three finger salute in defiance of the military.

Healthcare workers, in their green hospital gowns and with their masks on, also joined in the protests in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, according to a report by the Irrawaddy News.

The United Nations and the United States condemned the use of force against the protesters, who want elected leader Aung Suu Kyi Kyi and other politicians from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) released and a return to civilian rule.

US’s attempts to reach Aung San Suu Kyi “in the hours and days after the coup” had been denied, said US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington, DC.but he said the international community was “attempting every avenue to ensure that democracy and civilian leadership is restored in Burma.” Myanmar was previously known as Burma.

Hundreds of government workers marched through Naypyidaw in support of a civil disobedience campaign that sprung up in the wake of last week’s coup and has been joined by people including doctors, teachers and railway workers. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets across the country in recent days.

Late on Tuesday, the military raided the Yangon headquarters of the NLD.

The raid was carried out by about a dozen police personnel, who forced their way into the building in the commercial capital after dark, elected lawmakers said.

The party, which won November 2020’s election by a landslide, had been due to start a second term on the day the military seized power.

The raid followed the fourth day of demonstrations across Myanmar with police using water cannon in several cities, firing rubber-coated bullets in Naypyidaw and deploying tear gas in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city.

In Naypyidaw, built by a previous military regime in secrecy, witnesses said police fired projectiles at protesters after earlier dousing them with water cannon.

At least one doctor in a hospital emergency unit said the military was also using live rounds, leaving a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman in a critical condition in hospital.

“We believe they are actual bullets because of the wounds and their injuries,” the doctor said.

Further north in Mandalay, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.

The United Nations voiced its “strong concern” over the violence.

“The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable,” said Ola Almgren, the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.

Western countries are weighing new sanctions on the military following the February 1 coup which brought Myanmar’s 10-year transition to democracy to a halt.

“We are currently reviewing all our options,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Ban on gatherings

Military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made his first speech to the country on Monday – a week after seizing power – and reiterated his claim that the coup was necessary because of alleged election fraud in the November 8 poll.

He also announced a ban on gatherings of five or more people and a curfew.

But the address, broadcast on state television, had little effect on protesters who began gathering from the early morning.

By the afternoon, thousands were on streets, some wearing construction helmets and equipped with plastic raincoats and umbrellas in case the police used water cannon.

Many carried banners urging the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and condemning the military.

Meanwhile, civil aviation workers and air traffic controllers have joined the burgeoning civil disobedience movement with their strike set to affect international flights wanting to pass through Myanmar’s airspace.

Previous military regimes cracked down harshly on pro-democracy protests in 1988 and 2007.

In 1990, the military held elections but refused to recognise the outcome after the NLD swept to victory. Aung San Suu Kyi spent the next 20 years in and out of detention and house arrest.

The 75-year-old faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkies and is being held in detention until February 15. Her lawyer said he has not been allowed to see her.

Aljazeera