On day 42 of the illegal coup, we woke up to the reports of two deaths in Twante, and one in Mandalay. They were shot by terrorists during crackdowns and passed away with severe wounds. May they rest in peace and we will continue their journey.
The barbaric acts of terrorist army only made Myanmar people’s dedication for this revolution stronger each day. Nationwide protests are still going strong, so are the crackdowns. As of writing this, we have heard initial reports that several people have been killed in Hlaing Tharyar, Yangon, one in Kachin State, one in Bago and one in Mandalay regions. However, reports of more deaths and injured persons keep coming in and we can confirm a young medical student was also shot dead by police in Tamwe township.
Hlaing Tharyar, a township located at the north of Yangon across Hlaing River, is an industrial zone filled with factories and has the largest population in Yangon. In today’s event that saw multiple deaths, we witnessed Facebook live videos where brave residents of Hlaing Tharyar were defending the attacks of terrorist army who were equipped with automatic firearms and live rounds. Rumors said that three factories were set on fire in Hlaing Tharyar. China Global TV Network reports that “people on motorcycles” set fire to Chinese-funded garment factories. However, we also heard two factories were on fire and they were not Chinese-funded.
This afternoon, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) officially declared that every citizen has the right to defend themselves, and that such defence acts are not crimes. The announcement came out just in time because protesters from neighbouring townships such as Insein, Thamine and Shwepyithar came out in the streets to help Hlaing Tharyar. These protesters have blocked all three bridges that connect Hlaing Tharyar and rest of Yangon as they wait for the return of the terrorist troops.
Later this evening more streets and obstacles were set fire in other townships such as North Okkalapa and Thingangyun before crackdowns took place. Let us remind everyone that the terrorist army has the history of setting fire to Muslim villages in Rakhine State not long ago.
The coup government threatened all private banks to open by the latest on March 17 or the Central Bank will transfer the money from private banks to state-owned and military-owned banks. This weekend, we have seen a number of private banks plan to reopen its branches in the coming days.
Meanwhile, nighttime candlelight protests are going strong in many part of Yangon defying the 8 pm curfew imposed by the putschists. The junta has not been able to control any sector of the country properly since the coup except killing nearly a hundred of civilians and arresting more than 1800 people. By looking at the escalation of situations today, things will only get worse next days. We must prepare ourselves physically and mentally, and we must be ready for whatever comes next.
