Using all the tools available to them from astrology and propaganda to convicts and real bullets, the dictator & co seem to think they are at a proper war against proper armies. We don’t recall easily where they put in this much effort before despite our history with the longest civil war in the entire planet. Not sure we should be proud or sad.
Another night full of terror overwhelmed Myanmar people yesterday. Yangon’s streets were filled with large crowds because of all the noises from banging pots and pans all over the places which is a public code for “come help us from police and army”. While it was truly inspiring to witness people coming out of their homes with desperate desires to save their neighbors, later in the night we learned more than half of the online news were not true.
The amount and rate of such information spread was worrisome. It was pretty similar to the spread of the rumour about DASSK being released last week- putting people out in the streets in both scenarios. With rumors that ex convicts have been lurking around corners to create chaos, hundreds of people being out that late will ignite some issues sooner rather than later, as attested by events of 2007, 1988, 1974, 1962 (should we go on?)
Well, it’s 2021. Instilling fear into the society may no longer work. Waking up, we saw on social media that many communities planned to form neighbourhood watch or security committees to protect from possible snatch by plain-clothed police. We are all we have.
Peaceful protests continue nation-wide as the eighth day of demonstrations. There were some criticisms by some “elderlies” on the way that young people protested in fun themes such as using meme related protest banners. Worry not. Today youths responded, coming out with uniform protest signs that conveyed strong messages to the world: respect our votes, free our leaders, we want pure democracy, not military coup.
In the past few days, small groups of protesters camped outside various embassies to express their concerns, requesting for help to cooperate in our quest for democracy. We saw that a couple of ambassadors (not Chinese or Russian) took time out of their offices and listened to the voices. Does it mean that they do not accept the dictator and his kins? If so, no matter how many duty appointments or councils have been announced and formed, the current military does not have the legitimacy as a rightful government.
Without such mandate, the junta will fail eventually. In the meantime, efforts to halt the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) have been accelerated. We saw a few internal documents that formed township level “CDM Prevention Committees” with representatives from township administration, police and fire services. Another attempt is preventing incoming calls of the hotline numbers of CDM support organizations. Some also says that the late night witch hunts were also another tactic to instill fear and to bring civil servants back to work. Considering all these, it looks like the CDM is working and we must strengthen it further.
Today is General Aung San’s 106th birthday, the father of the nation, the founder of the first national armed force and last but not the least, the proud father of Aung San Suu Kyi. We wonder what he’d be thinking if he saw what the armed forces were doing to the people…
This is Mohinga Matters reporting Day 13 of Myanmar military coup. We will keep documenting this significant episode of our history.
