At least two die in Myanmar after more protests against the military coup
Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Protests against the military coup in Myanmar are continuing in various parts of the country. Hence, with news that at least two protesters have been killed by the police, the fear is that more death will follow.
Sadly for Myanmar, major Western democratic powers did little to support State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi before the military coup. Thus a golden opportunity to boost the democratic path was missed because of the Bengali Muslim issue in Rakhine that was manipulated by “external humanitarians.” Therefore, when Myanmar needed greater Western democratic and political ties to develop under State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, this never materialized to any serious degree because of external meddling that plied a one-sided narrative against this country.
Hence, when the military coup took place against State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi – and her political allies – the Western democratic powers had little leverage to play. This reality means that it is incumbent on India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and other democratic Asian nations with favorable relations with Myanmar to step up collectively and help this country during this dark period.
Turning to the deaths of two protesters, Reuters reports, “Two people were killed in Myanmar’s second city Mandalay on Saturday when police and soldiers fired to disperse protests against a Feb. 1 military coup, emergency workers said, the bloodiest day in more than two weeks of demonstrations.”
The deaths occurred after local residents and protesters supported government shipyard workers who are striking against the military coup. These strikers – like other civil disobedience protesters and workers – seek to pressurize the military coup leaders to reinstall democracy.
AP reports, “The coup was a major setback to Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of army rule. Suu Kyi came to power after her National League for Democracy party won a 2015 election, but the generals retained substantial power under the constitution, which was adopted under a military regime.”
https://apnews.com/article/police-yangon-myanmar-e3a1aa40effe40cd7e5a6249d86af1a8
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