Burmese Generals Blindsided By Gen-Z Protesters

                 (Bertil Lintner’s article from the ASIA TIMES on 12 February 2021.)

The Police Colonel who shot and killed a girl protester.

CHIANG MAI – It is becoming abundantly clear that Myanmar’s military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing didn’t anticipate the youthful fury his democracy-suspending coup would spark. But the Generation Z-led street demonstrations now spreading across the nation have exposed just how out of modern touch the again-ruling generals are.

Min Aung Hlaing looked tense and anything but confident when he made his first TV address to the public on February 8 at the same time as huge demonstrations swept the country. These are vastly different from those in 1988, when soldiers managed to suppress a pro-democracy uprising by spraying automatic rifle fire into crowds of unarmed demonstrators. They are also different from 2007 Buddhist monk-led Saffron Revolution, where soldiers again used bloody suppression to put down a similar popular movement.

Generation Z members are often described as “digital natives” known for their social media and internet-savvy. They can not only get around government blocks on news, but can also organize mass movements with the help of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and Thailand, with whom they communicate daily.

Massive Protests Against Coup in Burma (Myanmar)

                  (Staff article from the ABC NEWS Australia on 08 February 2021.)

Protests sweep Myanmar to oppose coup, support Aung San Suu Kyi: Tens of thousands of people have rallied across Myanmar to denounce last week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped lead to democratic reforms.

In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD). "We don't want military dictatorship! We want democracy!" they chanted.

On Sunday afternoon, the junta ended a day-long blockade of the internet that had further inflamed anger since the coup last Monday that has halted the South East Asian nation's troubled transition to democracy and drawn international outrage. Thousands of riders also took to the streets of south-eastern city of Dawei on their motorcycles to denounce to coup.

Pope Francis expressed "solidarity with the people" on Sunday and asked Myanmar's leaders to seek "democratic" harmony. Massive crowds from all corners of Yangon gathered in townships, filling streets as they headed towards the Sule Pagoda at the heart of the city, also a rallying point during the Buddhist monk-led 2007 protests and others in 1988.

Why Myanmar Military Seized Power In A Coup?

           (Zaheena Rasheed’s article from the ALJAZEERA NEWS on 01 February 2021.)

Wearing masks, gloves and face shields, voters across Myanmar on November 8 braved surging coronavirus infections as they turned out en masse to cast their ballots in the country’s second democratic vote since the end of military rule in 2011.

At polling stations in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, the enthusiasm was palpable. “People are excited to vote, as they would like to escape from the political struggles,” one poll worker said at the time. “They want real democracy.” Trouble, however, was already brewing.

Just days before the polls, Myanmar’s powerful military chief Min Aung Hlaing had raised the possibility the army may not accept the outcome of the election. Accusing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s government of “unacceptable mistakes”, he told a local news outlet that “we are in a situation where we need to be cautious” about the results of the poll.

Coup In Burma: Army Removes 24 Ministers & Deputies

         (REUTER NEWS article from the CHANNEL NEWS ASIA on 01 February 2021.)

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

YANGON: Myanmar's military on Monday (Feb 1) announced a purge of Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government, removing 24 ministers and deputies while naming 11 replacements in its new administration after seizing power in a coup.

The announcement was made on the military-run Myawadday TV and included new appointments in the portfolios for finance, health, information, foreign affairs, defence, borders and interior.

The military seized power on Monday in a coup, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early morning raids. The army said it had carried out the detentions in response to "election fraud", handing power to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on the military-owned TV station.