Mass gatherings and protests are going on across Myanmar from 1st February, against the military after they took the control of the country removing the elected members. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and his whole elected members of the National League of Democracy( NDL) have been detained. Till now 50 civilians have died in this protest against the Military.
About Myanmar:
Myanmar is situated in the southeast part of Asia. It is surrounded by Thailand, China, India, Bangladesh, and Laos. It used to be known as Burma until the military government changes its name to Myanmar.
In Myanmar, over 54 million people are living now, out of which maximum people speak the local language Burmese. Nay Pyi Taw is the capital of Myanmar, though Rangoon is the biggest city situated over there. Most of the people of Myanmar are believe in Buddhism. But many subgroups are also there such as Rohingya Muslims.
Back Story:
In the year 1948, Burma gets its freedom from British Empire. But soon after Myanmar’s freedom, the armed forces have taken control over the country. They have literally smashed all the opposition who stood against them. Their style of leadership is brutal and isolating. They are kind of isolated from the whole world. The people of Myanmar have no right to speak in front of them. Then have no freedom and rights. Other countries were considered them as the worst country with human rights.
People soon became angry with this attitude. They started protesting for their freedom. In the year 1974, a new constitution was adopted by the government, which was running by the military. During this period, Myanmar becomes one of the world’s most impoverished countries. In 1962 the military killed 15 students after entering their college campus. Later in 1974, a protest was formed against the government and the military. But the military crushed it brutally. Until 1988 few small protests occurred at different places in Myanmar. But as the military was very much active they can not move further.
In the year 1988, a massive outrage over the military came out. People were coming out of their homes for freedom and basic human rights. They were fighting a battle for these basic needs. Starting from the Buddhist monk, a huge number of students, children, housewives, doctors joined this protest. The army became violent over the protesters day by day. The protest ended on 18th September 1988 after the army crushed the whole protesting group. In this protest around 3000 civilians lost their lives but the government stated that the number was only 350.
The rise of Suu Kyi:
During this tough time, Myanmar people are lucky enough to get the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1988 Suu Kyi came out as an icon of the Myanmar people. She along with her party National League for Democracy(NLD) stood against the military for the rights of the Myanmar people. They put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for founding the party against them. In 1990, the military arrange a multi-party election in Myanmar, where despite being in house arrest her party NLD got 392 seats out of 492 seats, sweeping the opposition military government. But the military was not ready to accept the results and they declared that as invalid results. Soon after that they changed the constitution and started to rule the country without encouraging the people’s voice. Even the monks have also joined the protest. The army tried to stop them from using the bullets. More than a dozen of monks had died in this protest. This is known as Saffron Revolution.
Aung San Suu Kyi was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1991 for her regardless efforts to establish the government for the people of Myanmar.
The long back story:
After 1990 people of Myanmar are trying to get their freedom back. The military was portraying Myanmar to be one of the developing countries that really care about their citizens. But the ground reality was totally different. Day by day the economy of the country is going down. People were starving. At the same time, the Union Nation and other international organizations and countries were forcing the military government of Myanmar to step down from their power. After a long period, the army government changed the constitution that the military need to have at least 25 percent seat of the Assembly to get the power in their hand.
After that in the year 2010, the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her house arrest. And again a multi-party election was held in the year 2015 where NLD won in a landslide again. But this time, unlike in 1990, the military handover the power. Now it looked like Myanmar is going towards a better situation and focusing on establishing the proper democracy in the country. But still, the military had enough power due to the change in construction. After that, in 2020 November, NLD won again the election, literally sweeping the opponent military. At this moment, the military felt they are losing their control over the country.
What happened recently?
When the military felt that were not in a controlling position, they disputed the election results. Though the election commission did not found any problem in the election process and result. And as per the amendment in the constitution, the army declared a year-long emergency situation in the country and took control into their hand on 1st February 2021. Right now the military commander-in-chief of Myanmar Mr. Min Aung Hlaing has taken power. Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of NLD are arrested on 1st February.
The army started the way they were ruling before. People again become terrified to saw the way the military is treating them. Again the people come out from their houses to protest against the military. They are literally terrified to see the military and their attitude towards them. They do not want to bring back the old memories. The housewives, teachers, students government officials have also joined the protest. The military has banned all kinds of gatherings and imposed curfews. They are using water cannons, rubber bullets to disperse the mass gathering and protest.
And again like before, the UK and UN are supporting the peoples of Myanmar. The United States Secretary-General António Guterres stated this incident as “a serious blow to domestic reforms”. The USA President Joe Biden is also stood beside the people of Myanmar. Where other neighbouring countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines are not wanted to get them involved in this incident. China stands beside the military of Myanmar stated this incident as a coup.
