Abstract
Following the February 1st, 2021, military coup in Nay Pyi Daw by General Min Aung Hlaing, Burmese photographers from the media collective Visual Rebellion Myanmar documented the first three months of street protests across the country despite high risks of arrest by junta’s forces. Their striking work highlights communities from diverse social, religious and economic backgrounds’ commitment to democratic rule, as they attempted to resist military rule peacefully by taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement before the country entered a stage of full-blown conflict that is yet to be resolved.
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All Credits to The Myanmar Project Collective/Visual Rebellion MyanmarFootnote 1
Introduction
Early morning on February 1st, 2021, tanks rolled into Yangon and soldiers from the Tatmadaw—the Burmese army—arrested State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint at their official residences in the capital Nay Pyi Daw. Other senior members and local politicians associated with the National League for Democracy (NLD) were also detained. Myanmar’s new parliament was set to meet for its first session, two months after the ruling party had won the November 2020 elections in a landslide. But the session never started.
Internet connections and telecommunications were cut nationwide and at 8 am, an army spokesman announced on military-owned TV station MWD, that the junta led by general Min Aung Hlaing was taking control of the country under the pretext of investigating alleged electoral fraud by the NLD.
The vast majority of citizens, who had experienced a taste of freedom, democracy and liberalization for the past decade, could not accept the return of military rule. Teachers, doctors, bank managers, students and engineers joined the newly formed Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and refused to work under the new Special Administrative Council (SAC) regime. The first group of protesters emerged in Mandalay on February 4th, led by U Tay Zar San, a prominent civil society leader. On February 5th, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the coup d’état, formed a government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), in cooperation with several ethnic minority political groups.
In the following days, protests spread across the entire country and tens of thousands of people started demonstrating in the streets, on dirt paths, in fields and on rivers. They held anti-coup billboards, flashed the “three-finger salute”—an anti-authoritarianism sign popularized by the movie Hunger Games and by protests in Hong Kong and Thailand—and Generation Z youths organized creative street events and online campaigns to attract the world’s attention to their plight.
As an echo of the so-called “Saffron Revolution” in 2007, some monks joined the civilians in the processions and refused to accept the alms of officials affiliated with the junta, a silent, powerful act in the Buddhist majority country. Muslim and Christian local communities expressed their fear and anger as the brutal end of Myanmar’s fragile rule of law made them even more vulnerable to state abuse.
For the first time, people from the cities and plains of the Bamar Buddhist ethnic majority heartland held messages in solidarity with the Rohingya community, which has been targeted by a genocidal campaign in Rakhine state from August 2016 onwards. Before the coup, most of the public in Myanmar was unsympathetic to their plight, activists and journalists reporting on the issues faced vitriolic abuse and even using the word “Rohingya” in public speech or writing was taboo. With the junta's takeover on one dark February morning, came the brutal awareness that no one will ever be safe in Myanmar as long as generals remain the main powers-that-be and that the army is not fully controlled by a civilian government.
As the authoritarianism and conservatism of senior men in green are fully back in power in Myanmar, women are determined to continue to speak up for their rights, as they started building a feminist movement in the mid-2010s. When anti-coup mass demonstrations began, protesters hung traditional sarongs, underwear and even sanitary pads on strings across the streets to scare off and slow down the crackdown by security forces. Most of Myanmar's soldiers and policemen subscribe to the patriarchal Burmese superstition that passing under pieces covering women’s parts will make them lose their male power (“Hpone”), and thus, lose protection in battle.
Every evening, families gathered on their balconies and in front of their houses to bang on pots and pans, to symbolically draw the evil of dictatorship out of Myanmar. The junta imposed a curfew and began to create instability to justify its power grab. Hundreds of ordinary criminals were released from prison, given weapons and dropped by military trucks at night to instigate violence in neighborhoods. Citizens built camps and organized night watches to protect their properties and communities from raids by thugs-for-hire and soldiers. The junta quickly reenacted the Guest Registration Requirement and Household Inspection Laws, in violation of the fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of movement and association.
As the revolutionary crowds grew in late February, the repression increased drastically. Twenty-year-old Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, who died from a gunshot to the head, is the first known victim of the anti-coup protest movement. After she was assassinated, policemen and soldiers attacked the public with tear gas, rubber bullets, sound grenades and live rounds. On February 22nd, 2021, dubbed the 22,222 Movement Day and marked by a nationwide general strike and massive uprising, nearly 200 protestors were arrested in Nay Pyi Daw and Pyinmana. Others were told to report to authorities. The following day, families were ordered to retrieve their bodies, which showed marks of torture.
Arrest warrants were issued against journalists, actors or “keyboard fighters”—activists on social media—who were mostly charged under Section 505 (a). This new provision was used to punish netizens for commenting on the illegitimacy of the coup or the military government and was designed to penalize those who encouraged members of the civil and security services to join the CDM by up to three years in prison. Hundreds of civilians were arrested following tips from “Dalans”, local pro-military informers.
Despite daily arrests and killings, protesters occupied the streets for another month by building barricades of metal fences, bricks, straw mattresses and bamboo poles. Frontline guards equipped with makeshift protection gear took it on themselves to try to protect demonstrators against the rifles and tanks of the soldiers. On March 5th, 2021, the NUG announced the formation of the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) and proclaimed the right of every civilian to self-defense. Thousands of youths went for training and joined urban guerilla groups or armed ethnic militias.
On the ground, the legacy of seven decades of civil war against the central government in the ethnic states as well as the limited control of territory and access to equipment by the NUG is the main obstacle to the coordination of decisive operations against the monolithic Burmese army. Fed with ethno-nationalist ideology and obsessed with the disintegration of the nation, the Burmese army succeeded though in finally uniting the country, but against itself, and is now referred to as “Bon Yan Thu” (“the common enemy”).
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, by February 1st, 2024, three years after the coup, more than 4500 people had been killed by the junta forces and more than 20,000 people were still detained. More than three million people are internally displaced and hundreds of thousands have escaped to neighboring countries.
Inside Myanmar and abroad, networks and communities of teachers, doctors, gamers, filmmakers, lawyers, pastors, students or farmers continue to strike, document, fundraise, advocate and organize toward a common objective, which is the establishment of a federal democratic Myanmar.
Visual Rebellion Myanmar is a media collective founded in the aftermath of the coup by young Burmese journalists to continue offering free public service information about #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar. They documented the first three months of street protests across Myanmar by communities from diverse social, religious and economic backgrounds, who attempted to resist military rule peacefully before the country entered the stage of full-blown conflict that is yet to be resolved. Here is a selection of their work.
Photo-Series
1. Spidermen
09/02/2021—In downtown Yangon, young protesters wear cosplay outfits to attract the attention of international media as well as to remain anonymous.
2. Firemen
09/02/2021—In Pyay, Bago region, members of the Civilian Fire Reserve Brigade join the CDM from the start of the protests.
3. Nurses
09/02/2021—In Pyay, Bago Region, medical staff at a public hospital flash the three-finger salute to support the protest march.
4. Monk
10/02/2021—In Monywa, Sagaing region, a monk holds an alms bowl bottom-up, a powerful symbol in Myanmar, meaning that a strike won’t be called off until its aim is reached.
5. Chefs
11/02/2021—In Thandwe, a tourist seaside town in Rakhine State, the Cooking Chef Association comes out to protest in working clothes.
6. China
14/02/2021—In Muse, a city bordering China in Shan State, protesters incriminate the Chinese Communist Party’s perceived support for the coup-making junta.
CONTEXT: [The sign in Mandarin reads “Kai Feng Fu”, a historical reference to the capital of the Song Dynasty. The man in the black suit with the crescent marked on his forehead cosplayed the Governor of Kai Feng, Bao Zheng, well-known for his integrity. He was posthumously promoted as a popular metonymy for Justice and elevated to the status of a folk God.]
7. Karenni
21/02/2021—In Phruso, Kayah state, women from the Kayaw ethnic group take part in the anti-coup protest.
8. Muslim
22/02/2021—In Shwedaung, Bago Region, the “Myanmar Muslim Association” joins the daily anti-coup protest march.
9. Oil Workers
22/02/2021—Union members working at the “Pyay Petroleum” oil fields takes part in the general strike in all sectors of the economy.
10. Performance
23/02/2021—In downtown Yangon, pro-democracy activists stage a performance to denounce the pressure by the military regime on CDM teachers to resume work at gunpoint.
11. Teachers
22/02/2021—Teachers wearing traditional hats and engaged in the CDM, protest in front of the Shwe Taung Township Education Office.
12. Shan
24/02/2021—In Lashio, Shan state, protesters from the Ta'ang, Kachin and Shan ethnic groups call for self-determination.
13. Students
25/02/2021—On Ngapali Beach in Rakhine state, students wearing a T-Shirt with the message “Spring Revolution” call for UN intervention.
14. LGBT+
04/03/2021—In Shwedaung, Bago region, the LGBT+ community take to the streets to express support for the ousted NLD government.
15. PDF
04/03/2021—In Salin, Magway region, “People Defense Forces” stand in front of the police station to request the release of protesters.
16. Barricades
15/03/2021—In Monywa, Sagaing Region, people have erected barricades with sandbags to prevent army and police vehicles from entering the town.
17. Captain America
17/03/2021—In Kyauk Myaung, Yangon, a protester cosplaying Captain America tries to protect himself against tear gas and live bullets.
18. Bicycle
01/04/2021—In Monywa, Sagaing region, women protest on bicycles as state repression has made it too risky to walk.
19. Food Donation
10/04/2021—A food donation in Thuwanna, Yangon by volunteers as prices for basic goods have sharply increased since the coup-induced economic collapse.
20. Sexual Assault
24/04/2021—A memorial in Pyay, Bago region, in honor of young female protesters who were sexually assaulted by soldiers in a Yangon interrogation center.
Notes
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Editors’ note: Faces appearing on the photos of this portfolio have been blurred on advise of the publisher. We believe that the value of these photos, which show the bravery of protesters and commitment of reporters on the ground, is undiminished; and that the blurring itself may serve as a reminder of the plight of the Myanmar population. Readers can view the original photos on the website of Visual Rebellion: www.visualrebellion.org.
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Siegel, L. (2024). Portfolio: Myanmar Streets of Protest. In: Facal, G., Lafaye de Micheaux, E., Norén-Nilsson, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Norms in Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9655-1_26
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