Anti-coup protests ring out in Myanmar's main city

Din of banging pots, honking car horns reverberate in Yangon; first widespread protest against military coup

The din of banging pots and honking car horns reverberated through Myanmar’s biggest city of Yangon late on Tuesday in the first widespread protest against the military coup that overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The party of the detained Nobel Peace laureate called for her release by the junta that seized power on Monday and is keeping her at an undisclosed location. It also demanded recognition of her victory in a November election.

Civil Disobedience: Tonight in Yangon, the people bang pots to protest against the military coup. #SaveMyanmar #รัฐประหาร pic.twitter.com/QnfkM6Utx6

— Thisrupt (@Thisruptdotco) February 2, 2021

 

A senior official from her National League for Democracy (NLD) said he had learned she was in good health a day after her arrest in a military takeover that derailed Myanmar’s tentative progress towards full democracy.

US State Department officials said the takeover had been determined to constitute a coup d’etat, triggering restrictions in foreign assistance. Washington has threatened to re-impose sanctions on the generals who seized power.

In the biggest public display of anger so far, people in Yangon banged on pots and pans and honked car horns and chanted “evil be gone”.

“It is a Myanmar tradition to drive away evil or bad karma by beating tin or metal buckets,” said Yangon resident San Tint.

People have not taken to the streets so far in a country with a history of bloody repression of protests.

Activist groups issued a flurry of messages on social media urging civil disobedience. Doctors in more than 20 hospitals said they would join a civil disobedience campaign.

“We cannot accept dictators and an unelected government,” said Myo Thet Oo, one participating doctor, who said he would not go to his hospital on Wednesday.

The coup followed a landslide win for Suu Kyi’s NLD in an election on Nov 8, a result the military has refused to accept, citing unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.

The army handed power to its commander, General Min Aung Hlaing, and imposed a state of emergency for a year.