Spring to Myanmar
The reason why we should hear them
On 1 February 2021, Myanmar began to be trampled by guns and military boots. The military authority pulled down the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counselor of Myanmar, and citizens began to pour out from all over the place to resist. Brave citizens have no choice but to collapse to bleed by armed military authority.
The military authority began to detain civilian government officials, such as national adviser Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Min, at dawn morning of February 1st. That date was the opening day of the second term of the civilian government. Vice President Min Xue from the military authority was appointed as the acting president, transferring all power to the military authority, and declaring an emergency state for a one-year. The military authority claimed through state media that despite massive irregularity in the November 2020 general elections, it "inevitably" transferred power because the government put democracy in crisis because it did not show a willingness to investigate the case properly. However, many people are saying that the reason for the complaints is that the military authority's monopoly on power and wealth has decreased during the five-year standoff with the civilian government. Also, The New York Times analyzed that the civilian government has begun to lose patience with the civilian rule, which was made by the soldiers themselves, as it won an overwhelming victory in the election.”
This being so, the military is attempting to eliminate Aung San Suu Kyi who is State Counselor from politics by raising bribery charges consistently. Against this oppressive measure, people formed demonstrators requiring release, and since the second day of the coup, they began demonstration with pounding kettle and pot. It means kicking out the devil. Since the first weekend on February 6, after demonstrations began in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, second city Mandalay, and capital city Naypyidaw, the flames of condemnation have not been extinguished. The people of Myanmar are protesting against the coup, but the military even fires live ammunition at demonstrators, causing dozens of the dead and casualties. In succession, the demonstrators are threatened by bloody suppression, and their fierce desperate struggle still progresses. To confront this, the people of Myanmar are determined to win the “Spring Revolution”through civil disobedience, street rallies, SNS, forming tension between the military and people.
The most powerful and reliable weapon of the people of Myanmar is Social media. In response to the military false story, Myanmarese internal situation and truth are spreading all over the world. Some point out that SNS is the reason why the military is not as bloody situation as it used to be. As a result, the military blocked all SNS such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which are used by half of the people. However, Myanmarese generation Z, who is good at using SNS, uses social media through internet detour sites. According to the British Telegraph, “generation Z grew up with more freedom, prosperity and advanced technology. These inhibit the military from destroying the freedoms that have just established through a coup and returning to dark times.Under the current situation in Myanmar, they need the help of the international community. In particular, it has not been that much time since Korea experienced the pain of democratization. On May 18, 41 years ago, the democratization movement began in Gwangju, and many citizens still live with the pain of that time. Gwangju civil society organizations have launched the Gwangju Solidarity to prevent the Myanmar’s military coups and brutal bloody suppression, which are considered to be the same as the 5.18 pro-democracy movement. The Gwangju Solidarity, which supports the pro-democracy struggle in Myanmar, held a meeting on the 11th and discussed the system, direction of practice and the development of fundraising drive for the formation of the Myanmar- Gwangju Solidarity. Gwangju civil society organizations and artists' organizations participated in the Gwangju Solidarity. An official from the 5.18 Memorial Foundation said, "The Gwangju Solidarity will conduct the cultural and artistic activities in support of Myanmar's democratization and carry out a variety of activities such as criticizing Myanmar’s military, intervention in the international community, and posting messages urging medical staff to be dispatched on social media.” The Republic of Korea experienced the democratization 34 years ago at the expense of many people. It means that it hasn't been long since the press became free and people could live uncontrolled lives.
Shouldn't we not forget this and give warm hands to Myanmar and join their voices?
Translated by TEDx
