Myanmar demonstrators conducted a "silent strike'' in protest of the military junta's rule over the nation's government, closing businesses and deserting streets on Friday to decry the army's ousting of civilian government officials.
Photographs published by Myanmar media showed empty streets and markets in towns across the region and protesters can be seen wearing black clothes and marching in silence in the northern city of Shwebo. In an interview, protest leader Khin Sandar said that they needed to send a message to nations worldwide about the terrible human rights violations in the country.
Myanmar's Silent Strike
The protest leader said that silence was the loudest shout, saying that the people of Myanmar wanted their rights back. Sandar also expressed her great sadness at the sacrifices of the fallen heroes who fought for the country's future.
The chaotic situation in Myanmar began after the military junta overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government on Feb. 1. The incident resulted in daily protests in several towns and cities across the region. Fights also broke out in borderlands between military personnel and ethnic minority insurgents, NBC News reported.
The strike came after reports on Tuesday of a massacre in the country's northwestern Sagaing region where soldiers were accused of gathering and killing 11 civilians. Fellow villagers allegedly found the charred remains of the victims. However, the military junta has denied the involvement of its soldiers in the incident but continues its crackdown on anti-military militia resistances.
Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, and various other regions were seen to have empty streets and no traffic on Friday despite normally having busy movement. Hours before the official start of the silent strike, usually crowded markets and plazas turned into quiet wastelands. The situation reaffirmed the widespread opposition to the military junta's rule and disregard for human rights.
Danger of Protests
A co-founder and spokesperson of the Alliance of Student Unions Yangon, Min Han Htet, said that the silent strike by itself was not going to make much of a difference. However, he said that by showing unity, the people of Myanmar can wage psychological warfare against the military junta's dictatorship, the New York Post reported.
The United States embassy in Yangon warned of a heightened risk of violence by security forces against gatherings or protests, urging citizens to stay off the streets. At around 4:00 p.m. local time, a few Yangon neighborhoods resounded to the noise of mass clapping to mark the end of the strike.
In Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, residents said that restaurants, shops, and the main market were closed down. One resident said during an interview that there were no street vendors since the morning and no early morning walkers.
The silent strike was a way to safely express opposition to the military junta's rule of Myanmar's government due to the rising risk of being tangled in violent encounters in protests in the streets. Last Sunday, Myanmar soldiers drove a car into a gathering of protesters in Yangon, killing five people, based on local reports, Aljazeera reported.
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