A few days after an army Coup in MyanmarThe top general in the military practically shut down the internet when democracy protesters took to the streets.
The largest rally to date against the overthrow of the government took place in Yangon on Monday, where demonstrators in riot gear marched in front of police officers and sang: “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, Win, Win ”while banners reading“ Against Military Dictatorship ”are held in hand.
The protests came after General Min Aung Hlaing blocked access to Twitter and Instagram and practically closed the internet on Saturday – a move to stop the spread of “fake news”.
New York’s strong Burmese community is Follow the demonstrations Minute by minute. For Thi Ha, 37, taking over was the death knell for democracy. David Khin is more optimistic and convinced that his fellow Burmese, who hit their pots and pans in protest, will one day regain their highly competitive freedoms.
But New Yorkers clearly agree that the timing is scary even for them, as their words could cause problems for their parents in the land that was once known as Burma.
Min Aung Hlaing justified his takeover by claiming that the National League of Democracy, the controlling party led by Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, stole the November general election. The United States condemned the takeover.
“Democracy is dead. It’s 100%,” said Ha from Brooklyn. “Now we have lost our freedom in Burma. They keep whoever they want without a law.
Ha, 37, knows about bullying. He and his wife MyatMon Thinn fled the country two years ago because they were tired of being harassed by soldiers for their pro-democracy efforts, which pushed NLD leaders to rallies and staged protests.
“We are doing our best to achieve real democracy with NLD,” Ha told the Post. “And that’s why the military is trying to take me and my family with them.
Ha and Thinn gave up their businesses, a car dealership and a travel agency. Now he works in a grocery store and she has a job in a beauty store.
35-year-old Khin is also worried about a living as he owns a PR / marketing agency in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Before the coronavirus pandemic, he split his time between his childhood home and Queens, where many of New York’s 6,000 Burmese nationals live.
Like Ha, Khin has been a democracy activist for years – but in the US, where he started college in 2007. He and his wife May marched past the Burmese embassy in east Manhattan long before Suu Kyi won her first general election in 2012, and they are more determined than ever to keep their country free.
“We want change,” Khin told the Post. “That is why the dissent is growing. That is why civil disobedience is growing. That’s why I’m a dissident here in my own way.
And yet, even though he and Ha are halfway around the world, they believe the military could make them pay for their words in retaliation for their parents.
“They are fine now, but they are very upset, very concerned about what could happen about the future,” said Khin. “Of course I’m worried.”
But both men grew up in families where democracy was adopted – and they are willing to take the risk to speak out.
“I will do everything I can to protect my country from the coup,” said Ha.
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