People hang a banner saying “Power to the people” on a flyover in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.
Myanmar’s civil disobedience movement continues to expand following the military coup on Feb. 1. Thousands of protesters gathered on Monday (22) in response to the strike action, despite the military government’s threats that the standoff would “cause more loss of Life“.
The military government has so far been unable to stop people from taking to the streets every day to demand the release of elected leader Collector Hill Suu Kyi.
Reuters quoted a citizen involved in the protest, 46-year-old San San Maw, as saying, “Everyone is joining in and we have to come out.”
In Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city, two more protesters were shot dead on Saturday (20), adding to the total of at least four protesters who have died so far. Separately, the military said a police officer was injured while handling the demonstrations and later died of his injuries.
After reports of deaths and injuries in Mandalay, people have not been deterred, with tens of thousands of people participating in protests in both Mandalay and Yangon, the largest city.
In addition to national stores, international chains announced on Monday that they would suspend operations, including KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, and Food Panda, a take-out caterer.
The Burmese military government issued a statement on Sunday (21) through state-run TV station MRTV, saying that a small number of protesters were stirring up emotions among the people, especially the youth, which it warned would lead to conflict and possibly death.
However, according to photos uploaded by Burmese media and people on the social media platform Twitter, thousands of people took to the streets of Myanmar’s major cities to protest since Monday morning, while many stores also closed their gates in response to the general strike.
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