YANGON: At least three people were killed when demonstrators took to the streets again across Myanmar on Saturday, after a deadly overnight crackdown as hundreds defied a curfew to hold vigils in honour of those killed since the military seized power.
The junta has deployed increasing force against daily protests since the February 1 coup, with more than 70 people killed according to the UN’s top rights expert on the country.
But hundreds of thousands have continued to gather across the country to call for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi — who was detained in the Feb 1 putsch — and a return to democracy.
Saturday brought early crackdowns by security forces in Myanmar’s second largest city Mandalay, which saw more than 20 injured, including a monk.
At least three were killed, including a 21-year-old, according to a reporter and a doctor on the scene.
The sister of Saw Pyae Naing sobbed as she uncovered her brother’s body and gently touched his face at a makeshift medical centre.
Further south along the Irrawady river, protesters in Pyay wearing hard hats and carrying homemade shields attempted to hold off authorities as they retrieved an injured man.
“Come! Come and protect with the shields!” they yelled as they carried a slumped bleeding man to safety.
The fresh violence against protesters comes after three people were killed overnight in commercial hub Yangon. “Security forces arrested three young men, and as we followed to get them back, they cracked down on us,” recounted a resident, requesting anonymity.
“Two were killed — with one shot in his head and another one hit with a shot that penetrated his cheek to the neck,” he said, adding that they had to wait until the police stopped shooting to retrieve the bodies.
One of the deceased was 37-year-old rickshaw driver Si Thu, a staunch supporter of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
His body, displayed outside his home Saturday as part of a traditional mourning process, was covered with the NLD flag.
His wife Su Yadanar Hlaing said she had begged her husband to remain at home, but he had rushed out after hearing about the arrest of the three men.
“I don’t want anyone to end up like him,” she said sobbing. “Now I just want to die.” Across town in Hlaing township, residents alarmed at the presence of police and soldiers in their neighbourhood left their homes on Friday night to protest, fearful they were going to make arrests. “Police and soldiers used stun grenades to disperse us,” he said.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2021
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