Protesters clap
PROTESTERS in Myanmar clapped together in a show of dissent against the military junta on Monday as a regional bloc prepared for talks on the crisis that has killed nearly 600 people.
Clapping began in various parts of the main city Yangon at 5pm (10.30pm Fiji time) in response to a call by protest organisers, residents said.
The gesture would honour “Ethnic Armed Organisations and Gen Z defence youths from Myanmar including Yangon who are fighting in the revolution... on behalf of us,” Ei Thinzar Maung, a protest leader, wrote on Facebook.
Despite the killing of at least 564 people by the security forces since the February 1 coup, protesters have come out across the country every day to voice opposition to the overthrow of the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule.
The movement, which some protesters are calling a “spring revolution”, has included street marches, a civil disobedience campaign of strikes, and quirky acts of rebellion organised via social media.
In addition to the crackdown on the streets, the junta has sought to suppress the campaign by shutting down wireless broadband and mobile data services.
On Monday, one person was killed in the central Sagaing region when security forces broke up a protest, the Myanmar Now news outlet reported. Earlier, demonstrators with placards of Ms Suu Kyi and signs calling for international intervention marched through the second-biggest city Mandalay, images posted on social media showed.
Brunei, chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), threw its support on Monday behind a leaders’ meeting to discuss Myanmar.
After talks between Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei said both countries would make preparations for a meeting to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. No date was given.