$10m raised to aid Myanmar coup protesters
MYANMAR activists daubed roadways with red paint yesterday to protest against the junta’s bloody crackdown on protests, as an online fundraising drive to support the movement neared the $10 million (R145m) mark.
The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, rocked by daily clashes between protestors and authorities that have left at least 570 people dead.
Ten of Myanmar’s ethnic rebel armies voiced support for the protest movement at the weekend, stoking fears that the country could slide into broader civil conflict, while the UN has warned of a looming “bloodbath”.
Yesterday, in the commercial capital Yangon, people smeared red paint on bus stops and pavements in protest against the military’s violence.
The “bleeding dye strike” is the latest move by protestors to voice opposition without risking being shot or arrested by demonstrating in person.
One slogan painted on a bus stop said the military was being misused to protect junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, urging soldiers not to shoot civilians.
In the city of Hpa-an in eastern Karen state, youths sprayed red paint on the road, giving the three-fingered salute borrowed from the Hunger Games books and films that has become symbolic of the movement.
In the southern city of Dawei, hundreds marched peacefully carrying yellow padauk flowers, normally associated with Myanmar’s new year water festival which starts next week.
Meanwhile an online fundraising push by a group of ousted MPs from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is nearing $10 million. The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) – the Burmese word for parliament – says the cash will be used to “uproot the military dictatorship” and restore democracy. More than 2 700 people have been arrested since the coup; and 570 killed, including 47 children.
The authorities have issued arrest warrants for 80 celebrities including singers, models and social media influencers – most of them in hiding – accusing them of spreading information that could cause mutiny in the armed forces.