Rubber bullets fired on protesters as crowd defy ban orders

Rubber bullets fired on protesters as crowd defy ban orders

Unconfirmed rumours circulated widely of shootings with live rounds and deaths among the protesters, with the potential of sparking violent retaliation against the authorities

AgenciesUpdated: Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 12:44 AM IST
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Protesters confront police vehicles after firing water cannons during a demonstration against the February 1 military coup at the monument of General Aung San, the late father of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital Naypyidaw on February 9, 2021. | AFP

Yangon: Police in Myanmar have fired rubber bullets during a demonstration in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, as thousands defied a ban on protests.

Water cannon and tear gas have also been used against protesters.

One woman is in hospital in a critical condition with a head wound.

Photos on social media showed an alleged shooter -- an officer with a short-barrelled gun -- and several injured people.

Unconfirmed rumours circulated widely of shootings with live rounds and deaths among the protesters, with the potential of sparking violent retaliation against the authorities, an outcome proponents of the country's civil disobedience movement have warned against.

The protesters are demanding that power be restored to the deposed civilian government and are seeking freedom for the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other ruling party members detained since the military took over and blocked the new session of Parliament from convening on February 1.

The growing defiance is striking in a country where past demonstrations have been met with deadly force and are a reminder of previous movements in the Southeast Asian country's long and bloody struggle for democracy. The military used deadly force to quash a massive 1988 uprising against military dictatorship and a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks.

The decrees issued on Monday night for some areas of Yangon and Mandalay banned rallies and gatherings of more than five people, along with motorized processions, while also imposing a 8 pm to 4 am curfew.

Violation of the orders, issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, is punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine.

Demonstrations Tuesday were also held in other cities, including Bago - where city elders negotiated with police to avoid a violent confrontation - and Dawei, and in northern Shan state.

In Magwe in central Myanmar, where water cannons were also used, unconfirmed reports on social media claimed several police officers had crossed over to join the protesters' ranks. A police officer in Naypyitaw was also said to have switched sides.

Crowds also gathered in Yangon, the country's biggest city where thousands of people have been demonstrating since Saturday, despite a heightened security presence. No violence was reported.

Soldiers do not appear to have been deployed yet to stop the demonstrations, a small indicator of restraint by the military government. The army has a record of brutality in crushing past revolts as well as in fighting ethnic minorities in border areas seeking self-determination. It also has been accused of carrying out genocide in its 2017 counterinsurgency campaign that drove more than 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority across the border to seek safety in Bangladesh.

State media for the first time on Monday referred to the protests, claiming they were endangering the country's stability.

"Democracy can be destroyed if there is no discipline," declared a statement from the Ministry of Information, read on state television station MRTV. "We will have to take legal actions to prevent acts that are violating state stability, public safety and the rule of law."

However, the military commander who led the coup and is now Myanmar's leader made no mention of the unrest in a 20-minute televised speech Monday night, his first to the public since the takeover.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing instead repeated the claims about voting fraud that have been the justification for the military's takeover, allegations that were refuted by the state election commission. He added that his junta would hold new elections as promised in a year and hand over power to the winners, and explained the junta's intended policies for COVID-19 control and the economy.

Yangon: A week after the military coup in Myanmar, the Tatmadaw (military) government invited the elected govet to take part in the Tatmadaw-formed peace talks committee. However, Myanmar's political parties rejected the military's invitation. Mainstream and ethnic political parties in Myanmar are largely refusing to take up roles in the military's State Administrative Council headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing who is trying to broaden its base amid growing street protests across the country.

The military has informed the ethnic armed groups that future peace talks will be continued only with the military-formed peace committee.

"We have been informed that the NRPC has been abolished...If there is any need for talks, we should only discuss with the group formed by the military. The members of the Northern Alliance have yet to show any clear stance on the situation," said Lamai Gum Ja, a member of the Peace-Talk Creation Group (PCG).

As things stand, the Tatmadaw government has disbanded the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC), the leading internal peace process mechanism of the previous government and arrested some of its civilian leaders.

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