Police in Myanmar on Tuesday fired rubber bullets during a demonstration in Capital Nay Pyi Taw, where thousands of protestors defied orders and gathered to protest the military coup, reported BBC. Two protestors sustained injuries and were admitted to a hospital.
The police also used water cannons and tear gas to contain the protest. Myanmar state TV said that the police were also injured in their attempt to disperse the protestors. This is the first time the state has admitted to the ongoing protests. The news channel also said that a police truck was destroyed in the city of Mandalay. The police have imposed night curfews and restrictions on gatherings in the country’s biggest cities.
A day after the incident, the protestors on Wednesday vowed to continue their protests reported Reuters. “We cannot stay quiet,” youth leader Esther Ze Naw told Reuters. “If there is bloodshed during our peaceful protests, then there will be more if we let them take over the country.”
On Tuesday, a resident of Yangon, who was among the protestors, said the scenes were a “total chaos”. “My biggest fear is our safety, because there are lots of people on the roads protesting but there is also a lot of violence from police officers,” she said. “We don’t know when we’ll be shot at or when they will arrest us.”
The police had started using water cannons earlier in the day as the protestors refused to budge, shouting slogans against the military. Witnesses said that some of the protestors also threw projectiles.
The police first fired shots in the air before firing rubber bullets at the protestors. A doctor told Reuters that one of those injured – a woman – had sustained fatal head injuries.
“She hasn’t passed away yet, she’s in the emergency unit, but it’s 100% certain the injury is fatal,” said the doctor. “According to the X-ray, it’s a live bullet.”
Another protestor suffered a chest wound but it was not a critical injury. It was not clear if the wound was from a rubber or a live bullet.
This is also the first time bloodshed was reported since the military overthrew the newly-elected National League for Democracy government and took Aung San Suu Kyi as well as several party leaders into detention, according to Reuters.
Late on Tuesday, the police raided the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Yangon, two of the party’s legislators said. Dozens of police officers forced their way into the building, they added.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has asked Myanmar’s security forces to respect people’s right to protest peacefully. “The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable,” Ola Almgren, the UN representative in Myanmar, said.
On Monday, Myanmar’s Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing had defended the military coup in the country amid spiralling protests, saying that the power grab was justified by the alleged voter fraud in the 2020 elections. Hlaing claimed that the military rule “would be different this time” from the army’s previous 49-year reign, which ended in 2011.
“After the tasks of the emergency period are completed, free and fair multi-party general elections will be held according to the constitution,” he said. “The winning party will be transferred state duty according to democratic standards.”
The coup in Myanmar on February 1 followed the landslide victory of the NLD in national elections in November, with the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party faring poorly in its key strongholds.
The country’s military refused to accept the government, citing unsubstantiated allegations of fraud. It was also announced that the coup was the result of the government’s failure to delay the November election despite the outbreak of the coronavirus. The military’s takeover has drawn criticism from several foreign governments.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!