Myanmar’s Protest and what led to Military Coup in Myanmar

Weeks of demonstrations and a deadly crackdown have roiled Myanmar since a February coup brought back full military rule following years of quasi-democracy.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has suffered decades of repressive military rule, poverty due to years of isolationist economic policies, and civil war with ethnic minority groups.

• 1948: Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for many of the years since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948.
• The Union of Burma began as a parliamentary democracy, like most of its newly independent neighbors on the Indian subcontinent.
• 1962: But representative democracy only lasted until 1962, when General U Ne Win led a military coup and held power for the next twenty-six years.
  • Ne Win instituted a new constitution in 1974 based on an isolationist policy and a socialist economic program that nationalized Burma’s major enterprises.
• 1988: By 1988, widespread corruption, rapid shifts in economic policy related to Myanmar’s currency, and food shortages led to massive student-led protests.
  • In August 1988, the army cracked down on protesters,killing at least three thousand and displacing thousands more.
  • In the aftermath of the 1988 crackdown, Ne Win resigned as chairman of his party, although he remained active behind the scenes as another military junta took power.
• 1989: In 1989, the new military regime changed the country’s name from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar, and the capital, Rangoon, was renamed Yangon.
• 2005: In 2005, the military government moved the administrative capital to Nay Pyi Taw, a city it built in central Myanmar.
• 2007: In 2007, the so-calledSaffron Revolution, widespread anti-government protests that were sparked by fuel price hikes and named after the saffron-colored robes worn by participating Buddhist monks—and international pressure prompted shifts in Myanmar.
• 2008: The junta pushed forward a new constitution in 2008, which is still in place today, that gave the military widespread powers even under civilian rule.
  • The military junta unexpectedlyofficially dissolved in 2011 and established a civilian parliament for a transitional period, during which former army bureaucrat and Prime Minister Thein Sein was appointed president.
• 2015: Myanmar held its first nationwide, multiparty elections—considered to bethe freest and fairest elections in decades—since the country’s transition away from military rule.
  • Suu Kyi became Myanmar’s de facto leader in 2015.
• 2021 February: Government overthrown in military coup.

What is happening now?

• In 2020, Myanmar held its second national elections under civilian rule, which the Ms Suu Kyi’s NLD party overwhelmingly won.
  • The military suffered a major blow in the elections: the USDP won just 33 of 476 available seats, while the NLD won 396.
• Military leaders alleged voter fraud, and after the country’s election commission rejected the military’s claims, itstaged a coup in February 2021.
• The military is now back in charge and has declared a year-long state of emergency.
• It seized control on 1 February following a general election which Ms Suu Kyi's NLD party won by a landslide.
• The coup took place as a new session of parliament was set to open.

• The people of Myanmar, young and old, from all walks of life, have a vision: freedom, democracy and human rights.
• Human rights are natural rights which cannot be restrained by human laws. It includes Right to life, liberty and property.
• These are the requirements of a person to fully grow into a social being. Individuals are the fundamental contributors of the Nation. Only when their rights are protected they will be able to contribute the best of himself to the country.
• olden times fulfilling the country's law by any means was the end of a country. With time, people became the centrality of a Nation.
• Laws and public administrators now become the means to protect an individual’s interest from injustice. Towards such and end, international organizations such as UN was established.

• Myanmar is a diverse country, with the state recognizing more than one hundred ethnic groups.
• Forming roughlytwo-thirds of the population, ethnic Burmans, known as the Bamar, have enjoyed a privileged position in society and hold a majority of government and military positions.
• Many ethnic minority groups, on the other hand, have faced systemic discrimination, a lack of economic opportunities and development in their regions, minimal representation in government, and abuses at the hands of the military.
• Since independence, discrimination has been ingrainedin Myanmar’s laws and political system.
• Anti-Muslim sentiment has alsobeen on the rise in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
• Buddhist extremists, who promote the supremacy of Buddhism, have attacked Muslims and spread hate speech.
  

• Democracy now finds itself in a Hobbesian state (the natural condition of mankind), for people have willingly submitted themselves to the government in fear.
• Dictatorship often starts in the face of a threat. Earlier it was the invisible and distant threat of terrorism that demanded obedience, now the threat is closer to home – that is pushing people to give away their rights on a platter.
• The question is for how long.
• The imposition of any kind of emergency, formal or informal, without an expiry date spells doom for democracy.

Numerous countries have condemned the military takeover. 

• US and UK: The United States and United Kingdom have responded with sanctions on military officials.
• China: China blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning the coup, but has backed calls for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and a return to democratic norms. The country has previously opposed international intervention in Myanmar.
• South East Asian countries have been pursuing diplomatic efforts to end the crisis.

• India expressed “deep concern” over the reports of an unfolding military coup in Myanmar.
• India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar.
• The country believes that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld.
• India had shown commitment to build robust relationship with Myanmar over the past two decades which intensified after the democratic process began in 2011.

No one possesses a magic wand of solutions. But there is one consistent lesson, that no change is irreversible, particularly in a context where military leadership scripted the meaning of democracy, and domestic forces and geopolitics continuously fail to deter its actions and impulses to rule.