Burmese anti-coup demonstrators plan silent protest after 7 year old girl killed
Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters are planning a silent strike today, after violence took the life of a 7 year old girl. The girl was killed in her home when security forces allegedly opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay, further corroborating the claims by the UN that women and children were among those being killed.
The soldiers allegedly were aiming at her father, who was sitting down with the young girl in his lap, but instead, the bullets hit her. When word of the young girl’s death spread, a candle-light vigil was held for her overnight.
The silent strike will keep people in their homes, with businesses also participating by closing down. Those who are organising the strike say it will last for just 1 day. But one day of staying inside may help the death toll as The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says it has reached almost 300 people.
Myanmar’s Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun denies such a death toll, instead, saying it sits at 164 people after expressing sadness about the deaths, but vowing to press on in stamping out “anarchy.” He went on to call such protesters “terrorists” despite widespread international condemnation and recent sanctions from the EU and the US. The UN has also stated that the junta is likely committing “crimes against humanity.”
The violence against protesters and unarmed civilians comes after a coup by the military on February 1, in which they overtook the government after citing fraudulent democratic election results last November. During the takeover, the military arrested the National League for Democracy leader and nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD party won the election in a landslide victory.
Now, the junta has censored the media, and have been using violence to crack down on peaceful anti-coup protesters, citing they are performing a counter-terrorism operation.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
