In the wake of the February coup, the dreams of many have been replaced with death and injury in Myanmar. The country mourns the loss of its young generation who has sacrificed their life for the future freedom of the country. Anika Khan reports.
2021 was supposed to be a year of optimism for Myanmar as the country managed to control the pandemic to an extend with vaccine rollouts. The November Elections also marked a step towards the country’s progress.
However, the wake of the 1 February coup turned the country’s dreams into nightmares overnight. Many of Myanmar’s young people found themselves forced to sacrifice their dreams and future and go down the streets to stand against the country’s military.
Hundreds have lost their lives during the military crackdown. Some who have survived the attacks are maimed for life or are unable to work as a result of their injuries. Their stories echo the brutality that the world seems to have turned its face on.
A 2014 consensus showed that 50% of Myanmar’s population was under the age of thirty. This pollution not only had exposure to the outside world with better access to information, education, and job opportunities but also had direct knowledge of the military rule that has been impoverishing their nation for decades.
According to Association for Political Prisoners, the regime’s forces have killed over 700 people since the coup. Hundreds have been seriously injured by mortar fire, hand grenades, and other weapons used by the military during the crackdown.
Their role in the anti-coup movement is a testament to the sacrifices they are willing to make to save their country from the military dictatorship.
It has become extremely difficult to get recent news as the regime shut down mobile data and wireless broadband that has blocked internet access for most of the population.
Meanwhile, protestors have begun using makeshift weapons and hundreds are traveling to ethnic armed territories to receive training in basic warfare.
The UN high commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said, that the country risks spiraling into “full-blown conflict”. She urged other countries to push the military to halt its violent repression against its own citizens; the citizens that it was formed to protect. After the latest massacre in Bago that killed at least 82 citizens, she said,
“the world must not allow the deadly mistakes of the past in Syria and elsewhere to be repeated”.