KEY POINTS

  • Protesters in Myanmar demand restoration of Aung San Suu Kyi government
  • Six people have been killed at the weekend in the protests

Protesters marched through the streets of Myanmar in defiance of the military junta which brutally repressed dissent in the South Asian country.

At least 557 people have lost their lives since the military coup on Feb. 1 which set the clock back on the nascent democracy, Reuters reported. The military leadership had accused Aung San Suu Kyi’s party of electoral fraud after it won 83% of the vote.

The coup and clampdown on protests have caused an international uproar, igniting western sanctions on the military and its profitable businesses. The Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said that some 2,658 have been apprehended under the junta.

Opponents of military rule carried Easter eggs with messages engraved like - "We must win" and "get out MAH," referring to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. Activists said six people were killed over the weekend as police and soldiers used force to break up the protests that some demonstrators are calling a “spring revolution.”

The protests continued on Monday, calling for more coordinated nationwide dissent.

The campaign against the deposing of the elected government of Suu Kyi has involved street marches, a civil disobedience campaign of strikes and eccentric acts of insurgency organised on social media, which the junta has sought to control by shutting down wireless broadband and mobile data services.

According to the images shared on social media, protesters marched through the streets of the second-biggest city, Mandalay, holding placards of Suu Kyi with signs asking for international intervention.

The Myanmar military’s deadly crackdown on anti-coup protests has angered some of the country’s ethnic armed groups, prompting fears a broader conflict could erupt
The Myanmar military’s deadly crackdown on anti-coup protests has angered some of the country’s ethnic armed groups, prompting fears a broader conflict could erupt AFP / STR

Later on Monday, demonstrators urged nationwide coordinated applause for the ethnic minority armies that have sided with the anti-coup movement and young protesters who battled security forces in the streets every day.

"Let's clap for five minutes on April 5, 5 p.m. to honour Ethnic Armed Organisations and Gen Z defence youths from Myanmar including Yangon who are fighting in the revolution fight on behalf of us," Ei Thinzar Maung, a demonstration leader, shared on Facebook.

On Sunday, in a speech to soldiers carried in state media, Min Aung Hlaing said that the security forces were "exercising utmost restraint" against the armed rioters who were causing violence.