Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons
Aung San Suu Kyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Burma and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was removed from power by a military coup in 2021.
By Cynthia Akanaga ’25
Staff Writer
Content warning: this article discusses graphic state and military violence.
Last year, the Myanmar military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, orchestrated a coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, from power after her political party, the National League for Democracy, won the election by a landslide. Because the title Myanmar was appointed by the military to replace the Burmese title of Burma, this article will refer to the country by the latter. This month marks the anniversary of the declaration of a state of emergency made by the military on Feb. 1, 2021. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing remains in power, and many people in Burma are still protesting.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work towards establishing democracy in Burma and a figure responsible for the country’s democratic transition, came under controversy after defending Myanmar’s military in the Gambia case. In November 2019, Gambia filed a case with the International Court of Justice regarding Tatmadaw’s crimes of genocide against the Rohingya minority in Burma, as reported by the Human Rights Watch. Aung San Suu Kyi, who represented Burma during the ICJ lawsuit, defended the military’s actions.
One Mount Holyoke student from Burma with an intended major in biochemistry, who wished to remain anonymous, shared that nuances to the case complicated Aung San Suu Kyi’s choice.
“There are many Burmese people who believe that … [when] she defended the military for their war crimes against the Rohingya, she had no other choice at the time. She didn’t really have the power in the first place,” the student said. “It’s just hard to believe that somebody who went under house arrest for 15 years for the freedom of her people would just turn around and suddenly do something like [that]. That’s probably why she still won in a landslide because we had no choice, and a lot of Burmese people still believed in her despite everything. ”
Another anonymous student from the region, who is intending to major in computer science, also responded to this controversy, stating, “For me, Aung San Suu Kyi has done a lot so that we could be free. I feel like I owe her so much. I owe her my freedom.”
When describing the moments leading up to the coup, the sources held contrasting feelings of denial and resignation. The computer science major detailed that “there was rumor of a military coup, but none of us believed it. [We] didn’t think that they [would] actually do it,”
“For the first two days, we didn’t do any protests,” the student continued. “We’re mostly hoarding, and then we’re staying inside our homes. We thought that if we did nothing and stayed silent, then the military takeover [would] not be official. But then there was no difference whether we stayed silent or not, because the military was not going to step down either way. So protests started… I think around … the third day.”
The biochemistry student also reflected on the start of the coup.
“I remember being woken up by my mom at like four in the morning and she told me that the military had taken over the country again, and the first thing that I felt was fear. I was horrified. I think I had a panic attack. In general, I felt very hopeless about the future,” the student said. “I felt worried for my family because … our house was used as a place for NLD officials to meet. So, there was a lot of military tension [for] us already from the get-go. And so, it was just sort of like oh my gosh, like are they going to storm our house? … Are we going to die?”
The military justified the coup with claims of voter fraud, though according to the Human Rights Watch 2022 report, “international and domestic election observers found that the election was ‘credible and reflected the will of the majority of the voters.’” The election had led to a unanimous victory for the NLD which left the military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, powerless.
The sources gave similar opinions pertaining to the military coup.
According to the biochemistry student, “It can’t be voter fraud because the moment [the military] took over, the entire country protested. I think the reason they took over was that General Min Aung Hlaing was nearing his retirement age. In Myanmar, people usually retire at age 60, and he’s 65. So, he [has] to retire, and once he retired, he wouldn’t have immunity for the war crimes he had committed against the Rohingya. He’d have to answer for that in the international court or Myanmar’s own laws.”
The computer science student added that the military coup happened because “They want full power. [The] NLD won by a landslide, and we were moving towards a democratic government.”
People’s Defense Force fights back
According to the anonymous sources, there is still a sense of unity present in the country. As the computer science major stated, “In my opinion, we are united right now when we are fighting back against the military, and we have a very strong passion that we want to be free.”
In the same vein, the other anonymous source added that “We’ve been more united because it’s like the entire country versus a common enemy.”
This reported sense of national solidarity may be evidenced by the protests which have erupted in response to the situation.
“Tens of thousands of people, including health workers, bankers and teachers, joined what was originally a peaceful civil disobedience movement, refusing to go to work until the elected government returned to power,” the Council on Foreign Relations reported.
The computer science major stated that “Every 8 p.m. at night, a lot of households start banging pots and pans because there’s a belief that if you bang pots and pans, it drives away evil spirits. The whole country is protesting in its own way, even if they’re not actually taking arms. Like, people are not paying taxes … we’re not paying electricity and water bills.”
Alongside ongoing protests, previous NLD members formed an opposing government called the National Unity Government. The NUG has laid claim as the legitimate government of Burma, though they have not received recognition from any Western governments. The military’s violent response to the peaceful protests led to the NUG’s creation of the armed group the People’s Defence Force.
“This whole situation has really changed the country a lot,” the computer science student stated. “The PDF consists of normal people like you and me, who just decided that they will sacrifice their whole future to fight for independence and freedom from the military. We don’t really have another choice rather than to fight back with weapons. Because if we only protest, [the military] are going to kill us anyway. ”
During the 8888 Revolution of 1988, Burma’s late dictator Ne Win said, “The military never fires into the air. It just shoots straight to hit.” As reported by The Irrawaddy, based on the body count of the protestors, Ne Win’s words still ring true. According to the Human Rights Watch, “Between February 1 and November 1, the police and military killed at least 1,200 protesters and bystanders, including approximately 75 children, and have detained over 8,700 government officials, activists, journalists and civil servants.”
In response to the military’s violence, the computer science major shared, “When I was back in Myanmar it was really terrible. We’re all so afraid of the military. It’s always terrifying to see a military bus pass by in front of your house. That’s scary, and when they capture people, they torture them. They are very ruthless. It’s like you can’t even imagine the level of ruthlessness they can go to.”
Many who were killed by Myanmar’s army throughout these protests were unarmed civilians, as reported by the Jurist. The computer science major’s experiences echo this fact.
“On February 19, they were protesting and then there was a police officer that actually aimed to kill a girl like me, and he actually killed her. It wasn’t to stop a protest. The girl was actually turning back, and the military just shot her. … A policeman just shot her,” the computer science major said. “That’s when reality hit. The reality of how harsh the military can be, how harsh a dictatorship can be … . At first I was living like a normal teenager, going out with my friends and stuff like that. And that’s when I realized what it’s like to live under a dictatorship.”
“They actually used machine guns to shoot at people’s heads. It was very terrible. So many people died. It makes you wonder how they can actually shoot someone who has nothing in their hands, who [is] just walking, and how they can just shoot them in the head,” the computer science major said. “When the machine gun hits you in that close range, it’s not a clean shot. The whole head will explode.”
Few countries and institutions have offered international intervention to aid the people of Burma. U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement in which he threatened more sanctions on the military and its supporters. The UN has deferred to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to resolve the conflict, since some members of the security council are unwilling to impose stronger actions towards the Myanmar military.
For the computer science major, imposing sanctions is “the least [the U.S.] could do, and they can do more than that, like arming the [Ethnic Armed Organizations] and PDFs and accepting NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar. I feel like other countries that are doing business with the military should also impose those sanctions.”
On the other hand, the other anonymous source majoring in biochemistry, believes that sanctions are not effective.
“It’s the same as always. I mean, this is not the first time the military has taken control of the country or done these horrific things,” the biochemistry major said. “If you research … further back before Myanmar was known to the world the way it is now, they’ve been committing these atrocities and war crimes against us for years and years. They’ve not done anything in the past, they’re not doing anything now ... and I don’t think they’ll do anything in the future.”
“The military mostly does its business deals with China, so they already have an income flow from China and other Southeast Asian countries, so it doesn’t matter what the West does because there [weren’t] a lot of transactions happening between the West in the first place anyway. They’re not missing out on much,” the biochemistry major continued. “Also, the West has always imposed sanctions on military generals in the past, and the dictatorship still lasted for like 60 years. So, I don’t think sanctions are very effective.”
Due to the protests from civilians and the PDF, the military has been unable to consolidate its power. Yanghee Lee, the co-founder of the Special Advisory Group on Myanmar and former UN special rapporteur for human rights in the country, called it a “failed coup,” as reported by CNN.
Regarding the future of Burma, the computer science major stated, “There’s hope because of the people. No matter how difficult it is, the people always find a way to fight back. We really want to be free. For over 60 years, we were not free. So we have a very strong incentive that we want to be free.”