23rd February, 2021 #Day23

 

International news are seen to be more viral than news related to the protests today. Today's protests were significantly less than yesterday as many decided to take a day break. Attitudes of protesters towards Rohingya, the action plan of Indonesian government over the coup, the conversation between Myanmar and Australian military leaders, Malaysian government’s decision to deport undocumented Myanmar nationals, the CRPH's proposal for interim public administration, and the rumors about banks collapsing are among the most viral stories today.

After a series of street protests, brutal crackdowns and oppressions, attitudes of many protesters toward the Rohingya community and ethnic groups have altered. These changing attitudes are more evident among young people. Using their social media platforms and posters on the street, they have expressed regret for their negligence and apologized for being silenced when the military had repeatedly persecuted and discriminated against the Rohingya community in Rakhine State. In August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya were displaced by the military's brutal attacks and fled to neighboring Bangladesh. The international community has described the incident as a textbook example of genocide and has criticized the Myanmar government to this day. Burmese national protesters also expressed apology to the ethnic nationalities for ignoring their pains and being part of Burmanization. They said that they would try to amend their mistakes.

A Reuters editor reported that the Indonesian government was urging ASEAN countries to agree an action plan over the Myanmar’s coup which is intended to recognize the junta's election and suggest ASEAN to be a mediator between the junta and protesters. Following this news, protesters gathered in front of the Indonesian embassy urging the government to recognize the 2020 election results. A spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry later said that the government had not called for new elections and had always supported the wishes of the Myanmar people. Malaysia, one of Myanmar’s ASEAN partners, has deported around 1,000 undocumented Myanmar nationals in defiance of a court order. At the request of international human rights groups, the court ordered the men not to be deported because they could be at risk upon their arrival because of the coup.

The deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military and the Australian vice-chief of the Defense Force spoke by telephone yesterday. Even though details are not released, according to Myanmar's state media, the Myanmar general said that the Tatmadaw is acting in accordance with the 2008 constitution and claimed that "Myanmar Tatmadaw is a democratic Tatmadaw as the Australian military." However, according to Australian media reports, Australia has demanded the immediate release of all detainees, including economic adviser Sean Turnell, and said that any violence against the protesters is unacceptable. According to Australia's parliamentary website, there has been defense engagement between the two armies since 2013 and Australia has been assisting in humanitarian and peacekeeping activities. In addition, two armies have been cooperating over other issues such as anti-narcotics, money laundering, transnational crimes, and intelligence sharing. Although not yet confirmed, there are speculations that the Australian military will reconsider existing defense cooperation with the Tatmadaw and suspend some programs.

The CRPH calls on the people to implement an interim public administration program to replace the current administrative vacuum. The six-pages document, released yesterday, calls on the people to form community-based governing bodies in each townships, to expand the CDM activities, and to defy the current junta's orders. In other words, the CRPH is preparing to form a parallel government with the aim of cutting off the junta's central and lower levels of government. It also issued a letter today stating that it would take action against those working under the current junta when they could form a new government. The junta have threatened to shut down the media if they did not stop referring it as the coup government. Some media outlets responded that they would not comply with the government's request. The KIA reportedly attacked a military convoy near Kutkai in northern Shan State. There has been widespread public interest in the attack, which suggests support for the KIA and that fighting could intensify soon. There is a growing concern about the collapse of banking system. Many banks across Myanmar have been closed for the past two weeks due to the large number of bank employees involved in the CDM activity. As today is a payday for pensions and some businesses, people were lining up at ATMs which turned out to be not working. Since the coup, many people withdrew their deposits at the military-owned Myawaddy Bank, but it announced that withdrawal would not be possible until the end of this month. If the banking sector continues to stagnate, there are speculations that it could hit hard the poor in the next few days and the despair of them could change the course of the current situation.

The junta's announces that Zaw Aye Maung, a prominent Rakhine politician from the Arakan National Party, has been appointed as a deputy minister for ethnic affairs. The junta has in the past given high-ranking positions to some prominent ethnic figures in the government led by the State Administrative Council.