But perhaps the most permanent form of protest is the tattoo.
From large cities such as Yangon and Mandalay to the state of Shan A small town near the popular tourist spot of Inle Lake, Nyaung Shwe is getting protesters inked for democracy.
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A protester gets a tattoo of the three-finger greeting, a popular gesture from “The Hunger Games,” seen during protests in Myanmar. Browse the gallery for more. Credit: Robert Bociaga for CNN
“Tattoos are a lasting memory for a lifetime, and a way of expressing our dreams. They cannot be removed and therefore it shows our solidarity. It unites us protesters,” said Htun Htun, a resident of Nyaung Shwe, originally from Yangon.
Htun Htun was one of about 70 people who attended a tattoo protest event in Nyaung Shwe on Friday.
The event, organized by a local youth group from the Intha ethnic minority, invited residents to get a protest tattoo to raise money for the civil disobedience movement, or CDM. The movement has seen thousands of white-collar workers and workers, from medics, bankers and lawyers to teachers, engineers and factory workers, leaving their jobs as a form of resistance to the February 1 military coup.
Protesters in Nyaung Shwe on March 5, 2021, expressing their support for the civil disobedience movement. Credit: Robert Bociaga for CNN
Eight tattoo artists inked dozens of participants who were each asked for a minimum donation of $ 2. Each tattoo took about 20 minutes to complete and for the speed, participants were given a choice of four styles: the face of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the words ‘Spring Revolution’, the phrase ‘Kabar Ma Kyay Bu’ (which refers to a protest song and means ‘we will not forget until the end of the world’) and the ubiquitous “three-finger salute,” from “The Hunger Games” films, which has become a symbol of backlash against protests in Myanmar and neighboring Thailand.
The most popular design? A sketch of Suu Kyi’s face.
A protester shows off his new tattoos. Credit: Robert Bociaga for CNN
“I got a tattoo because I love Aung San Suu Kyi and admire people who get up and suffer dictatorship. Getting a tattoo is painful, but it’s nothing compared to the pain of our hearts (caused by the coup). freedom back, ”said Moh Moh, a 26-year-old participant who declined to give her full name for security reasons.
“The tattoo campaign was our own idea – it’s a group of tattoo artists using the event to support the CDM. What’s happening with the protests right now is more concerning than Covid,” said organizer Nyi Nyi Lwin.
He said the event was marred by recent fatalities against peaceful protesters by Myanmar’s security forces, with some people fearing a rumor that police would do so. arrive to arrest those present.
Constant collisions
According to the watchdog group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), nearly 2,000 people have been arrested, charged or convicted by the military junta since the seizure of power. Many of them are people who are pulled from their homes by police and military personnel during night raids, often with relatives unsure of where they are being held.
“Protests continue despite innocent people dying at the hands of the military,” said a tattoo artist, who held up the three-fingered salute but refused to be named by name for security reasons. “This situation must end. We are demonstrating to release Aung San Suu Kyi and restore democracy.”
As in “The Hunger Games” movies, the salute has become a symbol of resistance among a loose collection of activists across Asia who call themselves the Milk Tea Alliance because of the drink’s popularity in places shaken by protests. The movement, which started out as a hashtag to protest online harassment by Chinese nationalists, has since grown to include members from Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar and even India.
The members support each other’s struggles for democracy and have adopted a similar iconography at protests in every country, including slogans, protest signs, the now well-known uniforms of helmets and glasses, protest tactics and the three-fingered salute.
A demonstration in Nyaung Shwe on March 5, 2021. Credit: Robert Bociaga for CNN
The symbol’s popularity at Nyaung Shwe’s tattoo protest is an indication of how far and wide the movement has spread – and how visual dissent is trickling down into smaller and more remote parts of Myanmar.
Troubled past
Not far from Nyaung Shwe, nestled in the Shan Hills, is the tourist attraction Inle Lake. In recent weeks, thousands of people have staged a unique form of protest on the lake: gathering on traditional wooden sloops and fishing ships holding up their oars and signs expressing resistance to military rule.
Protesters wearing traditional Shan clothing hold up oars and signs as they participate in a demonstration against Myanmar’s military coup on Inle Lake on Feb. 11, 2021. Credit: Calito / AFP / Getty Images
Protests have also broken out near other iconic Burmese monuments, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bagan, famous for its thousands of ancient pagodas and temples.
From Yangon to the capital Naypyidaw, and even among Burmese migrants in Thailand, people tattoo the face of 75-year-old Suu Kyi on their chest and arms. Nobel Peace Prize winner and former political prisoner, Suu Kyi, led Myanmar as the first civilian leader since the end of military rule in 2011.
Protesters took part in a rally against Myanmar’s military coup in Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on Feb. 11, 2021. Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images
In 1988, Aung Soe, 49, took part in massive pro-democracy protests known as the 8888 Uprising, which were forcibly suppressed by the military and ultimately ended in a military coup.
At the time, “all protesters at the time got tattoos on the upper arm to show unity, but they are different from today’s designs”, he said. “Mine shows circles that form a clenched fist.”
Aung Soe said that during the crackdown in 1988, which allegedly killed 3,000 people, he had to change locations regularly to avoid the authorities. During the recent protests, many protesters, activists and journalists have also gone into hiding for fear of arrest by security forces.
“Generation Z is much more emotional than we are,” he said. “They care so much about freedom. The situation today, compared to 1988, is different because now we have the elected government … and the world knows what is happening in Myanmar. In the past, we could not disseminate information, or it’s at home or abroad. The international community didn’t care about us. “
Tattoo culture
Myanmar has a long and rich history of tattooing, especially among the country’s diverse ethnic groups. In the northern states of Shan and central Karen, men tattooed their thighs to symbolize masculinity and courage. Others believed that the traditional tattoos would have magical powers. In the remote, mountainous state of Chin in western Myanmar, local women were known to tattoo their faces.
But tattooing was banned in Myanmar – then known as Burma – under British colonial rule. And the custom of Chin women tattooing their faces was banned by the Burmese military’s socialist government in the 1960s.
Since the country started to open up and went through a series of reforms starting in 2011, tattoos have become more popular, especially among the younger generation.
Htun Htun said all his friends in Nyaung Shwe are getting a protest tattoo, “but in Yangon that is no longer possible because of the crackdown,” he said. “We all hope for democracy and the release of our leaders.”
The power of small protests, he said, was “to unite the people into one movement.”
“The escalation of violence scares me to death, we are defenseless”, he added. “Guns are not the solution to the problem.”