Days after a military coup in Myanmar, the military’s top general virtually shut down the internet when pro-democracy protesters took to the streets.
The largest demonstration to date against the overthrow of the government on Monday took place in the city of Yangon, where protesters marched past police equipment in riot gear chanting, “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win, “while holding” Against Military Dictatorship “banners.
The protests came when the general, Min Aung Hlaing, blocked access to Twitter and Instagram and virtually shut down the internet on Saturday – an action to stop the spread of ‘fake news’.
The robust Burmese community in New York is following the protests minute by minute. For Thi Ha, 37, the takeover heralded the deathblow for democracy. David Khin is more optimistic, convinced that his Burmese fellow citizens – who hit their pots and pans in protest – will one day take back their hard-won freedoms.
But the New Yorkers unequivocally agree that now is a frightening time, even for them, as their words could pose problems for their parents back home in the country once known as Burma.
Min Aung Hlaing justified his seizure of power by claiming that the National League of Democracy, the controlling party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had stolen November’s parliamentary elections. The US has condemned the takeover.
Democracy is dead. That’s 100%, ”explained Ha, from Brooklyn. “Now we have lost our freedom in Burma. They detain anyone they want without the law. ”
Ha, 37, knows the harassment. He and his wife, MyatMon Thinn, fled the country two years ago, tired of being chased by soldiers for their pro-democracy efforts to bring NLD leaders to rallies and organize protests.
“We’re doing our best to get real democracy with NLD,” Ha told The Post. “And that’s why the military are trying to get me and my family.”
Ha and Thinn left their company, a car shop and a travel agency. Now he works in a grocery store and she has a job in a beauty salon.
Khin, 35, is also concerned about his livelihood as he runs a PR / marketing agency in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Before the coronavirus pandemic, he divided his time between his childhood home and Queens, which is home to many of New York’s 6,000 Burmese citizens.
Like Ha, Khin has been a pro-democracy activist for years – but in the US, where he came to college in 2007. He and his wife May marched in front of the Burmese embassy on Manhattan’s east side long before Suu Kyi won her first election to parliament in 2012, and they remain committed to keeping their country free.
“We want change,” Khin told The Post. “That’s why disagreements grow. That is why civil disobedience is growing. That is why I have my own opinion here. “
And yet, even though he and Ha are halfway around the world, they think the military can make them pay for their words by retaliating against their parents.
“They are okay now, but they are very disturbed, very concerned about what could happen, the future,” said Khin. “Of course I’m worried.”
But both men grew up in families where democracy was embraced – and they are willing to risk speaking out.
“I will do everything I can to free my country from the coup,” said Ha.