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Myanmar: The History of a Winding Road to Freedom

By Anne-Sophie de Groot


Since this February reports of major protests throughout Myanmar are filling the world’s news. The military has staged a coup and taken power. This coup is not something that stands alone in the country's history. To give you an understanding of what is going on and why, here is a historical overview on the governing of Myanmar throughout modern history.


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND


Photo by Steven Scheuermeier


The first unification of the territory of Myanmar was as the Pagan Kingdom. This Buddhist unified state was founded in 1057. During the 12th and 13th century Pagan was one of the main powers of Southeast Asia. After the collapse of this kingdom there was a long period of political fragmentation. The unification returned in the 16th century under the reign of the Toungoo dynasty. The territory received the name Burma. This dynasty fell after 266 years and was followed by the Konbaung dynasty in 1752. During this reign Burma had to put up with the Chinese threat on one side and British India on the other. Three Anglo-Burmese wars erupted, where the British annexed the territory increasingly. Before becoming a crown colony in 1937, Burma became a province of British India for 50 years. In 1942 Burma was invaded and occupied by Japan, but with the end of World War II, the British reinstated their colonial rule.


MILITARY RULE


In 1948 Burma became an independent and democratic nation after 63 years of British rule. However, shortly after its independence followed a coup d’état in 1962 and Burma became a military dictatorship. The federalist system was abolished and a single party state established with the Socialist Programme Party. In 1989 Burma was officially renamed Myanmar, as it was argued that this name was more inclusive towards its people.

During this period of military power the freedom of speech was heavily restricted by banning newspapers, strong censorship, brutal reactions to protests and anyone could be arrested at any time . At the time NGO’s and independent businesses were not allowed, the country was completely isolated. The military’s rule has left the economy ruined and the people living in the constant fear of being watched.



Photo by source, Fair use, uprisings 1988


After years of military command there was another shift of power, when in 1974 a new constitution transferred the power to a People’s Assembly. However, these were still led by former military leaders and it remained a one party system. In 1987 an economic backlash sparked anti-government riots. During these riots thousands were killed and arrested or put under house arrest, under those many democracy and human rights advocates. One of these was Aung San Suu Kyi, at that moment the leader of the opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD). The army strongly put down these protests, again in the form of a coup with the suspension of the constitution. The army promised elections, which were held in 1990, and led to a landslide victory of the Democratic party, receiving 80% of the seats. Nevertheless, the army kept holding a lot of power and ignored the election results. A national convention was installed to draw up a new constitution, which finally came into place in 2008, after years of negotiations.


International pressure had increased these years and in 2011 it came to a turning point. Political prisoners were released, a new economic policy came into place and national elections were called out . These were held in 2015, and again the NLD won a crucial majority. This was the first fairly elected representative government. However, the armed forces would only allow for a civil government if they could retain much control of the minister position and 25% of the seats, an amount that gave them a veto. This was a way for them to open up the economy, which was necessary, while retaining power.


AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Aung San Suu Kyi is the famous current de facto leader of Myanmar, the State Counsellor. She is the daughter of Aung San, a politician and revolutionary. He is seen as the father of the nation as he took part in the work for the independence of Burma from the British rule. Her mother was a diplomat. Aung San Suu Kyi has studied in the UK but returned to Myanmar and got involved in the political fight. She has devoted her life to advocating for freedom and democracy and is seen as the face of democratisation. She has received a Nobel Peace Prize for her advocating for peaceful change in 1991. Meanwhile she has been under house arrest many times for her advocating, for in total 15 years. Since she became the leader in 2016, she has bettered the country, bringing back freedom of expression and opening up the country internationally. Under her government the amount of people living in poverty was halved. Not all that was hoped she would change has happened, but it is a developing process.

( Photo: Claude TRUONG-NGOC - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 )


ROHINGYA


There are many ethnic minorities, these minorities have always felt to be treated as second society. The Rohingya are a ethnic Muslim minority that has been subject to violence by the Myanmar military. They are not recognised in the country. Many have fled the country to Bangladesh and at least 9000 people have been killed. It has been said to be the fastest growing humanitarian crisis in the world. Aung San Suu Kyi has been subject to international critique because she allegedly didn’t condemn the violence against the Rohingya. However, it should be noted that she has little to no power over the military. When the International Criminal Court has opened a case on the matter, Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country against the genocide charges. She has not addressed the court there on the substance of the case, but has asked the court to dismiss the case. The international public has waited for her to speak up, but as she dismissed the allegations and claimed misinformation and exaggerations, her reputation internationally was destroyed. Nevertheless, in Myanmar she is still seen as a hero, because she has defended her country.


COUP D’ÉTAT 2021


Last November a new election was held. It was expected that the NLD would have a decrease of votes, but received 83%. Quickly after the election results were public, the military party claimed election fraud, without any substantial evidence. The party seems to be afraid that the NLD, with these results, would feel legitimate to start pushing for a new constitution, which they had started to call for already before the elections. The military wants to take back control over the country that it has lost due to democratisation, but claims to want to hold a new and fair election and to hand power to the party that wins in that election. However, it has not yet planned an election.


In the early morning of Monday February 1st the military started detaining and putting under house arrest many government leaders, under those also Aung San Suu Kyi. Also it took down communications and news broadcasters, the only available news outlet remained the military broadcaster. A new law will be installed to censor posting on social media and demanding providers to hand over information of their customers to further restrict freedom of speech.


Aung San Suu Kyi is being charged for using and importing walkie talkies, rather surprising, but she could be imprisoned for 2 years. She has now been filed a second charge of violating the national disaster law of the country. The person in charge now is commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing who has also maintained political influence during the democratisation. He is also internationally held responsible for his alleged role in the major violence against the Rohingya.



Photo: Ninjastrikers, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 9 feb 2021, Hpa-An Kayin State, Myanmar protest


Since the coup people have taken to the streets to protest the military’s overthrow of power. The protesting started slowly, because the people are scared that the military will proceed with the same behaviour as during its earlier period in power. These protests were held with pots and pans to make noise, which is a tradition to scare off bad spirits and therefore a great symbol. Currently protests are held daily, with thousands of people from all layers in society. Many people have been detained, and there are reports of violence of the military and deaths. People are also calling for strikes to shut down the country, but the military has already responded by amending the law to ensure stronger criminal charges against those who ‘incite unrest in the country’.


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