Protesters go all out against Myanmar coup

Pools and princesses as protesters go all out
Source: EPA
2 Min Read

Daily US Times: Five days into mass street protests against a military coup in Myanmar, we are seeing protesters take their creativity levels up a notch – or three.

Young demonstrators have already been holding up witty, tongue-in-cheek placards in streets which have not gone unnoticed.

Now we are seeing them in fancy dress and using props, like with these young women in ball gowns staging what they call a “princess protest” in the country’s main city Yangon.

One of the protesting “princesses” told Frontier Myanmar that they wanted to “show that young girls are also participating” in protests against the 1 February military takeover.

The military overthrew Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government after claiming, without evidence, that the November election that returned her National League for Democracy (NLD) to power was fraudulent.

But of course it is not just princesses coming out on to the streets. There was also this group sitting in inflatable tubs, holding fairly restrained placards explaining why the events over the last 10 days have left them a “little upset”.

Tens of thousands of people have turned out in street protests against the military coup, which overthrew Mr Suu Kyi’s democratically-elected government last week, despite a recent ban on large gatherings and a night curfew.

They haven’t been deterred by police using force on demonstrators on Thursday in the capital Nay Pyi Taw.

One woman who was at that protest is in critical condition in hospital and rights groups have said she was shot, and some of the placards seen on Wednesday made reference to that incident.

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