Dressed in his army uniform, Shing Ling flashes a three-finger salute for defiant social media posts after deserting Myanmar's military to join the democracy movement.

The 30-year-old soldier posted the image on Facebook last week as security forces were staging increasingly lethal crackdowns against protesters.

It racked up more than one thousand shares as commenters praised his bravery, before his profile went private.

Since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in a February 1 putsch, more than 180 people have been killed as police and soldiers deployed tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live rounds during near-daily crackdowns on anti-coup demonstrators.

"I have felt so guilty and ashamed since February 1," Shing Ling told AFP from a hideout in Yangon.

Despite feeling "shocked" about Suu Kyi's detention, it was the violence in Yangon's North Okkalapa township in early March that became the catalyst for him to join a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

"I was stationed really close to North Okkalapa, so it would be my gun that shoots unarmed people," he said. "I couldn't let that happen. That's why I decided to join."

On his public Instagram account, the ethnic Chin soldier has posted photos of himself wearing his military uniform since October 2018.

In his most recent post, he shared the image of him flashing the three-fingered salute after joining a nationwide boycott by civil servants who refuse to work under a junta regime.

But while there have been isolated reports of police and soldiers' defection, it remains rare for them to publicly announce a change of allegiance while still in Myanmar, for fear of retaliation.

For soldiers, the punishment for desertion is the death penalty, under military law.

Nearly 200 police officers and their families have fled the country since the coup -- part of a growing stream of defectors crossing into the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, according to Indian security officials.

- 'I expect the worst' -

An orphan from Chin state in western Myanmar, Shing Ling said he joined the military academy as a teenager to be part of an organisation that felt like family.

"We were like brothers and we were warm to each other -- I was happy there, it felt like home," he said.

But disillusionment set in after the previous junta regime loosened its grip on power in 2011, opening Myanmar up to the world and allowing for a communications and internet revolution.

The soldier said he learned about politics from Facebook -- the most popular social media platform in Myanmar -- where discussions widened his perspective on the military's role in society.

During the first democratically contested elections in 2015, Shing Ling voted for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), although he later switched allegiance to a lesser party after it failed to live up to his hopes.

"The rest of my friends in the military did not dare vote (for the NLD) because they were scared if they did, their senior officers would not like it," he told AFP.

Since announcing his defection from the military on Facebook, the young soldier has cut ties with his battalion, changed his appearance and mobile SIM card, and is now living in a secret location in Yangon, the country's sprawling commercial hub.

He says he knows the junta will eventually find him.

"I expect the worst," he adds.

But the deep sorrow he feels when seeing the crackdowns against unarmed civilians has strengthened his resolve, and he wants all his former comrades to answer the question: "If you have to choose between the military and the country, which will it be?"

Yangon residents flee martial law area as Myanmar death toll grows
Yangon (AFP) March 16, 2021 - Residents of a protest flashpoint district in Myanmar's biggest city fled on flatbed trucks and tuk-tuks Tuesday after security forces escalated the use of lethal force against anti-coup protesters, despite international appeals for restraint.

Much of the country has been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to demand a return to democracy.

Police and soldiers have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to subdue crowds in near-daily crackdowns, along with blanket nightly internet shutdowns to stop protesters from mobilising.

Monday saw fresh violence by security forces in several cities, leaving at least 20 dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group that has been tracking arrests and fatalities.

It followed the deadliest day so far in the six weeks since the army deposed Suu Kyi's government, with the AAPP reporting 74 killed on Sunday after the violent suppression of anti-coup unrest across Myanmar.

Many of those deaths came from the impoverished Hlaing Tharyar township in Yangon, a garment-producing area in the commercial hub with mostly Chinese-owned factories -- several of which were razed on Sunday.

The junta reacted by imposing martial law over the area and five other townships that are home to around two million people -- more than a quarter of the sprawling city's population.

Anyone arrested there faces trial by military tribunal, with sentences ranging from three years' hard labour to execution.

Myanmar law expert Melissa Crouch said the martial law declaration effectively gave complete control to military commanders and sidelined civilian administrators and judges.

"The use of martial law is extremely troubling and... represents a significant decline in the situation in Myanmar," the University of New South Wales academic said.

The AAPP said in a statement that even civilians who were not participating in anti-coup protests had died in crossfire on Monday.

By Tuesday morning, local media outlet The Irrawaddy published photos of residents fleeing the township, crowding onto flatbed trucks stuck in columns of snaking traffic.

Some carried their pets on the back of motorbikes, while others crammed their belongings in vinyl bags on tuk-tuks.

"We can see the people on the roads for as far as one's eye can see," reported local outlet Democratic Voice of Burma.

- 'Alive or dead, we have each other' -

A resident confirmed the mass exodus to AFP, saying that people wanted to leave at dawn and protesters removed makeshift barricades -- erected to slow security forces down -- to let them out.

"After 9 am, residents blocked the roads again with barriers. They allowed people to leave in the morning only," she said, adding that security forces have been deployed on the township's main roads.

"We dare not go out on the streets," she said, adding that there are sounds of gunfire at night.

More than 180 people have been killed since the coup, according to the AAPP.

"Casualties are drastically increasing," it said in its statement Tuesday.

State television meanwhile reported that a police officer had been shot dead Sunday in the city of Bago during a protest.

Candlelight vigils were held across the country on Monday night to mourn the dead, with protesters flashing the three-finger salute as a sign of solidarity with the anti-coup movement.

"Alive or dead, we have each other," tweeted prominent activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi, who is now in hiding.

- 'Not in the interests of Myanmar' -

The US once again condemned the violence Monday and called on all countries to "take concrete actions" to oppose the military regime.

"The junta has responded to call for the restoration of democracy in Burma with bullets," State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said, using another name for Myanmar.

China on Monday said it was "very concerned" for the safety of its citizens in Myanmar after Sunday's violence -- which state media said saw more than 30 factories attacked and caused $37 million in damage.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged Myanmar to take actions to "resolutely avoid a recurrence of such incidents".

"The actions of these outlaws are not in the interests of Myanmar and its people," he told reporters in Beijing.

"China will continue to urge Myanmar to take concrete steps to stop all acts of violence and bring the perpetrators to justice," he told reporters in Beijing.

State-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar said three men were killed around the garment-producing townships by "unscrupulous mobs", and police were searching for suspects.

At least 20 dead in Myanmar crackdown: monitoring group
Yangon (AFP) March 16, 2021 - At least 20 people were killed in Myanmar on Monday after another day of unrest and protests against the junta that seized power six weeks ago, a local monitoring group said.

The country has been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to demand a return to democracy.

Security forces have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds against protesters in near-daily crackdowns across the country.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group that has been tracking arrests and fatalities, said at least 20 had died in Monday's violence.

"Casualties are drastically increasing," it said in a Tuesday statement, adding that more than 180 people had been killed since the February 1 coup.

While the bulk of Monday's deaths were anti-coup demonstrators, some were civilians who were "not even participating in the protests", it said.

Most were killed in central Myanmar, while at least three died in commercial hub Yangon.

The Yangon deaths included two women in their homes who were shot when security forces opened fire on the streets, according to AAPP.

AFP has independently verified 11 fatalities.

Sunday marked the single deadliest day since the coup so far, with AFP confirming at least 44 people killed in unrest across the country.

Six townships in Yangon were placed under martial law after Sunday's violence.

Anyone arrested there faces trial by military tribunal rather than civilian courts, with sentences ranging from three years' hard labour to execution.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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