Clanging cymbals and banging pots, Yangon residents unhappy with a putsch that ousted Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi have begun kicking up a nightly fracas to chase out "evil spirits" -- in this case, the military.

Suu Kyi and other top civilian leaders were detained in dawn raids on Monday.

The lightning coup brought a country on the path to democracy to a shuddering halt, returning the reins of power to the military who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for nearly five decades.

The presence of soldiers, acute fears over Suu Kyi's safety in detention and concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have so far kept a lid on any mass demonstrations since the takeover.

But residents in the commercial capital of Yangon are resorting to an old tradition to express their displeasure -- making as much noise as possible.

For the last two nights in a row, Yangonnites have stood on the streets at 8:00 pm to bang pots and pans, whack discarded cardboard boxes and clash cymbals for an hour. Those in their cars at the time honk their horns relentlessly.

"We used to do it to drive evil out of the village or out of the house," said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, an activist who is one of the organisers behind a so-called Civil Disobedience Movement opposing the coup.

"People are using this tactic to drive the military junta out of the country."

Similar scenes were witnessed during previous periods of protest in 1988 and 2007, both of which were suppressed with lethal force.

On Wednesday night, the cacophony also gave way to an old revolution song, "Kabar Ma Kyay Bu" -- "We Won't Forget Until the End of the World".

Popularised during the 1988 uprising -- which saw thousands of protesters gunned down on the streets -- it is an emotional appeal for freedom set to the tune of "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas.

"History is written with our blood... to those who lose their lives on the battle for democracy," sang residents from their balconies in Yangon's Pazundaung Township.

A man waved a red National League for Democracy flag in front of his storefront as cars drove by beeping their horns, while others flashed a three-finger salute -- a gesture borrowed from pro-democracy movements in Thailand and Hong Kong.

"I want all the generations of (the military's) families to suffer the grief we are suffering -- we won't forget until the end of the world," said 28-year-old Meme Win Maw in Sanchaung township, referencing the song's title.

Chants of "long live Mother Suu" rang out across Yangon's myriad townships -- but by 9:00 pm, all that could be heard was the sound of traffic.

"Banging the pots and pans slows my anger," Min Theint Oo, a 50-year-old in Tharkayta Township who lived through the previous junta regime, told AFP.

"But it only lasts a moment."

Myanmar's youth weigh defiance against crackdown fears after coup
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 4, 2021 - Myanmar's coup has left its younger generation bunkered down at home, obsessively tracking arrest rumours on social media and weighing whether to defy the military on the streets.

Since the dawn army raids that took Aung San Suu Kyi and her government's top ministers into custody on Monday, outrage has simmered behind closed doors over the sudden end to a fledgling democracy.

A generation too young to remember the last military takeover say they are unlikely to confront the troops now patrolling the streets without a clear signal from the country's deposed leaders, or guidance from veterans of earlier civil strife.

"We have the readiness, the anger, the anxiety," said Aye.

But the spark for whatever comes next "needs to come people who can lead", she added.

Aye and the other Myanmar youth who spoke to AFP asked for their real names to be withheld out of fear of reprisals.

She was born in 1988, the year of massive nationwide protests against the country's military leadership, which eventually saw thousands killed in a merciless crackdown.

The rallies may have failed to topple the junta, but they gave rise to the country's most famous dissidents, including Suu Kyi, who was catapulted to international attention as the face of resistance.

While the Nobel laureate was spending years under house arrest, Aye was growing up in a refugee camp.

She moved back to Myanmar the same year that Suu Kyi's party swept to power in 2015, but she believes the future of her business in Yangon has been "completely destroyed" by the putsch that has dashed the nation's democratic prospects.

She is instead stocking up on food, water and other essentials alongside her friend Ko Ko, with the pair intending to use the shopfront as a refuge for close friends in the event of arrests, or bloodshed.

Ko Ko, 22, said he had been in a daze since Monday when he woke to hear his neighbours in Yangon listening to the emergency broadcast announcing the coup.

"Right now, everyone knows it's not the time to protest," he told AFP, saying he had been more preoccupied with queueing at his bank for nearly an hour while he and his neighbours frantically tried to withdraw their savings.

- 'Nobody trusts them' -

Myanmar's military has justified its takeover by claiming Suu Kyi's government failed to address allegations of fraud in a national election last November.

International observers -- as well as Myanmar's own election monitor -- reported no major issues with the vote.

Many Myanmar social media users rejected the military's reasoning for the coup, including one young woman in a city on the southern coast who told AFP the fraud claims were "total bullshit".

Khin, who recently returned to her hometown after finishing her university scholarship in Europe, also said most people she knew did not believe the military would relinquish power after a year as it said it will.

"Nobody knows but everybody thinks so," she said. "Nobody trusts them."

Plans to resist have so far been limited to peaceful acts of civil disobedience, with medical staff staging a strike and Yangon residents banging pots and pans in a practice that is traditionally associated with exorcising evil.

There has also been an outpouring of rage online, as people share news of tanks moving around cities and rumours that dissidents have been taken into detention.

"It's possible that social media is having a palliative effect," said Mary Callahan, an associate professor of international studies at the University of Washington who is based in Yangon.

It is unclear how long that will last, with reports of phone networks blocking access to Facebook and other platforms on Thursday.

"People are angry, and also scared," said an activist based in Mandalay, the second-largest city.

But he added they were also "confused, with conflicting information on social media and a lack of political leadership after the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi".

And many worry that an overt backlash could be used as an excuse to prolong military rule.

The activist added: "We (experienced) the military regime for decades and know how bad things can go."

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

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Facebook disrupted in Myanmar as UN chief says coup must fail
Yangon (AFP) Feb 4, 2021
Myanmar's generals ordered internet providers to restrict access to Facebook on Thursday, days after they seized power, as UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world must rally to ensure the military putsch fails. The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back into direct military rule on Monday as de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders were detained in a series of dawn raids, ending the country's brief experiment with democracy. The coup sparked international condemnation and fe ... read more