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BANGKOK , Dec 11 (AP) \u2014 Opponents of military rule in Myanmar on Friday held one of their biggest nationally coordinated protests in months, successfully calling on people across the country to shut their businesses and stay at home on International Human Rights Day.<\/p>\n
The \u201csilent strike\u201d was staged in cities and towns from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and came at a time of increasing violence in the political crisis triggered by the army\u2019s seizure of power in February and ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, there was a widely reported massacre in the country\u2019s northwestern Sagaing region in which soldiers were accused of rounding up and killing 11 civilians whose charred bodies were later discovered by fellow villagers. The military-installed government has denied its soldiers were involved, but it is staging an offensive in northwestern Myanmar against persistent resistance from anti-military militias.<\/p>\n
In Yangon, the country\u2019s largest city, and elsewhere, photos on social media showed normally busy streets empty of traffic on Friday. Usually crowded markets and plazas were quiet hours before the official start of the strike, which reaffirmed the widespread opposition to the army\u2019s rule and its disregard for human rights.<\/p>\n
Min Han Htet, co-founder and spokesperson of the Alliance of Student Unions Yangon, said the strike by itself might not make a significant difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut by showing their unity, the strike is a success for the people who are waging psychological warfare against the military dictatorship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Solidarity appeared strong among operators of even the smallest shops in Yangon, but at least a few apparently paid a price for their defiance, as photos posted on social media showed fittings such as tables and chairs confiscated by security forces from some.<\/p>\n
Since Thursday, authorities had announced in some neighborhoods that action would be taken against shops which close without an acceptable reason.<\/p>\n
A shopkeeper from the market in Muse in northern Shan state said the official Township Development Committee threatened over a loudspeaker on Friday morning that it would take action against closed shops.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey announced in the town that they would shut down our shops for a month if we went ahead and closed the shops and markets without any reason. But we don\u2019t care. It is the time to show our unity,\u201d said the vendor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the authorities.<\/p>\n
Protesters wearing black attire, as suggested by strike organizers, marched silently in Shwebo in Sagaing region. People at home, also dressed in black, posted selfies showing them holding small handmade posters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe own our town. Our city, our rules. Staying silent or active is our choice. Never be allowed to rule,\u201d was written on one. \u201cTake back our human rights by revolution,\u201d read another.<\/p>\n
People also held up three fingers, the resistance salute adopted from \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d movie series.<\/p>\n
There was at least one pro-military march in Yangon, according to photos on social media that showed about 100 demonstrators holding small flags and posters reading \u201cCounter-Terrorism and Support the Military.\u201d<\/p>\n
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BANGKOK , Dec 11 (AP) \u2014 Opponents of military rule in Myanmar on Friday held one of their biggest nationally coordinated protests in months, successfully calling on people across the country to shut their businesses and stay at home on International Human Rights Day. The \u201csilent strike\u201d was staged in cities and towns from 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-178955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}