Figure 2: The banner from the protest scene near Sule Pagoda
in Yangon on 17 February 2021 reads “We have nothing to lose
but our chains”, one of the Marxist expressions popularized by
groups such as University of Yangon Student Union
Source: Photograph courtesy of Khin Sandar Nyunt.
roles in the government.24 The Arakan Army declared that it would stand
with the people on 21 March, two days after eleven student leaders from
Arakan or Rakhine State issued a statement of solidarity with students
and people resisting the regime.25 Members of ethnic nationalities have
Jangai Jap, “Protesters and Bystanders: Ethnic Minorities in the Pre-Democracy
Revolution”, Tea Circle, 22 March 2021, https://teacircleoxford.com/2021/03/22/
protesters-and-bystanders-ethnic-minorities-in-the-pro-democracy-revolution/
(accessed 23 March 2021).
24
25
“Joint Statement by Arakanese Student Unions”, 21 March 2021, and “Rebel
Militia in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Joins Other Minorities in Condemning
Junta”, Reuters, 23 March 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmarpolitics-rakhine-idUSKBN2BF1H5?fbclid=IwAR3CKEBBHPTEfQrSpYn0i8Q
sbLFbhAEXN6mdxwkz_BIcXkE7LFP6DqbgnmQ (accessed 23 March 2021).
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