THE PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE AMID A CRACKDOWN
ON THE MEDIA
When the army turned to its old method of repression, people took part in various forms of resistance
including street protests, labour strikes, withholding
taxes, banging pots and pans, non-participation in
social and religious gatherings arranged by the law
enforcement bodies, and so on. As a pre-emptive
action to suppress possible resistance, the newly-formed State Administrative Council led by the military
leaders arrested famous writers, activists, musicians,
and social influencers who were deemed to be the
leading voices for democracy or supporters of Aung
San Suu Kyi.12 At the beginning, the elected members
of the NLD seemed not to know how to respond to
the emergency hijacking of power, but later formulated a counter-strategy by forming the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) with
a few elected parliamentarians from other parties.
Then a new cabinet emerged under the name National Unity Government (NUG), rejecting the military
takeover, and which was in collaboration with ethnic
representatives from different regions. While Myanmar’s neighbours in Asia had a serious battle with the
third wave of COVID-19, Myanmar fell into a double
crisis, intertwining the twin problems of the virus and
the violent acts of the military forces. Although the
international community repeatedly denounced the
regime, the coup leaders turned a deaf ear, and even
increased their acts of repression.
In the first nine months, the country saw the arrest of
nearly 9000, and killing of over 1,000 people by the
military. In the name of the people’s security, the law
enforcement bodies keep issuing arrest warrants for
dissidents, with the number of open warrants having
reached 1989 by 13 October 2021.13 Although kno-
wing the high price they would pay, many Myanmar
citizens have chosen armed struggle to put an end to
these atrocities. Within a few months, many towns
built their own self-defence systems and prepared
for guerrilla warfare against the army. These calls for
self-defence were also supported by the new parallel
government, the NUG, by laying down the principles
for founding the People’s Defence Force (PDF). Being
prevented from openly building a chain of command
among the scattered revolutionaries in Central Myanmar,14 self-initiated local PDF are picking their own
battles against the Tatmadaw.15
To hide these real situations from the public eye, the
MOI and other branches of the coup council used two
counter-strategies: (1) restricting independent media;
and (2) setting up alternative channels to spread state-sponsored content, which mainly consisted of
messages denouncing the opposition groups and
promoting ultra-nationalistic views. The MOI sent
a warning to all media in early February, demanding
that they be recognized as a legitimate governing
body and not to address them as the “coup council”,
in an attempt to convince citizens that the military’s
intention was not to enact a coup, but was rather
intervening in State affairs because of alleged election
irregularities. Despite denying that a coup had taken
place, the military and MOI still acted in ways that
implied otherwise. The MOI warned the media that
any content deemed to be destabilizing social order
and provoking riots would make them liable to have
their broadcasting license revoked. Since then, telling
the truth has become more difficult, and fewer and
fewer journalists can openly take the risk of reporting
when journalism has become a crime.
12 By 28 May 2021, around 20 celebrities had been arrested, with roughly 100 in hiding, according to Radio Free Asia. See J. Lipes, “Some 120 Celebrities
Arrested, in Hiding Face Charges of ‘Defamation’ Against Myanmar Junta”, Radio Free Asia, 28 May 2021, available at https://www.rfa.org/english/
news/myanmar/celebrities-05282021181217.html.
13 “Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup”, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), 13 October 2021, available at https://aappb.
org/?p=18170.
14 There are 14 provinces in Myanmar. In Central Myanmar, seven provinces — known as regions — are populated by Bamar, which is the biggest ethnic
group of the country, and the other seven provinces — known as states — belong to seven major ethnic groups including Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Chin,
Mon, Rakhine, and Shan.
15 The official term for Myanmar’s armed forces.
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