DispatchesJURIST EXCLUSIVE – This report from one of our law students on the ground in Myanmar was filed late Sunday Myanmar time, just before the scheduled daily internet outage imposed by the Myanmar military junta:
They harmed our people yesterday but we’re not scared, so more and more people are on the streets today.
Tomorrow is a big day. 22.2.2021 will be a remarkable day like 8.8.1988. Everyone will be out on street and all business is off.
There will be an internet cut-off from 1 am to 12 pm in Yangon. Other cities will be from 1 am to 9 am [at time of publication, South Asian media are reporting that this cut-off extension until 12 PM has been made country-wide]. Right now, both in Mandalay and Yangon, they’re blocking the roads to foreign embassies. On previous days, we take those spots hoping they do not dare to shoot us near the embassy.
There’s a big psywar today. Please help me think through this. We have CRPH (Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) which is composed of elected senators. But then, there is a group called GSC (General Strike Committee) who intend to make a big group composed of all protesters, supporters, and every association (literally everyone). Each association publishes their statements condemning the coup and encouraging CDM. Maybe they intend to combine all these people.
The main difference between CRPH and GSC is GSC’s announcement to finally abolish the 2008 constitution. As I talked with an NLD central youth committee member, CRPH intends to keep the legitimacy of elected senators and committee members and to regain power by proving that they’re the legitimate government of this country (They might have further reasons I guess; I hope so). This might be the motive of forming GSC. Another thing is that CRPH members are at the risk of being arrested daily so they have to work very carefully and secretly so the process is kind of slow in the eyes of the public. During 5 years of the NLD government, many people hoped for amending or replacing the 2008 constitution and for becoming a 100% federal democracy country. In their first term, they failed to do that one promise. As DASSK [Daw Aung Sung Suu Kyi] encourages reconciliation (between ethnic groups, between people, and the military), they handle this kind of softly on this matter. The rigid constitution itself makes it difficult very neatly and intentionally. The general public (mostly youth) is sick of “reconciliation”. That hope is long lost when they shot people mercilessly.
That’s where confusions start. Some say GSC is formed to directly negotiate with the military to ask for so-called “what people want”. They say they’ll fight till 2008 is abolished. Generation X (elders) suggests that GSC intends to disperse the unity of people. It is different from what we’re doing right now. We don’t have a leader. Everyone is a leader. No significant person in the crowd so the juntas can’t really target any specific person. Also, one member of the GSC, Moe Thee Zun, was a traitor in 1988.
I’m just sharing this with you. These kinds of tiny or big twists are surrounding us.
But we only have two focuses for now: hold a strike every day & CDM [Civil Disobedience Movement].
May everyone be safe. May tomorrow bring us Success.
