Of Guardians and Generals
Written on February 4th, 2021 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}Barely a month of 2021 has passed. We have already witnessed two major conflicts - a failed attempt at attacking the US senate's elected leaders and a military coup in Myanmar that overthrew the elected government. The army's takeover has led to the detention of several leaders of the National League of Democracy (NLD), including Aung San Suu Ki, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the State Counsellor Myanmar. The commonality in both these events was that both were aimed at disrespecting the vote of the people on claims of election fraud without significant evidence. The Tatmadaw, led by Min Aung Hlaing, its Commander-in-Chief, has declared a state of emergency in Myanmar for a year. While the Coup raises several questions, the most important ones are how it will influence democracies around the world, especially the ones locked in a fragile state. Can such an event trigger downfalls in other countries as well? Or will this be another internal test of endurance for the people of Myanmar in their struggle towards democratic independence?
As the sun dawns on the morning of the 1st of February, on the domes of Myanmar's rarely-used parliament house, a new game has been set afoot. Huge blue vans with the words "POLICE" printed boldly on their sides are being deployed everywhere. Media broadcasts are interrupted every couple of hours, only to return to televise even more confusion. All you can hear outside are the marching of boots and the blast of sirens. There is an air of urgency around everything,
History is repeating itself.
To clearly understand the series of events that conspired at the start of this month in the small yet diverse country of Myanmar, we have to go back into the past of a state whose politics has been marred by the iron hand of military rule. Much like us, Myanmar (also known as Burma) achieved freedom from British rule in 1948. Out of the personalities that had emerged in its freedom struggle, the man whom the people of Myanmar looked to most was a firebrand, peace-seeking politician by the name of Aung San. After the British left Burma, his party won the first general election contested in Myanmar by a supermajority. This victory was short-lived, as when the cabinet for the new democratic government was being formed, an armed group assassinated Aung San and most of his ministers. This attack seemed to have been engineered by a political rival. Today, Aung San is remembered as a martyr and the father of the nation of Myanmar. Only under his steering did Myanmar achieve a brief period of peace between its turbulent past and, soon to begin, chaotic future.
Consequently, his university classmate and closest friend, U Nu, succeeded him as the party leader and as the first Prime Minister of independent Burma. But in 1962, a military coup deposed the sitting government and established a One-Party state where the people had no political freedom. They had to suffer under the reign of a single military-controlled political party, the BSPP, in the name of "protecting the national unity of the country." But in 1988, economic mismanagement and repeated human rights violation led to widespread protests across the nation, which popularly became known as the '8888 Uprising'. This movement was met with violent retaliation, as thousands of protesters died under police fire and many were wounded. Still, there seemed to be no sign of a compromise in sight. Soon, another military coup was initiated to bring down the rule of the oppressive single-party ideology. Under the-then Gen. Saw Maung, a restoration council was formed known as SLORC. SLORC took charge in 1989 by force and declared martial law to bring order to the state. Maung advocated for a system free from military interference and wished to achieve this by holding multi-party elections in 1990.
By this time, a new organization had emerged from this struggle, consisting of leaders and activists that wished for a democratic model of governance. They became, and still are, a firebrand of hope in the aching hearts of Myanmar's millions - the National League of Democracy (NLD) headed by Aung San's youngest daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi. Little is left to be said about this woman and her unrelenting spirit of defiance that has fueled Myanmar's push towards democracy in the past thirty years.
In the 1990 elections, the NLD won 392 seats out of the 492 seats present for contention and emerged as the single largest party by a longshot. However, this scared and surprised many senior army officials, who became resistant in giving over their power into democratic hands. Gen. Maung was soon sedated and relieved on the grounds of being mentally incapacitated. There remained no support left for the transition of the government over to NLD. Aung San Suu Kyi was soon detained in 1989 and released in 1995. During this period, the SLORC solidified its position as the final authority of power in Myanmar and formed what is known as a junta (a group that rules by force). In 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace prize, which her sons received on her behalf. The junta remained in power for 21 years, 15 of which Aung San Suu Kyi spent in house arrest. After which, a controversial constitution was drafted in 2007, which lent 25% of all parliamentary seats to be filled by the military and the rest by political elections. In 2011 Suu Kyi was released from house arrest, and five years later, elections were held. Again, the NLD won with a 60% majority. Suu Kyi was made the State Counsellor and Foreign Affairs minister. But during her tenure, both her methods and reputation took hard hits from her silence upon the persecution of Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar Army. Suu Kyi's indifference to this crisis seems to have been an attempt to maintain the status quo with the administration's military side. Within three years, she was stripped of multiple awards and accolades presented to her pre-independence. Despite this, her popularity among the people of Myanmar did not die out. While this was happening, the military held four critical posts in the government – the Vice-President and Ministers of Defence, Home, and Border Affairs. These four became monumental in the Coup that followed.
In November 2020, the NLD won 60% of the seats yet another time. This again worried officials who knew that Suu Kyi's rising influence was rendering the idea of a semi-military government in Myanmar obsolete. There have been many reports citing major power abuse and corruption by high-ranking individuals in Myanmar's armed forces, and eyebrows have been raised over the aggrandizement approach of many of its generals. It seems that their service has earned them not only stars but wealth as well. The army's Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Miu Aung Hlaing, knew that the situation was getting out of hand. Several proxies associated with the military termed the entire election void on the basis of electoral fraud, a claim that was termed baseless by the Union Election Commission. For the army to retain the perks that they exercised so freely, something more severe needed to be done.
1st February 2021, was supposed to be the first day of Myanmar's parliament for its new government. But behind the scenes, Gen. Hlaing instructed the Vice-President (who became the President of Myanmar last Friday) to hand over power to him. This was done by invoking a state of emergency that also imposes martial law. Suu Kyi and her aides were whisked away to be detained in the capital without any questions asked. Over the hours that followed, more and more NLD supporters have been placed under restraining orders. No one has heard directly from Suu Kyi since, and it appears that freedom of speech and basic human rights are currently being violated for Gen. Hlaing to stay in power. Past activists and protesters are vanishing, determined to escape arrest and continue their resistance from the background. What happened in 1990 seemed to have happened again, a scared junta taking back power from the people's elect in hopes to maintain its existence. Several nations have protested against this seizure, including India, but this situation may not be that alarming for us. Myanmar is one of the few countries with which India has practised the Non-Alignment policy to perfection. The Coup was met with a straightforward statement from the ministry of external affairs that they supported the democratic side of things:
"We have noted the developments in Myanmar with deep concern. India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar. We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely."
India has shared good relationships with Myanmar and has been accommodative of both the pro-military and pro-democratic bloc. Also, frequent trade has taken place between the country, with India giving Myanmar its first submarine last year, the INS Sindhuvir. There have been constant official visitations from the Tatmadaw to India. Gen. Hlaing even met with his counterpart, Gen. Bipin Rawat, on a hearty occasion at the border once. On January 22, Myanmar even chose 15 Lakh Indian vaccine doses over 300,000 Chinese ones in an astonishing move. Sincerely, as far as India is concerned, this is Myanmar's internal matter. If the government decides to let this be then, there will probably be no adverse effects in our dealings with the state. But being the world's largest democracy and not extending help against such an act would speak volumes of a moral deficit on our behalf. This Coup has suspended the democratic plans of Myanmar for an indefinite period, putting on hold the hopes of its population. The question is whether India is willing to fight on the front foot for this movement or stay in the shadows of statements and paperwork to prevent future repercussions? As the citizens of a stalwart of democracy as our nation, it is our duty to be not only a passive but an active advocate to give voice to people's struggles. In the words of Martin Luther King himself,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Recently, the junta is seeking legal avenues to uphold their decision for staging the Coup. This is clearly seen in the personal attack launched against Suu Kyi this Wednesday, accusing her of possessing illegal communication systems (walkie-talkies) that violate Myanmar's Import/Export Laws. Speculation predicts that this claim, along with the unverified allegation of voter fraud, might be how the military may be planning to head this ship. There has been no communication from either Prime Minister Modi or any other cabinet minister; however, it is too soon to tell what strategy the government adopts to tackle this disruption in its neighbourhood. But as it stands, the capital city of Myanmar, Naypyidaw or the "City of Kings," seems to have become the city of captives.