YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters against the coup in Myanmar, adept at finding issues to tie protests across the country, took to the streets holding painted eggs in a gesture for the Easter break on Sunday.
In Yangon’s largest city, a group marched through the Insein district singing and singing protest songs and cradling eggs bearing the slogan “Spring Revolution.” Many of the eggs also bore a drawing of the three-fingered greeting, a symbol of resistance to the February 1 coup.
On the morning of Mandalay, the second largest city in the country, protesters gathered on motorbikes to protest the takeover that overthrew the democratically elected government.
Myanmar’s army has violently repressed protesters and other opposition people, with the latest civilian death toll since the coup in 557, according to the Independent Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners. More than 2,750 people have been arrested or convicted, according to the group.
On Sunday, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters in Pyinmana, in central Myanmar, and killed at least one person, local media outlet Khit Thit Media reported.
Pope Francis, in his Easter Sunday speech at St. Peter’s Basilica, prayed for “the youth of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully, knowing that hatred can only be dispelled for love “.
Sunday’s so-called “Easter Egg Strike” follows other themed days. They included a “flower strike,” in which protesters placed flowers in public places to honor the dead by security forces, and a “silent strike,” in which people across the country left the streets deserted. .
Dr Sasa, Myanmar’s special envoy to the United Nations with a name, posted a picture of painted eggs on Twitter and wrote that the people of Myanmar have a “great future in federal democracy,” which reflects the hopes that the military will abandon and reinstate a democratic system.
Security forces have continued to spread fear among ordinary citizens. During the night, a resident of Yangon recorded a video of a group of soldiers and police using shots to throw stones at the windows of houses, breaking the silence of the night. At other times, soldiers and police maintain night-time intimidation with raids in neighborhoods, during which they shout abuse, shoot at random, make arrests, and vandalize property.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
With most Internet access cut short or severely restricted by the board, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the people of Myanmar to get pictures of their situation in the outside world.
After weeks of internet outages overnight, the military closed all links on Friday except those using fiber optic cable, which operated at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless connections (the least expensive options used by most people in the developing country) remained blocked on Sunday.