A coup broke out in our neighboring country Myanmar on monday morning. The army has taken over the country's supreme leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, including Myanmar president U Win Myint. The army has declared a state of emergency for a year. Due to this, the power of Myanmar has reached the commander-in-chief Min Ang Hlaing. Now, to overcome the opposition of the coup, Myanmar army has deployed forces across the country.
From 1962 to 2011, there has been a military dictatorship in Myanmar. In 2010, general elections were held in Myanmar and in 2011 a 'civil government' was formed in Myanmar, in which the country's representatives were handed over to the elected representatives of the people. Even after the formation of a civilian government, the real power always remained with the army. So Monday's incident is a real form of political crisis.
Fake Democracy and Dictatorship
The struggles of General Aung San, who fought against military rule for nearly two decades, have resulted in the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. This victory has marked the beginning of the end of military rule that has been going on for almost five decades. Myanmar has stepped out of the clutches of military rule and made historical steps towards restoration of democracy. The National League for Democracy (NLD), the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party, has been here for nearly five decades following a landslide victory in the recent third election in Myanmar. This massive victory will not only give Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party a chance to oust the military rulers from power, but also their own party's stakes on the presidency. Now the dictators have seized power in advance.
Myanmar had to bear the brunt of military dictatorship from 1962 to 1862 after being under British rule from 1842 to 1948. During the military rule, a long civil war broke out in Myanmar. During this period incidents of human rights abuses reached its peak. The rise of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the 90s raised hopes of a restoration of democracy there. In 1988, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi formed a party called NLD, She's NLD won a landslide victory in the elections in 1990, but the military rulers refused to accept these results, regained power and put Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. The military regime that occupied Myanmar in 1988 is known as Military Government. Also known as SPDC (State Peace and Development Council). She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for the fight for human rights and democracy. In 2010, the dictators regime finally released Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after heavy international pressures after being detained for 15 years. In 2011, moving towards the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, the former army general, U Thein Sein was appointed president and formed a semi-civilian government. However, most of the posts in this government were handled by the army people. In 2012 parliamentary by-elections Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party won 43 out of 45 seats. Subsequently, NLD of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won an overwhelming majority in election held in 2020 and paved the way for the end of the six-decade long military rule in Myanmar.
After the end of long-standing military rule in Myanmar, the same is expected in some other countries of the world. But for now, the battle between the Myanmar people and the dictator is the answer to that hope. Libya, Thailand and Iraq which were under Saddam Hussein till a few years ago can be named in these. Since 1969 in Libya, since 2006 in Thailand, from 1979 to 2003 in Iraq, and since the formation of Pakistan in 1947, democracy has never lived there for a long time and most of the time there has been the occupation of military dictators. During the military rule in Myanmar, the country's economy was paralyzed. The same situation has happened in all the countries of the world including Pakistan where military rule has been in force for a long time. In all these countries, problems such as violation of civil rights, atrocities on minorities, decline in economic development, increase in poverty, illiteracy and unemployment under military rule have been reported. Therefore, if Myanmar, which is currently in power, can no longer revolt against the dictators, it is likely to face serious concerns in the future.
Writers: Ayushi Mona, Htetwana
Photo Credit: PRI.org
The Independent
Foreign Policy
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