Nationwide 'silent strike' in Myanmar protests military rule
ABC News
Opponents of military rule in Myanmar have held one of their biggest nationally coordinated protests in months, successfully calling on people across the country to shut their businesses and stay at home on International Human Rights Day
BANGKOK -- Opponents of military rule in Myanmar on Friday held one of their biggest nationally coordinated protests in months, successfully calling on people across the country to shut their businesses and stay at home on International Human Rights Day.
The “silent strike” was staged in cities and towns from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and came at a time of increasing violence in the political crisis triggered by the army’s seizure of power in February and ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Tuesday, there was a widely reported massacre in the country’s northwestern Sagaing region in which soldiers were accused of rounding up and killing 11 civilians whose charred bodies were later discovered by fellow villagers. The military-installed government has denied its soldiers were involved, but it is staging an offensive in northwestern Myanmar against persistent resistance from anti-military militias.
In Yangon, the country’s largest city, and elsewhere, photos on social media showed normally busy streets empty of traffic on Friday. Usually crowded markets and plazas were quiet hours before the official start of the strike, which reaffirmed the widespread opposition to the army's rule and its disregard for human rights.
