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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
From Trump to Myanmar: What the new cancel culture is saying: ‘If I don’t win the election, you must cancel the result’
March 5, 2021, 9:34 PM IST
Nayan Chanda is a US-based journalist who writes columns for TOI.
Growing numbers of right-wing leaders have embraced an authoritarian version of cancel culture. Their approach seems to consist of the following: ‘If I don’t win the election, you must cancel the result.’ Weeks after President Donald Trump’s attempt to inspire an insurrection against Congress to cancel the legitimate election he lost, the generals in Myanmar sought to emulate the same method, dismissing as a fraud the crippling electoral blow dealt to the military-backed party by the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD). Tatmadaw, as the country’s military is known, as the self-proclaimed guardians of Myanmar’s integrity and stability, have responded brutally to street protests against their overthrow of civilian government. The world has reacted predictably.