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UPRISING: The coup in Myanmar has met with popular resistance that shows no sign of abating. Reuters
Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)
Military Commentator
The coup in Myanmar is in its third month with battle lines drawn clearly between the military and an effective non-violent campaign threatening to blow up into a civil war. The Tatmadaw (military) did not expect people’s resistance on this scale and intensity, making the coup a miscalculation. It peaked on Armed Force Day (March 27) when 110 persons were killed, taking the coup death toll to 560. The coup has united the people though Buddhist monks have not joined. While the junta has established a State Administration Council (SAC), an underground group of NLD lawmakers calling itself the Committee Representing National Parliament (CRPH) has declared the 2008 military-drafted Constitution void replacing it with an interim charter. It has secured an alliance with the Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) as a federal army against the junta.