World
Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. The army leader acts after claiming widespread voter fraud. Joe Biden threatens to reinstate sanctions.
By
Jonathan Pearlman.
Military coup ends Myanmar’s transition to democracy
Protesters hold images of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, outside the country’s embassy in Bangkok this week.
Credit: Lauren DeCicca / Getty Images
The takeover
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On Monday morning in Myanmar, internet and phone services were cut, state-run television and radio stations were unable to broadcast, and troops set up roadblocks and enforced a nationwide curfew. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s leader, was detained and reportedly placed under house arrest, along with the president and other members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. A statement was then read out on military television, announcing that a one-year state of emergency had been imposed. And so Myanmar, which was tightly ruled by the military from 1
Myanmar military takes control, world mulls response
Military unhappy with election outcome
Fears abound that army chief Min Aung Hlaing s coup will drag Myanmar back to the decades of junta rule.
The general told business groups that he could hold onto power for a further six months after the one-year state of emergency in order to ensure subsequent fair elections.
Min Aung Hlaing justified his actions by alleging widespread voter fraud had taken place during last November s national election, which saw Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi win a huge landslide.
The outcome did not go down well with the military as its favored parties well way behind Suu Kyi s NLD party.
Myanmar military takes control, world mulls response
Densely populated camps
Most of the 1 million or so Rohingya in Bangladesh now live in five camps that cover an area equivalent to a third of Manhattan. Over 700,000 live in the world s largest and most densely populated refugee camp, Kutupalong, an area of just 13 square kilometers.
About half of the refugees are children, and there are more women in the camps than men. Most of them live in shelters made of bamboo and plastic sheets, and they are not allowed to work and cannot leave the camps without the permission of the government.
Gun over ballot in Myanmar The declaration of the Emergency follows many veiled and some fairly direct threats of a coup by the military, including the army chief, Min Aung Hlaing Subir Bhaumik | | Published 04.02.21, 12:11 AM
Myanmar’s all-powerful military, the Tatmadaw, has imposed an Emergency and taken control of the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, who led her party, the National League for Democracy, back to power with a landslide victory the NLD won 396 out of 476 seats has been put under house arrest. Other NLD leaders have been imprisoned too.
Although the army was threatening a takeover for the last one month, not many were expecting it to happen. The Tatmadaw is not calling it a ‘coup’ in the hope that this would address the allegations of voter. But it
How Aung San Suu Kyi Went From Nobel Peace Prize To Pariah Even now, after her reputation has been tarnished by allegations that as Myanmar s leader she turned a blind eye to ethnic cleansing and genocide, there are few who doubt Suu Kyi s bravery. Many
Updated: February 02, 2021 11:29 am IST
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested Monday as part of a military coup. (FILE)
When Myanmar s Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, the Norwegian Nobel Committee dubbed her struggle against the country s military junta one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades.