Residents of Myanmar’s largest city are loudly campaigning against military forces who have seized power.
People gathered on the streets in Yangon at night for the past two days, hitting pots and pans and making noise in other ways. Motorists use their car horns to join that protest.
The noise protests start around 8 pm and last about an hour. “Hitting pots and pans cools my anger,” explained a 50-year-old participant. “But that only works for a short time.” One activist said that such a noise action has also traditionally been used to drive away evil spirits. “People are now using this tactic to drive the military junta out of the country.”
The army arrested Nobel Prize winner and de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. The military rulers have meanwhile put Facebook on black. Opposition supporters used that service to criticize the coup plotters.
“People’s protest against the military coup,” read a banner in Mandalay, the country’s second city. About twenty people chanted, “Our arrested leaders, let them go now. Let them go now.” Organizations involved say that at least three people were arrested afterwards.
“People are angry, but also scared,” said an activist in Mandalay. He said people are also confused and come across conflicting information on social media. “And political leadership has been lacking since the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi.”