6th March 2021

 Musings.......

The world woke up on February 1st 2021 with the news that the democratically elected government of Myanmar led by the National League of Democracy (NLD) was deposed by the Tatmadaw ( Myanmar Military ). 

The Tatmadaw has declared a state of emergency for a year and all power has been vested in the Commander in Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlang. 

The military coup d’état occurred the day before Myanmar Parliament was due to swear its members elected in the elections held in November 2020. 

Subsequently as we know, President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained. 

The coup was announced on the military owned Myawaddy TV station when a news presenter cited the 2008 constitution which allows the military to declare a national emergency. 

As a result, Twenty four ministers and deputies were deposed, the 2020 General election results annulled and swearing in of members to the assembly was annulled. 

NLD in the November elections won 83% of the available seats. The military refused to accept the result of the vote and the new Parliament was expected to endorse the election results and endorse the new government. 

Myanmar’s democratic transition has been a work in progress. The result of the 2020 election giving a huge mandate to NLD was seen as a mandate for constitutional reforms, through which it aimed to do away with the military’s role in politics and governance. 

The Myanmar Constitution was drafted by the Military in 2008. Under its provisions, the military reserves 25% of seats in both Houses of Parliament, to which it appoints serving military officials. 

If we remember Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - then seen by the world as a beacon of hope for democracy in Myanmar- was held in a 2 decade long house arrest. She was released only in 2011 after which the military decided to go for a hybrid constitution. 

Aung San Suu Kyi the daughter of the country’s independence hero Gen. Aung San, spent more than 15 years under house arrest. 

Her time in house arrest made her an international icon and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. 

Aung San Suu Kyi faced criticism in recent years for being extremely conciliatory towards the army than was expected. She defended the Tatmadaw at the International Court of Justice against accusations of atrocities on the Rohingya. 

In 2019 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi defended the Tatmadaw against accusations of ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas. 

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed as mentioned and charged on flimsy grounds including having walkie-talkies and other foreign equipment in her villa compound. She was also charged with contravening a natural disaster management law by interacting with a crowd during the coronavirus pandemic. Win Myint the erstwhile premier was charged similarly. 

India has responded cautiously to the developments in Myanmar as it has good relations with both Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military. 

According to many experts, the simple explanation is that the coup is driven by power and the personal ambition of an army chief who felt he was losing control and respect. 

For 50 years the military was the most powerful institution in the country. The army had control of every facet of life. 

A string of ruthless dictators ruled successively and turned Myanmar into a military state. 

Gen. Ne Win who seized power in a 1962 coup, plunged the country into poverty with his disastrous economic and socialist policies. 

Allegedly the General took decisions based on advise from astrologers and demonetised Myanmar currency, replacing them with bank notes adding upto nine,  resulting in the citizens savings being wiped out overnight. 

His successor was named the “ Butcher of Rangoon” for his brutal suppression of pro democratic protests in late 1980s. 

We get to see that there is a very thin line between a democracy and dictatorship. 

The political and civil freedom provided by our Constitution makers and former governments is nowadays taken for granted. 

We Indians should look at the coup d’état in Myanmar as a lesson on what could happen to even India under a despot in power. Back in Kerala, Malayalis could take lesson from the coup on how freedoms could be curtailed if a dictator is re-elected. 

Food for Thought.......

RC