Protesters return to downtown Yangon ahead of Min Aung Hlaing’s trip to ASEAN summit 

Anti-coup protesters returned to the streets of downtown Yangon on Friday after a weeks-long absence following military-led massacres that have killed hundreds nationwide. 

The rally, led by activists from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and youths from several Yangon townships, marched along Anawrahta road and was not met with any violence by police or soldiers. 

“What do we want? Democracy!” they shouted. 

Amid indiscriminate killings aimed at crushing the uprising, the mass rallies that began in the city in February were reduced to deadly games of cat and mouse between a hard core of protesters and the regime’s forces. 

Friday’s march was aimed at breathing life back into the streets protests, said one organiser. 

“We marched in the heart of the city so that protests in the urban areas regain momentum,” said the organiser, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

The marchers called for the abolishment of the “fascist” Myanmar military and the establishment of a federal union.

“The military will not retreat because it doesn’t want to abandon power. The crackdowns will happen again in the most brutal ways,” the organiser said.

But he added: “For young people like us, we are already dead… Our futures were executed on the day the military staged the coup.”

While protests in Yangon have been muted recently, residents in Mandalay, Monywa, Kalay and Myingyan have continued to stage daily demonstrations in defiance of the regime.

It has now been more than 80 days since military chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power, detaining top officials from the National League for Democracy government, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. 

Friday’s protest comes ahead of Min Aung Hlaing’s trip to Indonesia on Saturday to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. 

More rallies are planned across Myanmar on Saturday to protest the bloc’s decision to allow the coup leader to attend. A key pillar of the movement against the regime involves depriving the military of legitimacy. 

Myanmar’s National Unity Government, formed by MPs who were unable to take their seats because of the coup, has asked Interpol to work with Indonesian police to arrest Min Aung Hlaing when he arrives in Jakarta.