Janta vs Junta : the Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar has experienced decades worth of subjugation by the military, amounting to almost 50 years since the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar who was also known as the guardian of democracy. The former Nobel Peace Prize winner had rallied the populace against the overpowering effect of the military on Myanmar’s international relations as well as its polity. She ultimately came to power through a landslide victory in the 2015 elections. But yet again, history has repeated itself and resulted in the country falling again at the hands of martial law through a military coup in 2019.

A coup is the hostile military takeover of a country by rendering its elected leaders powerless and is the norm in the political history of Myanmar. The military dictatorship began in 1962 and continued with minimal democracy, by giving electoral rights to the people until 2011. The National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to power with a large share of votes due to the Pro-Democracy protests that had taken place throughout the country. Before the elections, she was placed under house arrest for 21 years after the 1990 election results which had been nullified by the military.

On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military (the Tatmadaw) launched a coup against the elected government, declaring the results of the 2020 general elections invalid and announcing a one-year state of Emergency. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials of the governing National League for Democracy (NLD) party were arrested on the grounds of widespread fraud in the general election in which they had won with a maximum majority. This also led to a shutdown of media agencies and communication within the country. This state of instability furthered, with Suu Kyi being charged with illegal importation of communication devices, and electoral fraud, among others, leading to her house arrest.

Currently, the country faces a civil war-like situation with the military openly firing at the protesters increasing the toll of those who fled the country due to the violence. This gives rise to concerns about the situation of refugees, specifically the threat to the Rohingya population in Myanmar, which results in their persecution and the subsequent refugee crisis in India. The history of democracy in Asian countries, post-colonisation raises questions whether the lives of the people, not just the citizens, are to be left to the actions of the warring political groups in their quest for power.