Myanmar witnesses massive protests demanding Aung San Suu Kyi's release

Myanmar on Sunday witnessed one of its largest protests since 2007 pro-democracy revolution as tens of thousands of people stormed streets of Yangon to oppose recent military coup. According to reports, protesters demanded immediate release of political leers, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. protest comes on a day military junta ended internet ban in country, which only served as fuel to fire. 

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Demonstrators were seen wearing red bandanas, holding red flags and balloons in support of jailed leer Aung San Suu Kyi, whose political party's primary colour is red. Protesters were reportedly heard chanting, "we don't want a dictatorship, we want democracy." Sunday was second day when thousands of protesters took to streets to protest against coup since it occurred last week. 

coup has garnered condemnation from all over world, including from United Nations, which called for immediate release of Suu Kyi. military junta has arrested hundreds of people considered close to Suu Kyi since last week, including her ecomic viser, an Australia professor named Sean Turnell.

Myanmar coup

On February 1, Burmese military began detaining democratically elected members of ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and or members of Parliament were detained by military, who later declared State of Emergency for a year. After coup, Myanmar Army's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing took charge of country. coup occurred a day before Myanmar's newly elected members of Parliament were supposed to be sworn-in. 

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military levelled allegations of election fraud and irregularities as ir justification for detainment of leers. Suu Kyi's party h won vember 2020 election by a landslide, capturing 396 out of 476 seats in parliament, a mandate much larger than in 2015 polls. election was monitored by international observers who certified it as "fair". Experts suggest military feared that if Suu Kyi returns to power with a bigger majority, she would decrease number of parliamentary seats reserved for Army's proxy party.

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Prior to 2020 election, Suu Kyi h promised to amend constitution, saying military representation in parliament will be substantially reduced in coming dece. According to Myanmar's constitution, military, which drafted laws in 2011, has 25% of parliamentary seats reserved for itself, meaning political parties can fight only for remaining seats in elections, something that Suu Kyi h promised to change.

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