They currently number among the bravest people on the planet.
The hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets protesting against the military coup in Myanmar.
The railway workers who are ensuring the trains don’t run-on time, the bank employees who are watching the the ATM dispensers run out of cash. The footballers who won’t play for their country while the soldiers try to run it. The engineers whose protests stop the cogs of progress turning.
Many have been out risking death, beatings and lengthy jail terms for opposing the February 1 coup.
But the soldiers’ repression cannot stop them.
There are fears of a massive crackdown.
United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrew says he’s terrified of this happening.
Western members of the UN Security Council warn that the army leaders will be held accountable for any violence or repression.
China has not yet condemned the coup.
The military, who overturned the landslide electoral win by the National League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi last November have not produced evidence to support their allegations of electoral fraud.
They say 40 million of the 53 million Burmese support their action.
The mass demonstration today was designed exactly to fly in the face of this.
The NLD leader appeared in a virtual court hearing today on tripod up charges of importing communications equipment and violating Myanmar’s natural disaster legislation.
She has been detained since the coup.
Her international fortunes have waned since she supported the military by denying that they were responsible for ethnic cleansing against the Muslim Rohingya minority.
This woman, who spent 15 years under house arrest during the nearly six decades that the military have held powerMyanmar in remains the undisputed leader of the overwhelming mass of Burmese.
Until the military coup is reversed, she deserves international support.Note