NI 532 - July, 2021

Courage and terror in Myanmar

A note from the editor

Rise up for Myanmar

There’s no going back. That unflinching commitment to months, if not years, of resistance has poured out of every person I’ve spoken to from Myanmar since the coup of 1 February 2021.

Friends and colleagues lost their liberty overnight. Only six years ago we were celebrating hopes for a new future after the first free elections in decades.

The people of Myanmar know dictatorship. They’ve seen more starkly than most how the few profit from the many. How their schools and hospitals crumbled as the generals and their cronies hoarded wealth. The muzzling of debate.

To stop a return to those days they’ve made extraordinary sacrifices. Striking workers are giving up their wages. Neighbourhoods are pooling funds to build clinics. Thousands are in hiding as activism and newsrooms are forced underground. More than 800 civilians have lost their lives to junta forces.

This Big Story set out to record the terror but also the tremendous courage. In the following pages you’ll hear from people leading the resistance in Myanmar. They spoke from safe houses and jungles in the hours internet was freed from state-imposed blackouts. Some of our contributors have been anonymized for their safety.

We also chart a heartening shift, as new solidarities emerge between the Buddhist majority and persecuted minorities, including the Rohingya. There is hope in the push for a new federal democracy. The world must decisively stand with Myanmar’s people.

Thank you so much to everyone who invested in our community share offer and helped to save our stories!

Preeti Jha for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

We shall not be moved! Anti-coup protesters remain seated in front of a line of riot police trying to clear roads in Yangon. Partially visible is a poster urging citizens to join the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Photo: Panos Pictures

NI 532 - July, 2021

Courage and terror in Myanmar

A note from the editor

Rise up for Myanmar

The big story

Lives and livelihoods have been laid down for democracy. The economy is on the brink of collapse. The world must support the people’s quest to end military rule once and for all, writes Preeti Jha.

The Big Story

The military has unleashed near-daily terror across Myanmar since seizing power in February. Through the figures, we examine the brutality as well as the fightback.

Their slaughter has marked a new era of horror by a junta notorious for its cruelty. Maung Moe reports on three young lives cut short on the deadliest day of violence since the coup.

Yanghee Lee talks to Preeti Jha about the lessons that should have been learned from that crisis and what practical steps can be taken now.

Thin Lei Win believes the Myanmar military’s reign of terror might be leading a long-divided nation onto a more inclusive path.

Inside the resistance - four people on the frontlines of the anti-coup movement tell Preeti Jha why they are not giving up. Illustrations by Raven.

Myanmar’s generals have amassed billions of dollars through a secretive business empire. Aye Min Thant tracks the growing movements to dismantle it.

The mounting crisis in Myanmar calls for action on multiple fronts.

Despite threats, regional media in Russia is resurgent and inspiring audiences tired of the ‘official version’ broadcast by the nationals. Tina Burrett surveys the changes afoot.

With herders under threat from global heating in Somaliland, the government has hatched a plan to move millions to the coast. But can pastoralists adapt to fishing? Alice Rowsome and Yahye Xanas investigate.

Juliet Ferguson investigates the Energy Charter Treaty, an international agreement which could be very bad news for energy policy across the Global South.

Opinion

When will Chad be free – of France? Asks Nanjala Nyabola

Leonardo Sakamoto on hideous wealth – and poverty.

Nilanjana Bhowmick on the colossal failure of governance that has led to needless deaths on a massive scale.

Currents

Report from Australia by Zoe Holman.

Samia Suluhu became the East African country’s first woman president in March 2021.

US First Nations people vs colonial boundaries.

Deleting posts and hiding hashtags.

Three years on from the peace deal, the border between the two countries is closed again, despite cordial relations.

Carol Concha Bell reports on the grassroots victory for the Left in Chile.

Rojava’s pleas to repatriate their fighters have fallen mostly on deaf ears, reports Rahila Gupta.

A people’s vaccine; Policing the police; ¡Adelante!

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Vaccine profits vs wealth inequality.

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ILYA’s account of a Māori chieftain who struck against British control of his community’s income.

Is there such a thing as a ‘good’ carbon offset? Words by Danny Chivers.

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Truth. Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Trend-setting cholitas in La Paz, clicked by Manuel Seoane.

Precise archeological strata of the 21st century by Kate Evans.

Election faker Lukashenko keeps clinging on to power.

Final frontier, by Marc Roberts.

Ethical and political dilemmas abound these days. Seems like we’re all in need of a New Internationalist perspective. Enter stage: Agony Uncle.

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Crossword Puzzle, Association Words and Wordsearch

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith; The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter; Silicon Values by Jillian C York; Abolishing the Police edited by Koshka Duff

Mandabi directed and written by Ousmane Sembène; Sweat directed and written by Magnus von Horn.

Similar & Different by Dal:um; Sankofa by Amaro Freitas.

Novelist Selma Dabbagh talks to Rahila Gupta about rescuing Arab women’s sexuality from orientalist framings.

Documentary highlights from the 2021 Toronto Festival by Richard Swift.

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