VATICAN (Agencies): “We must live in a spirit of vigilance and prayer,” Auxiliary Bishop John Saw Yaw Han of Yangon, told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, after Myanmar’s military staged a coup d’etat, detaining top government leaders, including state councilor, Aung San Suu Kyi, and president, Win Myint, on February 1. The inauguration of the new parliament was to have taken place on February 2.
Concerned that the situation could become critical, Bishop Yaw Han also called on the Church to “provide food reserves to avoid shortages” and “also take care of stocks of medicines to ensure the health of the people,” Fides reported.
Myanmar’s military declared a state of emergency and said commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, would be in charge of the country for one year. It alleged that the government had not acted on the its claims of fraud in during the November 2020 elections—which the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party lost badly—and because it allowed for an election to take place despite the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
“The actions of the military are actions to put the country back under a dictatorship. I urge people not to accept this, to respond and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military.”
Aung San Suu Kyi
Charles Cardinal Maung Bo of Yangon, was visiting the northern state of Kachin for pastoral reasons during the coup and could not be reached.
UCAN reported that the National League for Democracy issued a statement from Suu Kyi saying: “The actions of the military are actions to put the country back under a dictatorship. I urge people not to accept this, to respond and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military.”
Amnesty International deputy regional director, Ming Yu Hah, was also reported as calling the events extremely alarming and ominous, UCAN reported.
“The Myanmar military must clarify on what legal basis they have been detained. They must also guarantee that the rights of those arrested are fully respected, including against ill-treatment, and that they have access to lawyers of their own choice and to their family, Yu Hah said.
“The concurrent arrests of prominent political activists and human rights defenders sends a chilling message that the military authorities will not tolerate any dissent amid today’s unfolding events,” he said.
Joseph Kung Za Hmung, director of the Yangon-based Gloria News Journal, said on February 1 that “there is no protest or gathering on the streets of Yangon. Telephone lines are isolated throughout the country, and they only work in Yangon and the capital, Naypyitaw.”
Vatican News reported the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, as saying, “All leaders must act in the greater interest of Myanmar’s democratic reform, engaging in meaningful dialogue, refraining from violence and fully respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
In the United States (US), CNN reported that the president, Joe Biden called on Myanmar’s military leaders to “immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions and refrain from violence against civilians.”
Biden threatened to review sanctions, reminding Myanmar’s military leadership that the US removed sanctions over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. “The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action,” he said.
Bishop Yaw Han appealed for people to pray for peace and for priests to be vigilant “and control the people who enter the church complex” for security reasons.
He asked that priests and religious not issue individual statements about the current situation, “in order to maintain the unity and coherence of communication” and avoid any “uncertainty and confusion.
Joseph Kung Za Hmung, director of the Yangon-based Gloria News Journal, said on February 1 that “there is no protest or gathering on the streets of Yangon. Telephone lines are isolated throughout the country, and they only work in Yangon and the capital, Naypyitaw.”
“We do however see a strong reaction from people on social media networks,” Fides reported him as saying.
Hmung said, “For the time being, citizens are waiting, as it is feared that a mass protest could lead to a definitive coup that would see the generals in power for decades, ending the experience of democracy.”
Military rule in Myanmar had lasted from 1962 to 2011 before resuming again with the latest coup.
