Junta officials coerced people into attending pro-military rallies, residents say  

Junta authorities paid some people and threatened others to get them to participate in “staged” pro-military rallies held across the country earlier this week, according to residents in areas where the protests were held. 

Small crowds took to the streets in military-dominated areas of at least 20 towns and cities across the country on Tuesday to protest the exclusion of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing from a regional summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

But sources said that some participants of the rallies were either given money to attend or were threatened with fines if they refused to go on the order of local authorities. 

The rallies started on Monday, the day before the ASEAN summit, which was held virtually and attended by US president Joe Biden. Junta officials could not be reached for comment about the claims that people were paid and coerced into attending the rallies. 

‘It was staged’ 

In southern Shan State’s Hopong Township, administrators in 11 villages told residents that they would be fined 10,000 kyat each if they refused to send people to a rally on Wednesday in the township’s urban center, Hopong. 

The township is under the control of the Pa-O National Organization, an armed group that has in the past formed alliances with the military and its proxies.  

A resident from the area said that the township’s General Administration Department told the administrators that each of the 11 villages must send 50 people to the demonstration to avoid being fined. 

“It was staged for the most part,” he said. “Almost the entire village had to attend. These are difficult times; people can barely afford daily meals, so the 10,000 kyat fine was too much for them.” 

“The people from the town gave them condescending looks at the rally,” he added, citing villagers who attended against their will. “They weren’t even offered water.”

The rally in Hopong went ahead even though the town is under a partial lockdown to curb an outbreak of Covid-19 infections there. 

In the Tanintharyi Region village of Thapyay Chaung it is widely believed by residents that people with military connections were paid cash to attend rallies one mile away in the city of Dawei, a resident there told Myanmar Now. 

“The military families willingly attended the rallies as they were offered incentives,” he said. “Everyone in the village was talking about it. But the majority of the villagers did not want to go.” 

Several military units from Light Infantry Battalions 401 and 402 are stationed in Thapyay Chaung, and a third of the village’s population are soldiers, retired soldiers and their families, according to the local.

The rally in Dawei was organised by Aung Sein, the local chair of the military-controlled Militia Supervision Group in Dawei. 

The group sent invitation letters to people who had connections with either the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) or the nationalist group Ma Ba Tha, a second local who lives near Dawei told Myanmar Now. 

A copy of the letter seen by Myanmar Now did not mention the planned rally but told recipients to meet at a government office in downtown Dawei “without fail” at 9am on Tuesday.  

‘The absolute truth’ 

Another rally in Rakhine’s military-dominated Ann Township on Wednesday was attended almost exclusively by soldiers, retired soldiers and their family members, a resident there told Myanmar Now.  

“They paraded around the town in cars,” he said. “I didn’t hear anything about them forcing every household to attend but all the military families were present there. There were very few regular civilians.” 

Some 40% of the population of Ann is made up of military families, the resident said, and the town is surrounded by army, navy and air force bases and battalions. 

At a rally in Mandalay on Monday, well-known anti-Muslim nationalist Michael Kyaw Myint gave a speech to the crowd. The following day Ngar Min Swe, an ultranationalist and former columnist, addressed a rally in Mon State’s Thanbyuzayat Township. 

Attendees at the rally carried banners saying “We do not want ASEAN interference of any kind,” and “We do not want the UN, which is being controlled by the OIC,” a reference to a belief held by hardliners that United Nations policy towards Myanmar is based on orders from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, an intergovernmental group of Muslim countries. 

After the rally Ngar Min Swe posted a video to his Facebook page outlining his support for the military. “They are protecting our country,” he said. “We support the military because it is necessary to do so to acquire peace and tranquility in our country. This is the absolute truth.”