Protests in Kachin State greet Myanmar's coup leader

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Kachin teenagers gathered in downtown Myitkyina to show their opposition to coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to the capital of Kachin State in northern Myanmar.

Over a dozen youths organised a flash mob protest against the coup leader during his visit to Myitkyina over the weekend.

 

“Min Aung Hlaing, don’t you feel humiliated to come to Kachin land?
Despite the significant presence of junta forces, the youths chanted, "Get out of Kachin Land!"

“We cannot welcome a military chief who has slain hundreds of people to our country,” stated a Myitkyina anti-regime activist.

As Myanmar's military head, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has visited Kachin State several times, but this was his first visit since the February 1 coup.

 

Despite the fact that he oversaw military operations in Kachin before the coup that murdered hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands, he was booed by Kachin people for the first time on Sunday.

 

Junta-appointed Kachin State Chief Minister Khet Htein Nan presented the coup leader with a Kachin traditional outfit, purse and ceremonial silver sword, causing great outrage in Kachin circles.

 

Khet Htein Nan has been branded a traitor to the Kachin nation by Kachin groups.
He was reviled by the Kachin people for accepting the job of chief minister from the military dictatorship and a series of rallies have been conducted against him, with some residents advocating for social punishment against him and his family.

 

Following Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing's weekend visit to Myitkyina, Khat Htein Nan has faced new criticism, with Kachins asking for a boycott of his daughter's clothes company.

On Saturday, the coup commander landed in Myitkyina and met with members of Northern Command and the Myitkyina battalion, as well as junta-appointed Kachin State ministers.

 

At the discussion with military men, he repeated assertions that he has made to soldiers in other regions of the country that Myanmar is in trouble because the National League for Democracy (NLD) manipulated the vote in the 2020 general election.

“Based on what we've seen and heard, the current political situation in Kachin is highly problematic, with severe violent clashes.
Security is continuously in a state of urgency in Kachin.
According to a source close to Northern Command, he came to provide some assistance regarding that scenario.

 

There have been periodic skirmishes between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military since a bilateral ceasefire broke through in 2011, although violence paused for two years before the February 1 coup.

The KIA has been attacking regime troops and police stations in Kachin and northern Shan State since March 11, inflicting severe losses on junta forces.
Clashes have taken occurred in around eight townships across Kachin State.
Since late March, the KIA claims that the regime has brought in thousands of more soldiers.