Organizer: Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University and NYSEAN

Description:

Myanmar has been a military country since 1962. But the recent rise of the military coup is very horrifying and one that deserves international attention. Since the coup seized power by removing the democratically elected government on February 1, 2021, citizens from all walks of life have risen up in strong resistance to the coup. Religion and ethnicity have been a dividing and exclusive role in Burmese politics, most tragically in the persecution of the Rohingya, but the urgent need for an anti-coup movement led by young people of “Generation Z” has brought together protesters from different religions and ethnicities. Civilians from the crowded cities of ethnic majorities through the small towns to the most remote hill villages of ethnic minorities have bridged their religious and ethnic divides to resist the coup for the common goal of federal democracy. Within one year, the military junta has killed almost 1,500, detained almost 12,000, and has displaced millions of civilians. Regardless of the high risks, civilians continue to resist the coup in various everyday forms of creative movement even beyond the prediction of the coup.

This event of the anniversary will recognize Myanmar’s democratic movement, remember those fallen heroes, and will reflect on the origin and ongoing movement of interreligious and interethnic resistance to the coup. Three panelists, including a person who co-led the first largest anti-coup protest movement on the frontline, will share their expertise in the origin, stories, strategies, and challenges of resistance to the coup. They will also suggest some ways how the international community could support Myanmar’s ongoing democratic movement.

Speakers:

Esther Ze Naw Bamvo, Social Justice activist and a researcher from Kachin – Northern Burma, who named one of Time’s 100 most Influential People in the World in 2021.

James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology and is co-Director of the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University.

David Thang Moe, Ph.D candidate in historical-theological studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, USA (originally from Mindat, Chin State of Myanmar currently under martial law).

Moderator: 

Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Dorothy Borg Associate Professor of the History of American-East Asian Relations, Columbia University

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