Myanmar Doctors Stop Work to Protest Coup

Yangon, MINA – Staff and doctors at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 cities across Myanmar on Wednesday staged protests over a military coup. They stopped work to protest the coup that toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s President and other political figures.

A statement from the newly formed “Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement” said that the army had placed its own interests ahead of a vulnerable population facing hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic. At least, more than 3,100 people have died due to Covid-19 throughout Myanmar.

“We refuse to comply with any order from the illegitimate military regime which shows that they do not respect our poor patients,” said a statement from the protest group as quoted from Republika.

Four doctors confirmed that they had stopped working. However, they did not want to be identified.

“I want the soldiers to return to their dorms and that’s why we doctors don’t go to the hospital,” said a 29-year-old doctor in Yangon.

“I have no time frame for how long I will continue to do this reprimand. It depends on the situation,” he added.

Student and youth groups have also joined the civil disobedience campaign In the biggest public protest against the coup.

So far, people in Yangon’s commercial center chanted “go crime”. The residents also beat metal pots on Tuesday night as a traditional gesture to ward off evil or bad karma.

The Myanmar military led by General Aung Min Hlaing seized power on Monday. It come in an unstable transition due to elections last November which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide and accused of fraud.

The coup drew criticism from the United States and other Western countries because the ruling generals detained Suu Kyi and dozens of other officials. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)