[밀물썰물] ‘Shoot till you die’-Busan Ilbo

[밀물썰물] “Shoot till you die”

Input: 2021-03-11 18:41:07Revision: 2021-03-11 18:45:07Published: 2021-03-11 18:45:55 (p. 22)

While looking at Myanmar, I think of the tragedies of recurring history. Earlier this month, 19-year-old Chial Shin, a 19-year-old woman in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, was shot in the head and died while wearing a T-shirt with the phrase “It’s all going well.” Myanmar military authorities stole the body of the god Chial buried in a cemetery. This incident reminded me of the’Woo Tant body takeover case’. In November 1974, students from the University of Rangoon (now Yangon) held a public funeral for Wu Tant, the secretary-general of the United Nations, Burmese (old name for Myanmar). The students buried him in the seat of the student center, which had been bombed with dynamite, but the army arrived, brutally killing dozens of people and hijacking Wu Tant’s body. As the students continued to protest, the army fired again, inflicting hundreds of casualties.

In 1988, the situation was even worse. On August 8th, at 8:08 am, a national general strike shouting overthrowing the military dictatorship begins. That afternoon, the military announced that it would fire if it was not dissolved. The crowd grew, and people shouted, “Peace Protest.” Thousands knelt in front of the soldiers and begged. Just before midnight, when people were calling for the country, the army started shooting. This ‘8888 democratization movement’ was overthrown by a barbaric army, and the military killed thousands of people and took over for decades to come.

40 days have passed since the outbreak of the military coup in Myanmar in 2021. Citizens come out to the streets every day to protest, and the military and police suppression is becoming more and more violent. Already, more than 60 civilians have been killed, and more than 1,800 have been arrested. If it is judged that the international community, including the United States, will not or will not be able to actively intervene, there is a situation of concern that a full-scale genocide will occur.

Even shocking testimony came out. The Reuters news agency reported that a policeman who had crossed to India because he could not comply with the orders of the Myanmar military “was ordered to shoot protesters until his death.” Ta Kep, 27, who refused to order, said, “Under the police regulations, when disbanding the protesters, you must shoot rubber bullets or shoot only under the knee, but I was instructed to shoot until death.” Tha Bung refused to do so and ran away, but many others did not. I remembered Gwangju in May 1980. At that time, in Gwangju, somebody gave a’kill order’, and somebody’executed’. However, the reality has not been revealed until 40 years have passed. How long will we have to wait for the’courageous’ testimony of the 5·18 offender? We send solidarity and support to the courageous Myanmar citizens. Editorial Writer Kim Eun-young key66@