Opinion: India must address its lack of ethics

Ethics have always been absent in Indian society. To prevent another humanitarian crisis, it must address that fundamental problem, writes Ankita Mukhopadhyay.

The government's failure to address ethical issues and social imbalances has contributed to the disaster in India

There is no doubt that the Indian government has been highly incompetent in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Before we hanker for a change in government, it's necessary to understand the nadir of ethical values that has played a vital role in independent India's biggest humanitarian crisis.

Many people have been robbed of their mental health, sanity and money in this pandemic. There are no rules anymore if you want to save someone. People are paying as much as ₹50,000 ($683; €560) for an ambulance; ₹100,000 or more per day for admitting their loved one in a hospital. We are shelling out black market rates to buy basic needs like medical oxygen and anti-viral drugs.

How did we reach this stage of ethical imbalance and moral abrogation?
An ethics system that has consistently failed us

DW's Ankita Mukhopadyay

We had almost 75 years to create a democracy to protect the needy and create opportunities for people across caste and class lines. Instead, the privileged have accrued more privilege and the poor have gotten poorer.

Over the past seven decades, basic necessities like quality healthcare have become confined to the private sector, which mainly caters to the privileged or the connected. When the pandemic put pressure on the private sector, the rich and privileged pulled all strings possible for their loved ones, leaving the needy in the lurch.

Today, the most wealthy man in India isn't willing to squander even 10% of his wealth to help the same country whose broken system enabled him to earn as much as a quarter of the nation's GDP. Meanwhile, celebrities are calling for donations from citizens of a country where almost 30% of the population lives below poverty line.

The pandemic has also laid bare the gross lack of ethics in highly qualified administrative and police officers. Why are most of our bureaucrats unable to administer the country efficiently or hold politicians accountable, but can be found at the frontline to secure favors for themselves and their children?

It's a common adage in India that in anything that involves the government, the process will be slow and government officers will be lazy. This has happened because we have built a system that has reduced the competent to incompetence.

A country that wants to become a $5 trillion (€4 trillion) economy must first instill trust in its system before setting more ambitious goals.

COVID IN INDIA: LIFE GOES ON AS BODIES PILE UP

Social distancing, a farce?

People — many without masks — shop at a vegetable market in Mumbai. India has been struggling to contain a massive coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 24 million infections recorded to date. The country has logged around 260,000 deaths linked to the virus. According to medical experts, these numbers are vastly underreported.

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Stop looking for role models

It's time Indians stopped looking for role models to escape their reality and started advocating for actual reform. We have to accept that our lives won't be solved by money, good degrees, immigration to the West, religious gurus or by becoming a government servant.

Our life in this country is much bigger than pursuing shallow goals and it's our responsibility to collectively work towards development.

But development is a pluralistic term and requires collective effort. The first step is to appreciate our federal structure and work towards strengthening our state governments.

The political center, led by the BJP, is there to facilitate administration, but not become the center stage of vile religious bigotry. Religious politics will simply do more harm than good to India as it will divide the nation. The concept of divide and rule was used by the British to break up India into two religions, but we must not go back to that route if we really want to get rid of our colonial hangover.

The ruling party must get ahead of the curve and prepare for the next wave of the pandemic and create safeguards for the needy. The first step in this process is to not make vaccines, a basic necessity, a reserve of the privileged.

It's true that India needs to see change, as soon as possible. But, before we call for change, it's necessary for us to tackle this rot within our ethics which will tear at the fabric of anything that comes in its way — even a new government.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg takes on food industry

Known for starting the Fridays for Future climate movement, Gerta Thunberg wants to see changes to food production and consumption in a bid to combat a trio of threats facing the world.



Greta Thunberg has called for changes to food production and consumption

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has called for changes to food production and consumption in a bid to tackle a trio of threats facing the world.

"The climate crisis, ecological crisis and health crisis, they are all interlinked," Thunberg said in a video posted on social media on Saturday to mark International Biodiversity Day.

The focus on food and interlinked crises marks a new direction for Thunberg's environmental activism, which has previously targeted fossil fuel policies and political decision-makers.

Greta tackles disease, environment and emissions

"The way we farm and treat nature cutting down forests and destroying habitats, we are creating the perfect conditions for diseases to spill over from one animal to another — and to us," the 18-year-old activist said.

"Millions have died from COVID-19, Zika, Ebola, West Nile fever, SARS, MERS, HIV-AIDS," she said, listing zoonotic diseases that have jumped from animals to humans.

The World Health Organization has said the coronavirus was probably transmitted from bats to humans through another animal. Scientists say 60% of the infectious human diseases that emerged from 1990 to 2004 came from animals.


VIDEO 30 MINUTES  Made in Germany - The cost of meat

Thunberg also spoke about the consequences of food production on the environment: "If we keep making food the way we do, we will also destroy the habitats of most wild plants and animals driving countless species to extinction.

"They are our life-supporting system; if we lose them, we will be lost too," she said.

She said switching to a plant-based diet could save up to 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a major polluting greenhouse gas, each year.
More people going meat-free

Her comments come amid growing demand for meat-free alternatives due to concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment.

In Germany, the total value of meat produced in the country fell in 2020, according to recent data released by the country's Federal Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, the production of vegetarian and vegan substitute products in the country surged.

kmm/sms (Reuters, AFP)

Animal rights activists block UK McDonald's sites

The group, dubbed Animal Rebellion, used trucks and bamboo structures to block McDonald's distribution centers. They want to see the company fully switch to plant-based foods by 2025.





The activists say that a plant-based diet is the only sustainable solution


McDonald's restaurants in the UK faced disruption on Saturday after a group of activists blocked off four of the company's distribution centers.

Around 50 protesters from the Animal Rebellion group used trucks and bamboo structures to cut off deliveries to other company venues. The blockade started early on Saturday.

The activists want the US-based fast-food giant to fully switch to plant-based foods by 2025.


The activists displayed a replica of McDonald's Golden Arches logo stained with blood

"The only sustainable and realistic way to feed 10 billion people is with a plant-based food system," group spokesman Jamez Ozden said. "Organic, free-range and ‘sustainable' animal-based options simply aren't good enough."

Later on Saturday, the group said that police have largely pulled back from two of the McDonald's sites. They said they hoped to maintain the protest until Sunday morning local time.


The Animal Rebellion group used bamboo "beacons" to block the sites
What did McDonald's say?

A McDonald's spokeswoman apologized to the company's customers for "any disappointment caused."

"We are assessing the impact on deliveries to our restaurants and to menu items," she said.


The iconic fast-food company has long faced criticism over its effect on the environment as well the impact of its food on its customers' health.

In recent years, however, McDonald's has taken steps to improve its image, pledging to reduce its carbon footprint and switch to environmentally-friendly packaging.

The company also opened its first zero-emissions restaurant in Disneyworld, Florida last year.

dj/mm (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Bear cub causes trouble in Montreal

JUST HIS APPEARANCE IS CONSIDERED TROUBLE

Issued on: 24/05/2021 -
  

Canadian authorities injected black bear cub (similar to this one pictured May 2019) running loose in a residential neighborhood with three doses of tranquilizer, but he "remained alert," according to Animal Rescue LOIC VENANCE AFP/File

Montreal (AFP)

A black bear cub caused havoc for several hours Sunday in a Montreal neighborhood, requiring three doses of tranquilizer before authorities could finally capture it.

Alerted to the cub's presence in the early afternoon, police cordoned off several streets in Dorval, a municipality to the west of Montreal's airport, according to police spokesperson Raphael Bergeron.

Residents were asked to stay indoors while dozens of police officers, firefighters, wildlife ministry agents and volunteers from Sauvetage Animal Rescue searched for the bear.

The cub, only several months old, was initially trapped in a residential yard before climbing a tree, according to Bergeron.

Game wardens used rifles to administer "three doses of sedative, but the bear remained alert and climbed down the tree before fleeing into another yard," Animal Rescue said in a Facebook post.

The cub finally climbed another tree, where it dozed off. Firefighters put airbags on the ground in case it fell.

The bear was captured several hours later.

"We managed to catch him with a pole and lower him to the bottom of the tree, where he could be secured," Animal Rescue said.

The cub will be released "in an environment that will be more suitable for him."

According to Bergeron, the presence of a bear so close to Montreal, especially in an urban area near an airport, is "very rare."

© 2021 AFP

China probes deaths of 21 runners after freak weather hits ultramarathon


Issued on: 24/05/2021 

Rescuers were dispatched after extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the 100-kilometre (62-mile) race held in the scenic Yellow River Stone Forest in Gansu province STR AFP



Beijing (AFP)

An investigation was underway Monday into the deaths of 21 runners during a mountain ultramarathon in northwest China, as harrowing testimony emerged from survivors who battled to safety through freezing temperatures and bone-chilling winds.

The extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the 100-kilometre (62-mile) race held in the scenic Yellow River Stone Forest in Gansu province Saturday afternoon.

Provincial authorities have set up an investigation team to look into the cause of the incident, state media reported, as questions swirled over why organisers apparently ignored extreme weather warnings from the city's Early Warning Information Centre in the lead up to the race, which attracted 172 runners.

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China's top sports body also vowed to tighten safety rules on holding events across the country.

Survivors gave shocking testimony of events on the rugged mountainside, where unconfirmed meteorological reports to local media said temperatures had plunged to as low as minus 24 degrees Celsius (minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit).

"The wind was too strong and I repeatedly fell over," wrote race participant Zhang Xiaotao in a Weibo post.#photo1

"My limbs were frozen stiff and I felt like I was slowly losing control of my body... I wrapped my insulation blanket around me, took out my GPS tracker, pressed the SOS button and lost consciousness."

He said when he came round he discovered a shepherd had carried him to a cave, placed him by the fire and wrapped him in a duvet.

- 'Foaming at their mouths' -

Marathon survivor Luo Jing told state broadcaster CCTV she saw runners struggling back down the mountain wearing only T-shirts and shorts.

They "described to us people foaming at their mouths, and urged us to quit the race as soon as possible," she said.

Other survivors said insulation blankets provided by organisers were blown to shreds by strong winds.

One told state media as he battled down the mountain he saw many people lying on the ground, some he believed to be dead.

Gansu province is often subject to extreme weather conditions including sandstorms and earthquakes.

The Gansu Meteorological Bureau had warned of "sudden heavy showers, hail, lightning, sudden gale-force winds" and other adverse weather conditions across the province in a report dated Friday.

Victims included elite Chinese long-distance runners Liang Jing and Huang Guanjun, local media reported.

Liang had won multiple Chinese ultramarathons in recent years while Huang won the men's hearing-impaired marathon at the 2019 National Paralympic Games.

Fury mounted on Chinese social media after the disaster, with many users blaming organisers for poor contingency planning.

More than 84 million viewed the hashtag "Is the Gansu marathon accident natural or man-made?", while 130 million scoured a thread around safety concerns for marathons and cross-county races.

"This is purely a man-made disaster," wrote one.

China's top sports governing body has issued instructions to the country's sports system to improve safety management in sports events.

The previous management model for safety in races "had some problems and deficiencies", the sports administration said in a readout published Monday, and said all organisations would now have to set up detailed contingency plans and a mechanism to halt the event quickly if needed.

© 2021 AFP

Berlin protesters urge end to soaring rents

Protesters voiced anger over rising rents in the German capital and a court ruling that overturned a major price control measure. However, police said the number of participants was much smaller than expected.



Germany's Constitutional Court ruled earlier this year that the Berlin rent cap was illegal

Some 2,500 people marched through Berlin against high rent prices in the German capital, police said on Sunday.

The organizers, however, claimed "at least 10,000" people took part.

The protest took place after Germany's constitutional court overturned Berlin's rent cap, leaving tenants across the city suddenly facing price hikes.

What happened at the protest?

The main rally, under the slogan "Stop the rent madness!" moved from Potsdamer Platz to the neighborhood of Schöneberg, starting one hour later than previously announced.

Protesters were seen carrying banners such as "To reside is a human right" and "No interest on rents."

The march concluded with no reports of violence, according to the AFP news agency.

Separately, some 30 participants organized a demonstration of their own by sailing boats on Berlin's river Spree, and displaying the banners against the rising rents.

The small protest flotilla sailed through Berlin

What was the rent cap?

The rent cap was a measure implemented by the city-state's government that went into effect in late February 2020.

It froze the prices for nearly all apartments in Berlin for five years, locking them in place at their June 2019 level. New rental contracts were not allowed to exceed that rate — and some rents had to be reduced.

The Berlin state government said the measure was intended to reduce pressure on renters and buy time for more housing to be buil

VIDEO Berliners struggle with soaring rents

The regulation also allowed for tenants to sue their landlords to reduce rents.

The measure was strongly criticized by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), who lodged a legal complaint against it.

Why was it overturned?

The constitutional court overturned the Berlin measure on April 15, ruling that the state government didn't have a right to impose the cap.

Since Germany's federal government already implemented a law regulating rents nationwide in 2015, the Berlin state government couldn't create its own regulation, the court said.

As a result of the ruling, many tenants in Berlin now face steep rent hikes — and could be asked by their landlords to pay back rent from the past year.
What is the rental market situation?

Rental prices in Berlin have soared in recent years, making it one of the tightest rental markets in the country.

From 2013 to 2019, rent prices in new contracts rose by 27%, according to the German Property Foundation (ZIA).

A lack of affordable housing, tenants being priced out of their neighborhoods and rising rents have led to tensions.

VIDEO Global real estate market: Housing, a human right

‘It’s not normal’: Paris protesters decry Gaza conflict’s Palestinian death toll

Issued on: 23/05/2021 -

A demonstrator holds aloft a placard saying "stop the colonisation of Palestinian territories" at a pro-Palestinian protest at Place de la République in eastern Paris on May 23, 2021. © Tom Wheeldon, France 24

Text by:Tom WHEELDON

There was a mood of quiet indignation among the small crowd protesting in Paris on Sunday about this month’s eleven-day flare-up of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which at least 260 people were killed, the majority of them Palestinian.

The gathering at Place de la République in eastern Paris appeared to be far smaller than the crowd in the same location the previous day.

The protests came after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Friday. But demonstrators doubted that this will do anything to avoid repeated bouts of violence in the future.

“I think [the Israeli government] is making it seem like the fighting’s over and done with so that they can strike harder in the future,” said Rania, 15, who had come to the protest from the suburb Boulogne-Billancourt on the other side of the Paris region with a group of friends the same age.

“It feels very good to be here to support a people in distress,” Rania said. At the same time, she continued, coming to protest was a “very sad” experience, because “no nation deserves to go through what the Palestinians have been through; it’s unacceptable”.

Rania added that she was calling for a solution to the conflict as opposed to allowing the status quo to re-emerge now that the ceasefire is holding: Such a solution would be “beneficial to the Palestinians and for the Israelis too”, she emphasised.

Like yesterday’s protest, this was a “static” demonstration, after Paris police banned a planned march through eastern Paris the previous weekend. French authorities feared a repeat of the ugly scenes at protests during the 2014 Gaza conflict, which saw synagogues targeted and chants of “death to Jews”.

Protesters in Paris on Sunday underlined that they support the Palestinian people while disavowing anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli sentiment.

“We’re not against Israel; we’re against the Israeli government’s mistreatment of Palestinians,” said Cathy, 34, who brought her children to Sunday’s demonstration. “I understand that they were fighting against Hamas, but they also killed lots of innocent people including lots of children,” Cathy continued.

At least 248 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes during this month’s conflict, including 66 children. Hamas rocket attacks killed 12 people in Israel, including one child; Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system blocked many salvos.

The Israeli military said during the conflict that it did its utmost to minimise civilian casualties when responding to Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza, but that the Islamist militant group – classed as a terrorist organisation by the EU and US – was in effect using them as human shields.

Protesters perform a traditional Palestinian dance at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Place de la République in eastern Paris on May 23, 2021. © Tom Wheeldon, France 24

Cathy also attended last week’s prohibited rally, and expressed anger at the French government for banning it: “It wasn’t normal to be prevented from protesting like that; other demonstrations have gone ahead this year.”

Like Rania, Cathy expressed scepticism that the ceasefire will change the situation over the long run: “There are always ceasefires, but then the fighting starts again later,” she put it.

She was also angry that “France didn’t condemn what was happening” – a common sentiment among Sunday’s protesters.

During the peak of last week's fighting, the Élysée Palace said French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences “the many Palestinian civilian losses resulting from military operations and ongoing clashes with Israel” and “unwavering attachment to Israel’s security and its right to defend itself in line with international law”.

Macron and other national leaders “have said for years that they want an end to the conflict but there’s never anything concrete; it’s a big silence, really” and “one of the reasons I’m protesting is to try and break that silence”, said Sanah, a young demonstrator at Place de la République.

“It’s not normal in the twenty-first century to have to demonstrate for a nation’s freedom,” she continued.

Myriam, 26, used the exact same phrase to describe the deaths of the 66 Palestinian children in Gaza: “It’s not normal; it’s not human to do that,” she said. “It really upset me.”

Afghan war displaced settle in the ruins

 of a lost city


Issued on: 24/05/2021 - 

Thousands of people have been displaced across Helmand since 

October following a surge in Taliban attacks WAKIL KOHSAR AFP

Lashkar Gah (Afghanistan) (AFP)

Once the winter residence of sultans from illustrious Islamic dynasties, the ruins of a thousand-year-old royal city in southern Afghanistan have become home to hundreds of people who have fled Taliban clashes.

The astonishing ochre clay complex juts from the cliffs along the Helmand River, threatened by decay and encroaching urban sprawl as well as the makeshift constructions that have grown within it.

Thousands of people have been displaced across Helmand since October following a surge in Taliban attacks, and while many have resettled in the capital Lashkar Gah -- one of the few areas in the province still under government control -- some have joined other refugees in the ruins.

Qala-e-Kohna, as it is known locally, or Lashkari Bazar to archaeologists, has garnered international attention for its scale, remarkable architecture and murals.

Spread over 10 kilometres (eight miles), the site is the only known winter residence of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid sultans -- two dynasties that ruled a region covering present-day Afghanistan between the 10th and 13th centuries and responsible for spreading Islamic art as far as north India.

"There is no place in the Islamic world where we have something like it -- a site as coherent, elaborate, and despite everything still relatively well preserved," said Philippe Marquis, the director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA).

"It is important to preserve it because we are sure that it will teach us a lot about this period,"
Among the ancient towers, doors and windows have been added and crumbling walls coated with a clay and straw mixture to strengthen them and plug gaps.

A blue wrought-iron door leads into Agha Mohammad's cramped two-room quarters that house 11 people, a makeshift cradle for his infant son hanging from a bamboo roof.#photo1

"I want the government to give me a place to live. Look at the cracks in the roof. I'm afraid one night it will fall," said Mohammad, a 33-year-old policeman whose district fell to a resurgent Taliban.

Southern Afghanistan has seen renewed fighting as talks between the Afghan government and Taliban leaders have stalled and the United States prepares to withdraw the last of its troops from the country by September.

"I should have the support of the government, because I lost three sons serving it," 48-year-old mother Bibi Halima told AFP from within the palace walls.

"Every house is full of widows," added a neighbour.

Many of the residents are from police families who cannot afford to live elsewhere and have no access to electricity or running water.

An official from the country's archaeology department in Kabul said there have been reports of land-grabbing at the site, with some families forced to pay rent to local mafias.#photo2

For residents, life within the ornate arches and adobe walls of the former royal city is a constant reminder of how the country has yet to emerge from a cycle of battles against invasion and civil war.

"It is a place for ghosts, not humans," said Khudai Nazar, 54.

- Preserving the site -

First explored by DAFA in the 1950s, the site has seen no conservation work since then.

At that time, archaeologists identified the palaces, mosque and other annexe buildings, such as the pottery and craft workshops, as well as ice boxes used for the preservation of fresh food.#photo3

One of the most striking excavations was a series of paintings depicting court scenes, extremely rare for an era in which the realistic representation of living beings was already frowned upon in Islamic societies.

Moved to the Kabul museum, the paintings were destroyed or stolen during the Afghan civil war in the 1990s and only photographs remain.

DAFA director Marquis is now concerned about the impact looters and displaced families will have at the site -- as well as the effects of global warming, which could cause the river to flood.

On the flip side, reinforcements made from clay and straw that have been added to the partly collapsed towers may have also resulted in their temporary preservation.

"The paradox is that in their own way people are protecting the place, because it is their home," Marquis said.

He proposes building an "archaeological park" that involves displaced people in the conservation process so they can earn a living and settle outside the palace walls.#photo4

But for author Shah Mahmud Haseat, who has written a book about the citadel, the future of the largely unexplored ruins remains bleak.

"I tried to convince the government to protect the site, but they did nothing. We are really afraid that our history will be destroyed."

© 2021 AFP

Police and soldiers killed in clashes with rebel fighters in eastern Myanmar

Issued on: 24/05/2021 - 
   

FILE PHOTO: People join a rally against the military coup to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 9, 2021. © REUTERS - Stringer

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Dozens of Myanmar security force members were killed Sunday, rebel fighters said, after heavy fighting in the coup-hit country's eastern fringe.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the February putsch, as the military uses lethal force to crack down on dissent.

The civilian death toll has climbed to at least 815 people, according to a local monitoring group.

The violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.

There were clashes in eastern Myanmar over the weekend, particularly in Kayah state's Demoso town, and in neighbouring Shan state

People's Defence Force member Thet Wai -- not his real name -- said at least 20 police officers died Sunday and his side seized a police station in Moebyel town, Shan state, east of the capital Naypyidaw.

The police station was burnt down and rebel fighters also took four security force members into custody, local media reported.

"I thought today is a day of conquest," Thet Wai, 29, told AFP.

"But I am also worried because we have seen air strikes and tanks today. They have much better weapons than us."

He said the Myanmar military had launched helicopter air strikes in the evening at Demoso, a town in Kayah state about 40 kilometres south.

Another civilian fighter at Demoso said at least 13 Myanmar soldiers had been killed Sunday, while four of his men were wounded.

"We intended to seize their police station, but they used air strikes and we could not stop their reinforcement trucks getting into the town," he said.

"We had to withdraw our troops from fighting."

The fighting continued through Sunday night, according to a senior leader of the Karenni National Progressive Party -- an ethnic armed group with a stronghold in Kayah state.

He confirmed that the military was using tanks, helicopters and mortar attacks in Demoso and Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state.

Meanwhile, military chief Min Aun Hlaing, who removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in the coup, gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television, with the full programme yet to air.

In a snippet released Sunday, he offered reassurances to Chinese investors after a spate of arson attacks at factories in the commercial capital Yangon.

"Our citizens don't hate China," he said. "It happened for political reasons."

Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since she was placed under house arrest.

She has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.

Suu Kyi is expected to appear in person in court on Monday for the first time, after weeks of delays to her legal case.

(AFP)

Fighting erupts in Myanmar town on Chinese border
Issued on: 23/05/2021 - 

People take part in a demonstration against the February 1 military coup, along a street in the town of Muse in Shan state, near the China-Myanmar border on February 8, 2021. © STR, AFP

A gun battle erupted on Sunday between Myanmar security forces and an alliance of armed ethnic groups opposed to February's coup, at a town on the border with China, Myanmar media said.

The fighting at Muse, one of the main crossing points to China, was the latest to hit Myanmar since the coup led to an upsurge of conflict with insurgent groups in border regions, as well as bombings, shootings and arson across the country.

Gunfire broke out in Muse around dawn, broadcaster DVB and Khit Thit Media said. Khit Thit Media published pictures of what it said were civilian vehicles that were peppered with bullet holes.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or spokesmen for the four ethnic armed groups that make up the Northern Alliance.

One of the groups in the alliance, the Kachin Independence Army, attacked a military post in northwestern Myanmar, nearly 320 km (200 miles) from Muse and closer to the Indian border on the other side of the country on Saturday.

The junta is fighting a growing number of conflicts since it seized power on Feb. 1 and overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Ethnic armed groups that have waged war for decades to demand greater autonomy have been joined by new groups opposed to the coup.

Meanwhile, protests are carried out daily against military rule, while strikes have paralysed hospitals, schools and much private business.

More than 125,000 school teachers - nearly a third of the total - have been suspended for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the coup, an official of the Myanmar Teachers' Federation said.

Demand the release of prisoners

At least 815 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.

The junta disputes that figure and its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, said in comments broadcast on Saturday that 300 people had been killed in addition to 47 police.

Protesters also demand the release of nearly 4,300 people who have been arrested since the coup, including Suu Kyi, 75.

Min Aung Hlaing said Suu Kyi was healthy and would soon appear in court. Her next hearing is on Monday on some of the many charges brought against her, which range from illegal possession of walkie-talkie radios to breaching a state secrets law.

The army seized power on the grounds of alleged fraud in the general election won by Suu Kyi's party in November. Its accusations had been dismissed by the former electoral commission, dozens of whose officials are now locked up.

(REUTERS)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi appears in court for first time since coup

Myanmar's former de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court for the first time since a military coup pushed the country into turmoil.





Aung Saan Suu Kyi has been detained since early February


Myanmar's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court on Monday to face a change of "incitement to sedition," her lawyers said.

Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest and had not been seen in public since the February 1 military coup that overthrew her government.
What happened in court?

Lawyer Thae Maung Maung told Reuters news agency that Suu Kyi looked in good health and held a face-to-face meeting with her legal team for about 30 minutes before the court hearing.

In recent weeks, the 75-year-old answered questions in court by video link. Her lawyers had not been able to meet her in person.

"She said she was praying for everyone to get well. She said the party was formed for the people, so it will exist as long as the people exist," Frontier Myanmar quoted Suu Kyi's lawyer as saying

The head of Myanmar’s military-appointed election commission recently said his agency was considering dissolving Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud.

According to Frontier Myannmar, the tightly controlled hearing also lasted just 30 minutes.
What are the charges against Suu Kyi?

Suu Kyi is accused of sedition, violating a state secrets law and breaking coronavirus containment measures among other charges.

In February, Myanmar's junta amended the country's colonial-era sedition law, increasing the penalty for the crime from three years to a minimum of seven years and up 20 years in jail, according to The Irrawaddy news outlet.

Violation of Myanmar's Official Secrets Act could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Myanmar crackdown leads to deaths, arrests and displaced people

A special courtroom had been set up for Monday hearing in the capital Naypyidaw, not far from Suu Kyi's home, her lawyer Min Min Soe told German news agency dpa.

Her lawyers reject the case against her, claiming the charges are trumped-up.
What is the situation in Myanmar?

Despite fierce reprisal by security forces, anti-coup protests continue across Myanmar, demanding the release of political detainees, including Suu Kyi.

At least 818 people have been killed so far in crackdowns on anti-coup protests, according to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.

AAPP said nearly 5,400 people had been arrested since the coup.

The junta claims the coup was in response to electoral fraud in the November election.

Myanmar's ousted lawmakers formed a shadow government, which the junta later designated a terrorist group.

The coup also triggered unrest as Myanmar's ethnic rebel groups strongly opposed the military takeover.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi defiant in first comments since coup

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since a February 1 coup and faces a litany of charges from the ruling junta 

Issued on: 24/05/2021 
Yangon (AFP)

Detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday voiced defiance in her first public comments since being held in a coup, vowing her ousted political party would "exist as long as the people exist."

Myanmar has been in uproar since the February 1 putsch, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement. More than 800 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group.

In her first in-person court appearance, Suu Kyi told her lawyer her National League for Democracy would "exist as long as the people exist," even as the junta threatens to dissolve the party -- which swept elections in 2020 -- over alleged voter fraud.

The Nobel laureate -- who had not been seen in public since the coup -- sounded "healthy and fully confident" during the 30-minute meeting, her lawyer Min Min Soe told AFP.

"She wishes her people to stay healthy as well as affirmed the NLD will exist as long as people exist because it was founded for people," she added.

Suu Kyi has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.

There was a heavy security presence in the capital Naypyidaw, an AFP correspondent said, with the road to the specially-constructed courthouse blocked off by police trucks.

Suu Kyi had faced weeks of delays to her legal case and her lawyers had struggled to gain access to their client.

The next hearing was set for June 7, Min Min Soe said, adding she had also met with former president Win Myint, who was ousted and detained along with Suu Kyi.

- 'Everything she can' -

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television last week, with the full programme yet to air, though portions have been released.

Asked about Suu Kyi's political achievements, the military leader said: "In short, she has done everything she can."

A group of ousted lawmakers -- many of them previously part of the NLD -- have formed a shadow "National Unity Government" in an attempt to undermine the junta.

The military has declared the group would be classified as "terrorists".

In a separate interview excerpt, Min Aung Hlaing disputed the death toll from anti-coup protests and said the junta was not ready to adopt a consensus brokered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to halt violence.

The continuing violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.

Sunday saw heavy fighting between junta forces and the Karenni National Progressive Party -- an ethnic armed group with a stronghold in Kayah state on Myanmar's eastern fringe.

The military used tanks, mortars and helicopters in fighting which continued into Sunday night, according to a senior KNPP leader.

Four people taking refuge in a church were killed in army shelling, according to media and a spokesperson for a local group coordinating evacuations from the area.

© 2021 AFP