After soldiers arrested civilian government leaders in the early hours of Feb. 1, one question ricocheted around social media in Myanmar: “Are we going back in time?” Tanks appeared on the streets in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s largest cities, and barricades blocked major highways, recalling the military takeover after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and the coup of 1962. Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, stationed soldiers outside of Yangon’s City Hall, the hostel where hundreds of lawmakers stayed in the capital city of Naypyidaw, and the offices of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
These images formed an exceptional moment, one that suggested a swift end to Myanmar’s nascent democracy. People added the date—“1.2.21”—to social media tributes, memorializing the day before it had even ended. But the resemblance between the unfolding circumstances and those of the past was uncanny. Had Myanmar found itself again in 1962, when the Tatmadaw first took power? Would the widespread protest movement that had sprung up in response meet the same harsh crackdown as those in 1988 and 2007?
