A Quickie

8 February 2021

I want everyone who reads this, which includes mostly friends and family, to know that I am safe and comfortable and feel I am in no danger if I avoid the demonstrations, which I do.

Today there were protest demonstrations in many cities all over the country. 70 government hospitals are shut down or on dramatic work slowdown. An estimated 750,000 people marched in Yangon today, including a group of monks. Some marchers in Nay Pyi Taw, the capitol, were blasted with water cannons but there appear to have been no deaths or serious injuries reported anywhere.

Martial law has been imposed in Mandalay, the second largest city. In Yangon we are under a curfew from 8PM to 4AM. There can be no assembly of more than 5 people, although how this will be enforced with hundreds of thousands marching together is unclear to me.

The telephones and internet have been turned off and on for the past 3 days. They may be off for awhile to discourage organizers of protests, but it doesn’t seem to work and only makes people, including business owners, angry. I may, however, be unable to reply or to send out my blog posts to you at times, but there is no need for worry. Just pretend it is 1975 before email and when overseas phone calls were too expensive to make.

Mostly it makes for a dull time, interspersed with moments of exciting rumor. I have encouraged my students not to express their strong emotions online. We shall see how it plays out. I hope for a peaceful resolution.