Flowers & Riot Shields
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YANGON, MYANMAR, February 2021. Riot police stand in a line behind shields near Sule Pagoda. On the other side of the barricade, protesters hold flowers. Between them, bottles of water and food sit on the pavement. On February 1, the Tatmadaw seized power, detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and dissolved the government elected three months earlier. Within a week, protests in Yangon grew to at least 150,000 people, the largest demonstrations since the 2007 Saffron Revolution. In these early days, protesters offered roses to the police lines. The restraint did not hold. By mid-March, security forces were firing live ammunition into crowds. By year's end, more than 1,500 civilians had been killed. The flowers came first. Sources: Reuters; AAPP (Assistance Association for Political Prisoners).