Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar daubed red paint across the streets of Yangon on Tuesday, as the death toll from daily clashes between protestors and the military in the wake of the bloody coup reached at least 570.
Anti-coup protestors held the demonstration to mark the deaths and injuries of hundreds of individuals since the military seized control of the country on February 1.
Activists spray-painted messages on roads, pavements and buildings as part of the “bleeding dye strike” that allowed people to express their opposition to the military without the risk of being detained or hurt in clashes against security forces.
Photos circulating on social media showed protestors raising three fingers covered in red paint, replicating the symbolic gesture used by rebels in the Hunger Games book series during the fictional uprising against authoritarian control.
Alongside the demonstration in Yangon, protests were held in other parts of the country, including Dawei, Hpa-an, Kachin, Karen and Mandalay. Marches and rallies have become a daily occurrence in the country.
The latest action from anti-coup activists comes after members of ousted civilian leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s party raised nearly $10 million in an online fundraising campaign to help “uproot the military dictatorship” and return the country to democratic rule.
Since the military coup began, over 2,700 people have been detained by security forces, 570 people have died, including around 50 children, and numerous injuries have been reported.
Myanmar was under military control from its independence in 1962 until 2011. However, security forces deposed democratically elected representatives in February 2021, months after Suu Kyi’s party soundly defeated the military-aligned USDP group in both of the country’s legislatures.
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