Thread by @DinDengTh

The following is from a conversation with 3 protest organisers in Yangon. A student organiser, a leftist organiser and an ethnic minority community defence organiser. 1/

Right now, what type of people are involved in the protest?
It’s mostly students and young workers fighting the state. Not only ethnic Burmese, but ethnic minority groups have been participating since the beginning. 2/

(There are also people joining strikes from all walks of society, particularly the civil service, but not necessarily fighting in the streets). 3/

What's the role of women in this movement?
The role of women is integral. They have been taking their place on the frontline and logistically (organising). They have been involved and leading in every aspect of the struggle since it began. 4/

Could you tell us about the involvement of trade unions in the protests?
Before the mass violence by the government, trade unions were very visible on the streets, with flags etc… 5/

However since there has been mass violence, their presence is less visible (as they don’t wish to be identified). But there is a very large number of union members in our struggle, they just don’t identify themselves like that. 6/

Are you considering arming yourselves with firearms?
We are trying to arm the people but are limited by our capabilities. Really we are weak in this regard, and we were not prepared for this fight (mass violence) before the coup, even though many of us anticipated it. 7/

Would you consider joining the insurgencies in the borderlands in the future?
We have no plans to join the insurgency. We have learnt from past attempts at remote insurgency, it’s simply not effective. We need to be on the frontline (in the city) to achieve victory. 8/

For how much longer can you continue this campaign?
We're considering the momentum of the campaign and have started long-term planning. We can't let the tempo go down. We've been organising community self defence and self governing groups so that military rule can’t return. 9/

We can’t predict how much longer the current struggle will continue, but the longer it continues, the more time we have to organise and strengthen our communities. 10/

What are your demands to the military government?
It's simple, the military government and all their bureaucratic structures need to be destroyed. The soldiers need to go back to their barracks and be punished according to their criminal acts. 11/

In your opinion, is there any foreign interference happening?
We don’t think so, but it’s possible. Perhaps the Chinese but really we don’t know. The important matter is whether foreign governments are condemning the coup or not. 12/

What can foreign people do to help?
The most important thing you can do is understand what's happening. People can donate to Mutual Aid Myanmar (the general strike fund), we trust them, but we haven’t received any funds from them yet. 13/

Are there any misconceptions about the protests that you would like to address?
We don’t really know what to say, (they are focused on street organising and not very online), but please support our struggle and the struggle of all oppressed people in The Milk Tea Alliance. 14/

Thai translation coming soon.