The wrath of Myanmarese protesters seeking a return to parliamentary democracy have turned against China and its multiple projects.
Myanmar protest leaders told IANS they have decided to initiate a nationwide boycott of Chinese goods.
One of them, on the condition of anonymity, said that neighbourhood protest committees have been asked to spread by word of mouth the appeal to boycott Chinese goods.
“Indian businesses should open marts here. Our people will switch over to Indian products even if they are slightly more expensive,” the protest leader in commercial hub Yangon said over the phone.
But he appealed to India not to turn back those fleeing into the country, specially the eight policemen who fled into Mizoram from Myanmar’s Chin state.
Chin state authorities have formally sought their early repatriation as a “goodwill gesture”.
“These policemen will be executed by the military because they refused to shoot on peaceful protesters,” the protest leader said.
Mizoram Chief Minister Pu Zoramthanga has pitched for sheltering those who have fled into his state.
A local group, Zoram Reunification Organisation which seeks integration of the Mizo-Kuki-Chin ethnic groups, has petitioned Indian President Ramnath Kovind and the Centre not to deny refuge to those fleeing into Myanmar from Myanmar.
This after the Centre asked northeastern states bordering Myanmar and the Assam Rifles, which guards the 1643 India-Myanmar border, to stop a large scale influx from the neighbouring country.
Delhi is yet to take a call on the Myanmar request to hand back the eight policemen.
Protesters in Yangon are carrying placards “Myanmar coup, Made in China” during the demonstrations.
Some of them during the rallies this week also raised slogans like “Burn the Chinese gas pipeline”.
Hailed by China as a symbol of “mutually beneficial cooperation”, the 770-km pipeline connecting the Burmese port of Kyaukphyu to China’s Yunnan province was the focal point of public rage due to local perception that Beijing was backing the military that seized power on February 1.
On Friday, protesters shouted “Chinese business, Out! Out!”, in Mandalay city, a staging point on pipelines across Myanmar from the Indian Ocean to China.
Burmese social media carried many more such threats.
