On June 1, Myanmar Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who leads the junta that took power in a February coup, presided over a ceremony to rename a bridge in Mon state, one of seven regions where most inhabitants are not Bamar, the country’s ethnic majority. A civil war has simmered in Myanmar’s borderlands, where ethnic armed groups have fought the central government for greater autonomy and political rights. Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, has oppressed ethnic minorities for decades.
Min Aung Hlaing took the public opportunity to criticize the elected government he deposed. Groups representing Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have long demanded greater local political control. The general said the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by ousted state leader Aung San Suu Kyi, had named the bridge after her father, the revolutionary hero Aung San, against the “wish of the local people” in Mon state. In contrast, he said, the military government would safeguard “democracy and federalism.”
