'They underestimate us': Inside Myanmar's Uprising

The country’s youth are at the forefront of this nationwide civil disobedience, putting their life on the line for the future of their country. Meet two sibling activists who are defying military crackdown.

A defiant Bhone prepares to face off against Myanmar's security forces. Source: Dateline

Watch Myanmar's Spring Revolution on SBS On Demand

Yangon-based Bhone and Cindy rushed to the frontline to take part in daily rallies, after a power grab by the Burmese army in February this year sparked widespread demonstrations.

The siblings are among a wave of young protesters demanding the restoration of democracy, and calling for the release of the country's democratically-elected leaders. 

“There is a line [American Founding Father] Thomas Jefferson said: 'when injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty'. That's why I joined this fight against the military,” says Bhone.

He and his fellow demonstrators arm themselves with homemade shields cobbled together from anything they can find but are up against well-trained and heavily armed security forces.

Cindy gives the three-finger salute which has become a symbol of resistance against the military coup. Source: Dateline

Yet Bhone, and others like him, refuse to back down.

“They underestimate us,” says Bhone. “They have guns but we have people. Our mind and the unity we have, that’s a powerful thing in the world.”

'I don't want to go back to the bad old days'

Bhone and Cindy are part of a generation that briefly tasted democracy, after Myanmar spent decades under oppressive military rule.

“I do the protest activities from the bottom of my heart,” says Cindy. “I don't want to go back again to the bad old days.”

Cindy takes part in the youth-led demonstrations because she does not want to go back “to the bad old days” when Myanmar was under oppressive military rule. Source: Dateline

But memories of the country's dark past were evoked on February 1st when Myanmar's armed forces, or Tatmadaw, ousted the country's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), and defacto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  

Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing contested the result of last November's elections in which the NLD clinched a landslide 83 percent of the vote, seizing power as a new session of parliament was set to open.  

 The country was plunged into chaos; Suu Kyi and other political aides were arrested, and the military declared a state of emergency.  

Bhone and fellow protesters duck for cover during clashes with the military. Source: Dateline

More than four months after the NLD were overthrown, there is no end in sight to the bloody street battles, with the death toll soaring to 840 according to local monitoring group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). 

“Most of the people who died are around 18 and 19, which is my age,” says Bhone. I don’t know when it is going to be my turn to die.”

In a sweeping bid to crush the uprising, security forces are arresting and forcibly disappearing critics of the military, abducting them under the cloak of darkness during night raids. 

Nightly vigils are an opportunity to pay tribute to the dead and call for the release of the more than 5,000 people arrested by the military so far. Source: Dateline

“If someone is arrested by police,” says Cindy, “there's really a small chance they will come back home.”

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma, more than 5,550 people have been arrested since the February 1 coup. 

Despite the constant threat to their safety, Bhone, Cindy and other young activists insist they are not afraid. “The military have messed with the wrong generation,” says Bhone. “We will fight until the dictators burn in hell. We must win the revolution.” 

Watch 'Myanmar: The Spring Revolution' 9:30pm Tuesday on SBS and later on SBS On Demand.