More than two hundred protesters gathered outside the Massachusetts State House Friday to condemn the actions of the Myanmar military, which seized control of the South East Asian country’s government on Feb. 1.
The lunch-time protest was organized by Yoma, a Burmese restaurant in Allston. Sai Kyaw, who owns the restaurant, was a student leader in the 1988 movement, in Myanmar, and felt a need to show support to those on the ground in his home country.
“We just want to show solidarity with people in Burma,” he said, referring to his homeland by its former name.
Myanmar’s military arrested democratically elected leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, among others, and took control of the government. The military’s proxy party suffered a resounding defeat in the country’s elections but alleged widespread voter fraud.
Ed Han Myo Oo, a 27-year-old Somerville resident who is from Myanmar, attended today’s protest. He said one of the goals of the protest was to ensure attention to the military’s actions does not fade.
“In general [the goal] was to have our voices heard and to make sure the momentum doesn’t die out and also just to be there with the community together and sort of just uplift each other during a difficult time,” he said.
Oo said it was important for him to be at the protest to show support for the Burmese community in Boston.
“We just want to show that we have numbers and that the more people speak up the more we can sort of stand up for democracy and the movement,” he said.
The protest was an empowering experience for Oo, who said he feels more emboldened to take a political stance on social media regarding Myanmar.
“I, in some ways after today feel more emboldened to to speak out and take a stand, he said. “Especially when there are people who... support the military and who will go with the dictatorship and say ‘this is now it just go with the wave.’”
Kyaw said another protest is planned for Saturday, and organizers plan to distribute an open letter to Massachusetts politicians in an effort to get them to take action against Myanmar.
Oo said seeing so much support for the cause was “uplifting.”
“It was really uplifting,” he said. “I would say I felt inspired, and more confident to voice what I actually believe.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at charlie.mckenna@globe.com. Follow him on twitter @charliemckenna9.
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