Where Poets Are Being Killed and Jailed After a Military Coup
More than 30 poets have been imprisoned since the military seized power in Myanmar, a country where politics and poetry are intimately connected.
Poetry remains alive in Myanmar, where unconventional weapons are being used to fight a military that has killed about 800 people since it staged a coup on Feb. 1. Credit... The New York Times
Poetry remains alive in Myanmar, where unconventional weapons are being used to fight a military that has killed more than 800 people since it staged a coup on Feb. 1 and ousted an elected government. For some democracy activists, their politics cannot be separated from their poetry.
Sensing the power of carefully chosen words, the generals have imprisoned more than 30 poets since the putsch, according to the National Poets’ Union. At least four have been killed, all from the township of Monywa, which is nestled in the hot plains of central Myanmar and has emerged as a center of fierce resistance to the coup.
“Anti-authoritarian sentiments have always been in the flesh and blood of poets,” said U Yee Mon, a poet who also serves as the defense minister for a shadow democratic government that is challenging Myanmar’s junta from jungle redoubts. “The people with weapons are afraid of pen-wielding hands.”
