‘Driving evil out’

Clanging cymbals and banging pots, Yangon residents unhappy with a putsch that ousted Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi have begun kicking up a nightly fracas to chase out "evil spirits" -- in this case, the military.

Suu Kyi and other top civilian leaders were detained in dawn raids on Monday.

The lightning coup brought a country on the path to democracy to a shuddering halt, returning the reins of power to the military who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for nearly five decades.

The presence of soldiers, acute fears over Suu Kyi's safety in detention and concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have so far kept a lid on any mass demonstrations since the takeover.

But residents in the commercial capital of Yangon are resorting to an old tradition to express their displeasure -- making as much noise as possible.

For the last two nights in a row, Yangonnites have stood on the streets at 8:00 pm to bang pots and pans, whack discarded cardboard boxes and clash cymbals for an hour. Those in their cars at the time honk their horns relentlessly.

"We used to do it to drive evil out of the village or out of the house," said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, an activist who is one of the organisers behind a so-called Civil Disobedience Movement opposing the coup.

"People are using this tactic to drive the military junta out of the country."

Similar scenes were witnessed during previous periods of protest in 1988 and 2007, both of which were suppressed with lethal force.

On Wednesday night, the cacophony also gave way to an old revolution song, "Kabar Ma Kyay Bu" -- "We Won't Forget Until the End of the World".