Pregnant Woman Miscarries, 4 Detained as Myanmar Regime Cracks Down on ‘Six Twos’ Protest

By The Irrawaddy 22 February 2022

Myanmar junta forces arrested at least four people including a young protester and forced a pregnant woman to miscarry in Sagaing Region’s Monywa during a violent crackdown against a demonstration held as part of the nationwide “Six Twos Revolution” strike on Tuesday.

A two-months pregnant woman who took part in the strike suffered a miscarriage after junta forces rammed the motorbike she was on.

On Tuesday morning, plainclothes regime forces tried to ram the protesters with a car on a road in Monywa City, the capital of Sagaing. The pregnant woman and another young woman, both in their 20s, were on the motorbike and scattering anti-regime leaflets and roses.

The pregnant woman lost her child in the afternoon after discharging blood clots, according to the Monywa Strike Committee.

Before the ramming, a young man was arrested after being shot and wounded in the thigh.

“When the two women were scattering the anti-regime leaflets, the plainclothes regime forces tried to hit them with a car. But the car’s tire was punctured. The motorbike fell over and the rider picked up the bike and drove away, leaving the two women behind,” said the leader of the Monywa protest committee.

The pregnant woman asked for help from other motorbike riders but they refused to assist her.

“When she asked for help from another rider and tried to get on, the rider saw the roses in her hand and pushed her from the bike. Due to that pressure, she lost her pregnancy,” said the committee leader.

Both women escaped arrest, however.

People across Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions and Shan and Karen states joined the “Six Twos Revolution”, a reference to Tuesday’s date, 22.2.2022.

Earlier, people were urged to join a nationwide strike on the one year anniversary of the “Five Twos” strike on the same day last year, when millions of Myanmar people took to the streets.

People participated in Tuesday’s strike wearing bamboo and other hats, as well as Thanakha, a traditional face powder, and holding flowers and bouquets to show their continued defiance of the military regime.

Some people posted photos of themselves wearing bamboo hats and holding flowers and shared them on social media.

Young people and activists across all townships continue to defy the junta, said Maung Seint, a member of the General Strike Committee in Yangon.

He said, “Our people continue to support the anti-regime movement in whatever ways possible, by clapping and shouting slogans, amid the junta’s oppression. The junta forces arrest and kill civilians, but we vow to continue our fight to achieve our goals [of restoring democracy and building a federal union].”

A strike leader in Magwe, the capital of Magwe Region, said, “Today, we people are proving that we totally reject the military dictatorship. People take part in any strikes they can; today many have taken part by bravely wearing hats and Thanakha and holding flowers on the street.”

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