Fleeing Myanmar police: We defied orders to kill protesters
Source: AP
By ANUPAM NATH
MIZORAM, India (AP) — A group of Myanmar policemen recounted their escape to India after defying the Myanmar army’s orders to shoot people who oppose the Feb. 1 coup in the southeast Asian country. While speaking, they raised a three-finger salute — a symbol of resistance to Myanmar’s military rulers.
“We cannot hurt our people, that’s why we came to Mizoram,” said one of the policemen, who hails from the northwestern town of Tedim. Mizoram is a state in India’s northeast, and shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
After the army coup, the policemen were ordered to “shoot people and not just the people, we were told to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army,” he said. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify these claims.
Indian villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 police personnel and one firefighter who crossed into India over the last two weeks. They spoke to an AP photojournalist on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against family members still in Myanmar.
Police officers who fled Myanmar following a military coup display the three-finger salute at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. A group of Myanmar policemen raised athree-finger salute, a symbol of resistance, as they recounted their escape to India, after defying the Myanmar army orders to shoot people who opposed the Feb. 1 army coup in southeast Asian country. “We cannot hurt our people, that’s why we came to Mizoram,” said one of them, who hailed from the northwestern town of Tedim in Myanmar. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-india-asia-asia-pacific-southeast-asia-7054a0f5671a2a8e8dde33c720c436cc
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