In the Myanmar earthquake, some see the political omens

The dusting powder on Friday was still shaking in Myanmar when an existential question turned upside down in the mix: this fatal clash of busty plaques, which added another layer of trauma in a country already afflicted by civil warAlso to bite the disappearance of the dominant junta of Myanmar?

The earthquake, known for killing at least 1,000 and probably many more than this, hit a day after the Myanmar military regime celebrated the country 80th day of the Armed Forces With a parade in Naypyidaw, the capital specifically built by a previous group of Generali.

The sequence of events was difficult to ignore.

Omen and voices have long been appreciated in an authoritarian country with a small flow of information. When the dominant generals has grabbed power Four years ago, they sealed the country and returned to a reverence of superstition and propaganda. And the earthquakes appear in astrological almanacs that are well -inch in Myanmar. A popular version states that an earthquake in March reports the destruction of the cities, while one in July is a wish for kings and sovereigns deposed.

The Roccaforte della Giunta remains in the cities, as in Mandalay, the second largest in the country and one of the most affected by the earthquake. Daw Marlar Myint, 89, said this was the worst natural disaster I have ever experienced. Deadry of the retired school, he is not waiting until July to express his prediction.

“We have said that a huge earthquake like this is the way of nature of punishing a cruel and corrupt sovereign,” he said. “After killing so many people, Min Aung Hlaing is now facing the judgment of nature.”

“Even the bones of those who have assassinated tremble,” he added.

Ever since General Senior Min Aung Hlaing has overturned the elected government of Myanmar in 2021, civil war It has vanished in this country in the South -East Asia. Most of the territory are now in the hands of resistance, with the fortified military in large cities. The junta has terrified civil areas with air attacks passed in recent months only by those rained on Gaza.

The rebels of Myanmar – a cumbersome assortment Of militia of ethnic minorities, opposition politicians and young technology experts who are refining the war of drones outside parts with the jury-year fought hard with a small international support. The Myanmar army is bleeding soldiers, with widespread desertion. However, the jungle war is punishing and both sides are desperate for an exit.

And while the people in Myanmar interviewed the consequences of the earthquake on Saturday, with the screams of those trapped under the wreck that still echo through the cities, the entire extension of the devastation is only starting to take shape.

Ko Kyaw works in Singapore, part of the great diaspora of young and educated people in Myanmar who flew from their country to look for better jobs abroad. He had sent money home to his parents, wife and two daughters, aged between 4 and 7 years. They all died in the earthquake, when their condominium building in Mandalay crashed to the ground. Their bodies were part of a pile arranged inside a nearby room, without space for burial.

For most of its post-colonial history, Myanmar, previously known as Burma, was governed by military dictatorships. Generals of Generali have entrusted Fortunati and astrologers to guide their political decisions. A former head of the junta consulted a dwarf who spoke through his sister. (That sister continued to prognosticate after the death of his brother, but his prophecies lost authenticity, according to those who initially paid a lot of money for his solo consultation sessions.)

A former spy chief collected white elephants (the true type, live) to brown his power. A previous leader of the junta was so superstitious regarding the number nine that called the country’s currency from it, including 45 and 90 Kyat notes. And General Min Aung Hlaing, the current military leader, has consecrated Temples and a Buddha giant in Naypyiday to brown his reputation. He also collected white elephants.

For generals, perhaps the most consequential prophecy came in 2005. This is when the visionaries determined the most propitious timing to start a secret move of the capital of Myanmar from Yangon to a construction site not yet without name in the center of the country. After consultations with Fortunethellers, the trucks started a convoy in the north towards what would soon be called Naypyidaw or the home of the kings.

Today, The new capital It is defended by hills and invulnerable to the attack by sea, unlike Yangon. When the cyclone Nargis slammed against the old capital and the neighbor of Irrawaddy in 2008, leaving more than 130,000 dead or missing people, Naypyidaw had not been unharmed. The generals celebrated their capital bunker, with its large avenues, huge ministries and penguins on ice (again, the truth, live).

But Friday’s earthquake was not so benign in Naypyiday. The government ministries broke. The portraits of the best leaders, including General Min Aung Hlaing, fell to the ground. The air traffic control tower in the capital has reversed, killing at least seven people, according to the media of the state of Myanmar.

In not too far hills, the rebellious forces are watching. With fewer high buildings in the area they control, the Friday earthquake had less effects on them. But even when the residents of Mandalay and other urban areas, such as Sagaing and Kyaukse, have dug through the rubble with their naked hands, indicating every brick to approach possible survivors, the Myanmar soldiers resumed his own old habits.

On Friday evening, in the state of Northern Shan, which borders the Mandalay region, Junta Fighter Jets has dropped bombs on the Naung Lin Village, which is held by the rebels. This time there were no victims, but the fate two days before killing four people in nearby villages. And a week and a half earlier, 10 people get up in a seminar in the same municipality died in air raids.

“I just can’t believe they have made aerial attacks simultaneously with the earthquake,” said Lay Yal Oo, residing in Naung Lin. “Min Aung Hlaing is creating a murder field in Myanmar.”

In Yangon, an astrologer for a high officer of the junta said that the belief of the best in brass in the star signals did not decrease. If anything, they are even more to faith while their grip on the country decreases, he said. The astrologer, who did not want his used name due to the sensitivity of talking about his high -profile military customers, said that General Min Aung Hlaing is strongly based on Buddhist talismans to stay in power.

On Saturday morning, a military intermediary called him, said the astrologer, and asked for help to protect the grip of the head of the junta on Myanmar. He recommended to a Buddha amulet, to be worn at any time.

But, said the astrologer, he thought that the earthquake was a threatening sign for the general.