Unlikely Bonds
Min Ma Naing, the Myanmar artist and documentary photographer, confronted peril amid the 2021 military coup, which she described on a recent podcast episode. Choosing film over digital for anonymity, she skillfully developed negatives in secrecy, symbolically mirroring her nation's intricate political landscape. Actively engaging in the resistance, she defied the junta's scrutiny, but close calls loomed. Seeking refuge in disguises during crackdowns, she narrowly evaded arrest. Her colleagues, less fortunate, faced brutal interrogations. Recognizing her luck's fragility, she reluctantly fled, realizing exile might be indefinite. The Special Branch's past scrutiny heightened her vulnerability. This journey, fraught with danger, became a testament to her commitment amid the oppressive shadows of political turmoil. She describes one incident in this excerpt of particular danger in which she only narrowly avoided capture.
“If we reflect that incident, the Hindu family, they were minority who faced the oppression, and they saved me, the Bamar, the majority.”
“Every photographer and artist was enthusiastic and excited to cover the protest. Starting from the crackdowns, it became tougher so we started really preparing like having gas masks, boots and helmets. This kind of preparation maybe fit the photographer from Hong Kong but didn’t fit with Myanmar! But we are facing the Myanmar police and soldiers so it's different from the other context.
In March it's getting harder and harder. A lot of photographers and protesters had to hide.... I also faced experience hiding three times.
One incident is on March 27: we are doing the artist-led protests on Pansodan road and after just two minutes a police crackdown happened. Pansodan road is a long road and it's difficult to hide so we just ran to the building, and we happened to hide in a nine-story building. We knocked the door but nobody opens for us. Finally, the family who opened for us was a Hindu family. There were seven family members living there and fo us protestors, a photographer and a videographer, we were eight, and so like 15 people in an apartment. Well, this doesn't make sense if they come check us out, but they open the door for us, anyway.
My experience in the past as a photojournalist is that I have to blend in as a local. So I asked them, ‘Can you give me a red dot to put on my forehead like Hindu woman?’ And also, I asked them to change my clothes and I hide my cameras in the kitchen, bedroom and in an unexpected area.
Really, the police and the soldier came with a real gun. They said, ‘Family members on that side, protestors on that side.’ And I went with a family member side. The youngest family members were eight-years-old twins. They communicated within their family to pretend me as their maid in Hindi. So, everybody knows what to say.
Suddenly, other protestors and one video journalist were arrested, and were taken to the interrogation center… except me. In that incident, the police and the soldiers, they even tried to check the family census or family list. I was like, okay, if they check the family list, I am doomed! But one family member, she's pregnant, and she started to act like she's vomiting. Then she gives me a signal, and I know that I'm to hold her hand and we went to the kitchen. In this way, I am not in the sight of the soldier so I could escape from that arrest.
So, if we reflect that incident, the Hindu family, they were minority who faced the oppression, and they saved me, the Bamar, the majority. It was such an experience for me.