Amid Myanmar’s post-coup violence, there is one township in Yangon that ‘scares the military’
- North Okkalapa in Yangon is renowned for its lawlessness and illicit activities but it has also been central to Myanmar’s protest movements for decades
- Since the February 1 coup, the battles between security forces and protesters in North Okkalapa have been some of the fiercest
Zarni was 20 years old when he received a life sentence for his involvement in Myanmar’s 1988 uprising, although he had his sentence commuted just in time to join the 2007 Saffron Revolution. He now runs a youth centre in North Okkalapa, which he says is “the only township in Yangon that scares the military”.
“North Okkalapa is a place where you will get the three-digit lottery: drugs, sex work and people begging,” said Elliot Prasse-Freeman, a professor at the National University of Singapore who conducted field research in North Okkalapa.
“But you will also get people with enough money to sponsor senior monks for Dhamma festivals or taya pwe. You have a sweet spot where there are enough resources to do something but not so much that you become separated from the people.”
North Okkalapa was founded in 1959 as one of three satellite townships created by General Ne Win’s military government as part of his campaign to clean up Yangon. His targets were the people who lived in informal settlements at the centre of the city.