The protest, taking place approximately 1 kilometer away from the Jakarta concert venue, featured protesters carrying a banner that declared: “Reject, cancel, and disband Coldplay concerts,” branding the band as an LGBTQ+ “propagandist” accused of undermining “faith and morals.”

The protest group had previously organized demonstrations at various locations in Jakarta, including the British Embassy, reflecting a rising trend of a small extremist fringe becoming more vocal in Indonesia despite its secular and historically tolerant society.

Coldplay, known for integrating its values into performances, notably advocating for environmental sustainability, has faced opposition due to lead singer Chris Martin’s public embrace of LGBTQ+ symbols, including wearing rainbow colors and waving gay pride flags during shows.

The backdrop for these protests includes earlier concert cancellations in Southeast Asia linked to LGBTQ+-related issues.

In July, British pop rock band The 1975 canceled performances in Jakarta and Taipei after the Malaysian government cut short a music festival due to the lead singer’s criticism of the country’s anti-gay laws and a same-sex kiss on stage.

Similarly, Lady Gaga canceled a sold-out show in Indonesia in 2012 due to security concerns following threats of violence from Muslim hard-liners opposed to her “Born This Way Ball” concert.

The Asian segment of Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres World Tour” features the Jakarta concert at Gelora Bung Karno stadium, with over 70,000 tickets sold within two hours of sales opening in May.

Jakarta stands out as one of the band’s key streaming hubs, boasting 1.6 million fans in the city.

The post Indonesian Muslim Conservatives Protest Coldplay Concert Over LGBTQ+ Support first appeared on The Postcolonial.

In early January 2022, inhabitants of the Zhanaozen region in the southeastern part of Kazakhstan started protesting against the sharp rise in fuel prices. As the government removed the price cap, it doubled from $0.14 to $0.28 reported OpenDemocracy.

Despite media focus on this increase, the upsurge was rather the last drop in a very long historical process of lowering quality of life and increasing worker exploitation. 

In a matter of days, the uprising spread to central parts of the country and Kazakhstan’s capital, encompassing more social groups who joined in solidarity and started demanding more profound structural changes, such as increases in the living wages, collective bargaining recognition, improvement of worker conditions, as well as lowering pension age.

As the movement gained momentum, it quickly became politicized with new stakeholders trying to stir it in new directions. 

New Times

The Zhanaozen region has a long history of organizing with working class people being stripped of most of their rights, while the oligarch class together with foreign investors kept accumulating more and more wealth from oil exports. Some analysts call what happened in Kazakhstan a class war.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, peripheral countries like Kazakhstan incorporated very well in a neo-liberal economic order as suppliers of raw materials. The quick gains from the oil and gas industry were successfully siphoned to the ruling class, namely former president Nazarbayev’s family, as well as foreign investors.

The living conditions for the average citizen in the meantime deteriorated significantly. 

Rising conspiracy

In 2019, Nazarbayev chose his successor, the current president Tokayev, and named himself Elbasy or the ‘leader of the nation’ while keeping control over essential state institutions.

Since in power, Tokayev attempted to create a more manageable civil society, but the escalation of the crowd’s anger into more violent demonstrations motivated him to change his rhetoric.

The handful of looting incidents during these riots were the perfect opportunity for the president to call the uprising an orchestrated attack with a group of ‘terrorists’ and ‘foreign agents’ aiming to undermine the country’s sovereignty.

The conspiracy about the West organizing the protest simply can’t hold because it was Western corporations who were hit because of the strike. As an example, American oil company Chevron controls 50% of Kazakhstan’s largest oil venture in Tengiz with investment plans amounting to $50 billion. 

International geo-play

President Tokayev appealed to members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance between Russia and five other countries including Kazakhstan, to send in external military help to suppress the uprising. Overnight, the first military planes flew in to deploy Russian troops to protect main state assets, like the Airport in Nur-Sultan (formerly called Almaty).

The foreign press was quick to raise panic and call the event a Russian invasion. Local observers and analysts point to the fact that the US used the events in Kazakhstan as an offensive play on a totally different chess board, the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In reality, Russia’s involvement was merely a geo-political gesture of authoritarian solidarity to show president Tokayev he can rely on his neighbors.

As the waters cooled down, Tokayev was quick to reassure the foreign partners that peace was restored and their money was safe in Kazakhstan.  

Looking at the events post-factum, Aljazeera reporters conclude that Russia consolidated its influence and secured the loyalty of the Kazakh leadership. Local elites and foreign investors can resume their extractive activities.

Only the people of Kazakhstan have been defeated, but if history teaches us anything, power doesn’t stay in the same hands forever. 

The post Kazakh protest spilled over into political demands first appeared on The Postcolonial.

The streets of Myanmar are drenched in blood, as the military junta continues its extreme crackdown on protestors. Since the coup d’état against the democratically elected government on February 1^st this year, protesters have roamed the streets to show their discontent with the military junta.

The Burmese human rights organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has confirmed the deaths of at least 500 people in relation to the military coup since February 1^st.

The conflict had its’ deadliest day on Saturday, when more than 100 people were killed. A rising tally that was feared by diplomats, commentators and scholars who follows the situation in Myanmar, when armed forces switched water cannons with rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Just two weeks prior, what was described as ‘the bloodiest day of the military crackdown on protestors’ occurred in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon where security forces killed 38 protesters, activists told the BBC.

The military declared martial law in Myanmar, as some protesters allegedly uses sticks and knives, and has attacked Chinese businesses. It is unclear who is actually behind these specific attacks, but protesters believe that China is giving support to the military.

‘This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close. The uprising must win,’ parliament leader Mahn Win Khaing Than said in his first public address after gone into hiding, urging protesters to defend themselves against the military crackdown, the BBC reports.

Staging the nation

Myanmar were going through a transition to democracy starting in 2011 after being a military rule for nearly 50 years. The National League for Democracy (NLD) is far the largest political party in the country featuring Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi as their leader.

In November 2020, Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD won a landslide victory securing 396 out of 476 seats ahead of the military party, reaffirming the countries development into full democracy.

But the military led by general Min Aung Hlaing claimed the vote fraudulent and staged a coup d’état on February 1^st this year, taking full control over Myanmar and have jailed Aung San Suu Kyi and former acting president Win Myint.

The military action has been condemned by various countries and civil unrest has since sparked violence on the streets of Myanmar, where military and police personal are cracking down protesters demonstrating against the junta.

According to Danish ambassador in Myanmar John Nielsen, members of the NLD have created a ‘shadow government’ in hiding and established contact with several national ambassadors in the country.

‘They reach out for the international community and put pressure on international businesses working with the military, discouraging the companies to pay their taxes right now,’ Mr Nielsen told Danish broadcaster DR. ‘The shadow government tries to undermine the military junta by mobilizing joint political pressure from many of Myanmar’s ethnic groups,’ he says.

And the countries ethnic groups could trigger the next stage of what is going to happen in Myanmar.

Christine Schraner Burgener serving as the UN special envoy for Myanmar stated that the Southeast Asian country ‘is on the verge of spiraling into a failed state,’ AP reports.

Armed ethnic groups on Myanmar’s borders are staring to speak out against ‘the brutality of the military’ and this ‘(is) increasing the possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale,’ Ms Burgener warns.

A full-blown civil war will hurt minority groups even further, as civilians already faces consequences from ongoing conflicts between several local militias and the military in Myanmar.

‘Already vulnerable groups requiring humanitarian assistance including ethnic minorities and the Rohingya people will suffer most,’ she says.

Children in crossfire

Armed forces have killed more than 500 people so far since the coup in Myanmar. Rights organization Save the Children states that at least 43 children have been killed by armed forces.

The youngest recorded victim is a six-year-old girl who was shot by police when she ran towards her father.

The killing happened during a search where police inspected houses for weapons in Mandalay, the victim’s older sister May Thu Sumaya told the BBC.

‘They kicked the door to open it. When the door was open, they asked my father whether there were any other people in the house,’ she said.

When the father said no, they accused him of lying and searched the house. The girl then ran to her father to sit on his lap and got shot by the police, Ms Sumaya said.

‘I can’t Father, it’s too painful,’ the father described his daughter’s last words.

As the Myanmar authorities continues their crackdown on civilians, there is no guarantee that children will be spared during the unrest.

‘Children have witnessed violence and horror. It is clear that Myanmar is no longer a safe place for children,’ Save the Children writes.

The post Bloody streets of Myanmar first appeared on The Postcolonial.