Myanmar doctors deploy ‘Hunger Games’ salute in protest against military coup

Doctors and pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar raised their hands in three-finger salute, a gesture of rebellion inspired from The Hunger Games movies, to protest against the military coup that ousted the country’s democratically elected government.

The gesture of resistance against tyranny was first invoked in real life from the silver screen during demonstrations in neighbouring Thailand against a military coup in 2014. So much so, that it was banned by military in Thailand to silence criticism.

In Myanmar, civilians in the country have been raising their voices against the army rule by taking part in civil disobedience campaigns and banging pots and pans from their houses, a symbolic gesture to drive away evil, since the coup on February 1.

Doctors and medical staff at Yangon General Hospital posed, raising three fingers in a muted defiance. Health workers also staged protests at dozens of hospitals by walking out of hospitals on Wednesday.