The writer is a journalist in Central Myanmar who is receiving support from The Kite Tales to write these diaries.

In the city where I live, checkpoints now bar the roads. In crowded places and intersections, sandbags have been stacked to make bunkers, with guns pointed in the direction of the public.

It is part of a tactic by the military if they are unable to find culprits in criminal cases - they summon and arrest people they are suspicious of and close to the incident.

It has been going on since June last year. In fact, the inspections have become stricter. In other cities such as Yangon and Taunggyi, at checkpoints entering and exiting the city, some women were groped. For some, these assaults happened at knife point. It’s an abuse of power.

They are burning villages and killing people in Sagaing Region and ethnic areas, but in cities, they are using every means possible to make people feel psychologically insecure.

Hearing of incidents like this caused rising levels of anxiety for someone like me who was already feeling mentally unsafe. If I’m out and about and witness something, I fear I would still be arrested even if I turned back just for being in the vicinity.

The more violent they become, the more bitter people are towards the military. My 80-year-old grandmother was born during World War Two when the country was ravaged in battles between the invading Japanese army, the old colonial power Britain and Burmese forces. But she says she thinks the current situation is worse. 

“The situation was not as bad nor the people as wicked during the Japanese era. The actions of the army now are worse than those of Japanese soldiers,” she told me. 

The aim of the military council is to instil fear in the people and make them disinterested in politics. This is why gambling is officially allowed but interest in politics is not.

In the middle of last year, an administrator appointed by the military council in Bago Region was shot dead while sitting at a roadside betel nut stall. The next day, the junta detained more than 10 locals.

A teacher whose father was arrested in connection with this crime told me she thinks he was targeted because both of his daughters had taken part in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) to protest the February 2021 coup.

“My father is old and has an underlying illness. He was arrested far away from the place where the shooting happened," she added.

Such events are happening in every city. Those travelling by motorcycle or car are routinely stopped and their vehicles searched. They also check people’s mobile phones so many are leaving them at home when they go out. This has also become a habit with me.

In addition, those who are well-known as supporters of the NUG (the parallel National Unity Government) are targeted for arrest. There is also pressure and monitoring of those who are involved in CDM and the police will pick them up as soon as informants give the signal to do so. They are tortured at the very least. Those with worse luck end up in jail.

For the police, the more people are arrested, the more opportunities there are to extort money from remaining family members.

A doctor at the health department once told me that their participation in the CDM means she has to be very careful every time she leaves the house.

"People follow you,” she said. 

“Sometimes it doesn't feel safe to even stay at home.”

The artwork is by an anonymous illustrator who is receiving support from The Kite Tales to produce illustrations.