Setting aside divisions, Myanmar's ethnic groups unite against coup

People wearing costumes march with placards in a protest against the military coup and to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the ancient city of Bagan, Myanmar February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

(Reuters) - Among the hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets of Myanmar in recent days have been members of the Southeast Asian nation's many faiths – majority Buddhists as well as Christians, Muslims and Hindus, and dozens of distinct ethnic groups.

Major ethnic armed organizations – whose rebel armies control vast swathes of the country – have also thrown their weight behind a growing civil disobedience movement and indicated they will not tolerate crackdowns on protesters by the military leaders who seized power in a Feb. 1 coup.