White Shirts
| White Shirts | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Хопинг, Аи, Дженйи 24/7/365 Peace, Love, Justice 24/7/365 |
| Formation | NMR 2364 |
| Type | NGO |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose/focus | Anti-war, social justice |
| Region served | Namor |
| Key people | Kai Lai Mei Guang |
The White Shirts (Namorese: Паийи Йандонг), sometimes referred to as the White Shirt Movement, are a Namorese activist group founded in NMR 2364 by university students Kai Lai and Mei Guang. The group is pacifist, opposes all wars and supports social justice. Its followers wear white shirts during protests, hence the group's name.
Since its founding, the White Shirts are known for staging sporadic street demonstrations, rallies, marches and sit-ins. The movement was formally exclusively opposed to the People's Republic of Namor's involvement in the Changlang Crisis and later the NLA campaign against the Peitoan archipelago. Since the end of the crisis, the White Shirts expanded its scope and focused on promoting world peace.
The movement claims to have nearly 10,000 followers.
Activities
Protests against Namorese and WETO military action against Peitoa
The White Shirt movement began in the first few weeks of the Changlang Crisis, when the People's Republic of Namor took military action against the archipelago of Peitoa that was ruled by the Republic of Namor. A group of students from the Namo, Mojing and Nozama Universities got together to oppose the NLA blockade against Peitoa. Kai Lai, who was the chairman of Namo University's Students for Peace group, and Mei Guang, a blogger from Mojing University, became the movement's co-directors.
A petition to President-General Kaitlyn Khan was published with the signatures of Kai, Mei and 50 other organizers on the Mojing Sibo. In the letter, the signatories called on the Khan administration to stop its blockade against Peitoa and enter peaceful negotiations with the regime of Jung Fa. According to the letter, by harming Peitoan civilians to get the captured Changlang ferry back, the government was inflicting damage upon its own people. The letter received around 9,000 signatures online and was covered by the Namorese media.
As WETO forces bombarded Peitoa, Kai and Mei released a joint announcement urging university students and "anybody who wants peace" to "wear white and demand peace." As a result, hundreds of people wearing white t-shirts marched outside the Executive House in Namo chanting "Peace for Peitoa" and "Namorese should not slaughter Namorese!" Protests also occurred outside the Namorese mission to WETO. Namo police arrested five protesters for trespassing the Executive House. They were soon released. This marked the inception of the White Shirt movement, as from then on protesters always wore white.
Protests against Fu Wen's election in NMR 2368
White Shirt protesters did not endorse a candidate in the election of NMR 2368. It did not endorse the unpopular Kaitlyn Khan, but nor did it support the New Democratic candidate Fu Wen; in fact, the White Shirts held protests against Fu and his campaign. The White Shirts announced that it would be wearing white to prevent a "corporate takeover of our government." This led to speculations that the White Shirts are leftist, but the White Shirts denied any political affiliation. In a statement, Mei Guang said "we are neither pro-left nor pro-right, we are pro-people and pro-peace," adding that the reason why the White Shirts opposed Fu's election is because "he does not want peace."
Protests against shooting and killing of Feliks Oleg
The White Shirts condemned the shooting of Feliks Oleg that sparked the NMR 2370 Txotai unrest. Kai and Mei stated "If the government genuinely considers Otekians as Namorese, they should treat Otekians as Namorese and stop violating their human rights." In Namo, Mojing, Nozama, Sicho, Astlorbo, Hoy Phong, and Nghenh Nghenh, White Shirt protesters occupied the city central square and took part in a candlelight vigil for Oleg.
Several activists belonging to the White Shirts tried organizing a "March for Self-Determination" in Kusef, the capital of Txotai, but were detained once they reached Kusef International Airport and sent back to where they came from. According to the Kusef police chief, the activists were detained because they were trying to "stir up more trouble when we are trying very hard to restore order."
Some commentators remarked the White Shirts' involvement in the aftermath of Oleg's death means the movement is no longer just pacifist, but also advocating for social justice and minority rights.
Media
Anthem
In NMR 2368, the White Shirts adopted their own anthem, Guardians of Peace (Хопинг но Бовеидже), composed and sung by singer and white Shirt supporter Ge Chu. Guardians of Peace became one of the top hit songs in Namor, and all profits from the song went to those affected by war and poverty.
Guardians of Peace is sung in White Shirt events.