8888 Uprising

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"People Power Uprising" redirects here. Not to be confused with the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.

8888 Uprising
  • 1st row: Protesters gathering at Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon.
  • 2nd row: Protesters rallying in Mandalay; Aung San Suu Kyi addresses half a million protesters in central Rangoon.
  • 3rd row: Soldiers preparing to open fire on protesters; Dr Saw Lwin and Dr Win Zaw carrying a critically wounded school girl (Win Maw Oo).[1]
Date12 March – 21 September 1988
(6 months, 1 week and 2 days)
Location
Burma (nationwide)
Caused by
GoalsMulti-party democracy in Burma and the resignation of Ne Win
Methods
Resulted inMilitary coup d'état on 18 September 1988; demonstrations suppressed by force
Concessions
Parties

Opposition:

  • Pro-democracy protesters
  • Students
  • Trade unions

Government:

Lead figures
Number
Casualties
Death(s)350 (official count)
3,000[4]–10,000[5][6] (estimates)
InjuriesUnknown
ArrestedUnknown

The 8888 Uprising,

Rangoon Arts and Sciences University and the Rangoon Institute of Technology
.

Since 1962, the

traditional beliefs and superstition.[14]

The 8888 uprising was started by students in

Burma put the figure at around 350 people killed.[17][18]

During the crisis,

current coup resistance movement to the 8888 Uprising.[20][21][22]

Background

Part of a series on the
Democracy movements in Myanmar
The fighting peacock flag
Background
  • Post-independence Burma
  • Internal conflict in Myanmar
Mass protests
Development
Elections
Organizations
Figures
Related topics

Economic problems

Before the crisis,

Burma had been ruled by the repressive and isolated regime of General Ne Win since 1962. The country had a national debt of $3.5 billion and currency reserves of between $20 million and $35 million, with debt service ratios standing at half of the national budget.[23]

1985 and 1987 demonetisation crises

In the years leading up to the crisis, General Ne Win had imposed two instances of sudden

counter-insurgency required continuous involvement in the international market.[25]

On 5 September 1987, Ne Win announced the demonetisation of the 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes, leaving only the 1, 5, and 10 kyat bills valid.[26] This announcement was also with no prior warning, and this time no exchange for valid tender was allowed. Roughly 60–80% of circulated legal tender was declared invalid without warning, and millions of Burmese citizens had their savings eliminated by this action.[24] On 22 September 1987, the Burmese government introduced new denominations of 45 and 90 kyat notes. The 45 and 90 kyat denominations were chosen because the two numbers are divisible by 9, which was considered lucky by Ne Win.[27]

Students in particular were angry at the 1987 demonetisation as savings for tuition fees were wiped out instantly.

Burmese state media reported little on the protests, but information quickly spread through the students.[30]

Early democracy protests

After receiving

Burma as "almost a joke" compared to other Southeast Asian nations. He was later arrested.[25][33]

On 12 March 1988, students from the

Phone Maw, was shot and killed.[30] The incident angered pro-democracy groups and the next day more students rallied at the RIT and spread to other campuses.[35] The students, who had never protested before, increasingly saw themselves as activists.[30] There was growing resentment towards military rule and there were no channels to address grievances, further exacerbated by police brutality, economic mismanagement and corruption within the government.[7]

By mid-March, several protests had occurred and there was open dissent in the army. Various demonstrations were broken up by using tear gas canisters to disperse crowds.[27] On 16 March, students demanding an end to one party rule marched towards soldiers at Inya Lake when riot police stormed from the rear, clubbing several students to death and raping others.[36] Several students recalled the police shouting, "Don't let them escape" and "Kill them!".[37]

Ne Win resigns

Following the latest protests, authorities announced the closure of universities for several months.

multi-party democracy, which marked Ne Win's resignation on 23 July 1988.[38] In a valedictory address given that day, Ne Win affirmed that "When the army shoots, it shoots to kill."[27] He also promised a multi-party system, but he had appointed the largely disliked Sein Lwin, known as the "Butcher of Rangoon"[40][page needed] to head a new government.[33]

Main protests

1–7 August

A red flag depicting a fighting peacock became a symbol of the protests on the streets of Burma.

Protests reached their peak in August 1988. Students planned for a nationwide demonstration on 8 August 1988, an auspicious date based on numerological significance.

peacock insignia of the All-Burma Students Union.[41] Neighbourhood and strike committees were openly formed on the advice of underground activists, many of which were influenced by similar underground movements by workers and monks in the 1980s.[41] Between 2 and 10 August, co-ordinated protests were occurring in most Burmese towns.[42]

In the first few days of the Rangoon protests, activists contacted

Buddha's image had changed shape, with an image in the sky standing on its head.[27] On 3 August, the authorities imposed martial law from 8 pm to 4 am and a ban on gatherings of more than five people.[46]

8–12 August

Across Burma, people poured out in thousands to join the protests – not just students but also teachers, monks, children, professionals, and trade unionists of every shade. It was on this day, too, that the junta made its first determined attempt at repression. Soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators and hundreds of unarmed marchers were killed. The killings continued for a week, but still the demonstrators continued to flood the streets.

— Amitav Ghosh (2001)[45][page needed]

A general strike, as planned, began on 8 August 1988. Mass demonstrations were held across Burma as ethnic minorities,

protect them from the crowd and earlier violence[47][48] Over the next four days these demonstrations continued; the government was surprised by the scale of the protests and stated that it promised to heed the demands of the protesters "insofar as possible".[46] Lwin had brought in more soldiers from insurgent areas to deal with the protesters.[49][page needed
]

In

Mandalay Division, a more organised strike committee was headed by lawyers and discussion focused on multi-party democracy and human rights. Many participants in the protests arrived from nearby towns and villages.[50] Farmers who were particularly angry with the government's economic policies joined the protests in Rangoon. In one village, 2,000 of the 5,000 people also went on strike.[50]

A short while later, the authorities opened fire on the protesters.

looters and disturbance makers" had been arrested.[33]

Estimates of the number of casualties surrounding the 8-8-88 demonstrations range from hundreds to 10,000;[5][4][6] military authorities put the figures at about 95 people killed and 240 wounded.[52]

13–31 August

Lwin's sudden and unexplained resignation on 12 August left many protestors confused and jubilant. Security forces exercised greater caution with demonstrators, particularly in neighbourhoods that were entirely controlled by demonstrators and committees.[48] On 19 August, under pressure to form a civilian government, Ne Win's biographer, Dr. Maung Maung, was appointed as head of government.[53][page needed] Maung was a legal scholar and the only non-military individual to serve in the Burma Socialist Programme Party(BSPP).[3] The appointment of Maung briefly resulted in a subsidence of the shooting and protests.

Nationwide demonstrations resumed on 22 August 1988. In Mandalay, 100,000 people protested, including Buddhist monks and 50,000 demonstrated in

office workers joined the protests.[55] It became difficult for committees to control the protests. During this time, demonstrators became increasingly wary of "suspicious looking" people and police and army officers. On one occasion, a local committee mistakenly beheaded a couple thought to have been carrying a bomb.[56] Incidents like these were not as common in Mandalay, where protests were more peaceful as they were organised by monks and lawyers.[56]

On 26 August,

Burma, the uprising was seen as similar to that of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines in 1986.[33]

Around this time, former Prime Minister U Nu and retired Brigadier General Aung Gyi also re-emerged onto the political scene in what was described as a "democracy summer" when many former democracy leaders returned.[39] Despite the gains made by the democracy movement, Ne Win remained in the background.

September

During the September congress of 1988, 90% of party delegates (968 out of 1080) voted for a multi-party system of government.

United States government towards Burma.[64][page needed
]

By mid-September, the protests grew more violent and lawless, with soldiers deliberately leading protesters into skirmishes that the army easily won.[65] Protesters demanded more immediate change, and distrusted steps for incremental reform.[66][page needed]

SLORC coup and crackdown

1988 Burmese coup d'état
Date18 September 1988
Location
State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC)
  • Suspension of the 1974 constitution
  • Abolishment of all organs of state power that were formed under the 1974 constitution

If the military shoots, it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It shoots straight to kill.

— Ne Win[67][68]

On 18 September 1988, the military retook power in the country. General

Burma, indiscriminately firing on protestors.[71]

Although an exact body count has not been determined as bodies were often cremated, it is estimated[

schoolchildren were killed, and another 500 were killed whilst protesting outside the United States embassy[51] – footage caught by a cameraman nearby who distributed the footage to the world's media.[72] Maung described the dead as "looters".[72] Protestors were also pursued into the jungle and some students took up training on the country's borders with Thailand.[65]

"I would like every country in the world to recognize the fact that the people of Burma are being shot down for no reason at all."

— Aung San Suu Kyi, 22 September 1988[61]

By the end of September, there were around 3,000 estimated deaths and unknown number of injured,[65] with 1,000 deaths in Rangoon alone.[71] At this point in time, Aung San Suu Kyi appealed for help.[61] On 21 September, the government had regained control of the country,[71] with the movement effectively collapsing in October.[61] By the end of 1988, it was estimated[by whom?] that 10,000 people, including protesters and soldiers, had been killed.[6][page needed]

Aftermath

Many in Burma believed that the regime would have collapsed if the United Nations and neighbouring countries had refused to recognise the legitimacy of the coup.

KNLA), and many of them later trained to become soldiers.[76][77]

After the uprising, the SLORC waged a "clumsy propaganda" campaign against those who had organised the protests.

Burmese media, denying it the relative freedom to report news which it had been able to exercise at the peak of the protests. In the conferences, he detailed a conspiracy in which the right was plotting to overthrow the regime with the assistance of "subversive foreigners" and a conspiracy in which the left was plotting to overthrow the State.[78] Despite the conferences, few believed the government's version of events.[78] While these conferences were going on, the SLORC was secretly negotiating with mutineers.[79]

Between 1988 and 2000, the Burmese government established 20 museums which detailed the military's central role throughout

U Tin Oo and Aung Gyi publicly rejected the SLORC's offer to hold elections the following year, claiming that they could not be freely held while Burma was under military rule.[80][81]

Significance

Today, the uprising is commemorated by Burmese expatriates and citizens. In Thailand, students also commemorate the uprising every 8 August.[82] On the 20th anniversary of the uprising, 48 activists were arrested for commemorating the event in Burma.[83] The event garnered much support for the Burmese people internationally. Poems were written by students who participated in the protests. The 1995 film Beyond Rangoon is a fictionalized drama which is based on the events that took place during the uprising.

The uprising led to the death and imprisonment of thousands of individuals. Many of the deaths occurred inside the prisons, where prisoners of conscience were subjected to inhumane torture and deprived of basic provisions, such as food, water, medicine, and sanitation. From 1988 to 2012, the military and the police illegally detained and imprisoned tens of thousands of leaders of the Burmese pro-democracy movement, as well as

university students
.

Many of the student leaders of the uprising became lifelong human rights activists and leaders of the Burmese pro-democracy movement. Nineteen years later, many of these same activists also played a role in the

House of Representatives
in the 2015 Election.

Gallery

  • Burma Navy personnel demonstrating
    Burma Navy personnel demonstrating
  • Demonstration held on the 19th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising
    Demonstration held on the 19th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Burmese: ၈၈၈၈ အရေးအခင်း
  2. ^ Burmese: ပြည်သူ့အာဏာ အုံကြွမှု [7]
  3. ^ Burmese: ၁၉၈၈ အရေးအခင်း [8]

References

  1. ^ "Talk to Doctor from 8888 historical picture - Part 1". YouTube. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  2. ISBN 978-81-8377-247-1.[permanent dead link
    ]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Fong (2008), pp. 149
  4. ^ a b c Fogarty, Phillipa (7 August 2008). Was Burma's 1988 uprising worth it? Archived 12 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ferrara (2003), pp. 313
  6. ^ a b c d Wintle (2007)
  7. ^ a b c Yawnghwe (1995), pp. 170
  8. ^ Head, Jonathan (16 March 2021). "Myanmar coup: What protesters can learn from the '1988 generation'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  9. ^ Ferrara (2003), pp. 302–303
  10. ^ "Hunger for food, leadership sparked Burma riots". Houston Chronicle. 11 August 1988.
  11. ^ Tweedie, Penny. (2008). Junta oppression remembered Archived 2 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Reuters.
  12. ^ a b Burma Watcher (1989)
  13. ^ *Tallentire, Mark (28 September 2007). The Burma road to ruin Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian.
  14. ^ a b Woodsome, Kate. (7 October 2007). 'Burmese Way to Socialism' Drives Country into Poverty. Voice of America.
  15. ^ a b Steinberg (2002)
  16. ^ Aung-Thwin, Maureen. (1989). Burmese Days Archived 23 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Foreign Affairs.
  17. ^ Ottawa Citizen. 24 September 1988. pg. A.16
  18. ^ Associated Press. Chicago Tribune. 26 September 1988.
  19. ^ Wintle, p. 338.
  20. ^ "'A dangerous time' in Myanmar: Burmese in California struggle for answers, attention". Los Angeles Times. 3 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  21. ^ "[Interview] Myanmar democracy leader in S. Korea is "100% certain that this democratization movement will succeed"". english.hani.co.kr. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Myanmar coup: What protesters can learn from the '1988 generation'". BBC News. 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  23. ^ Lintner (1989), pp. 94–95.
  24. ^ a b c d Karthikeyan, Ananth (28 October 2017). "A Ne Win Situation: Burma's three demonetizations". Mint. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  25. ^ a b Boudreau (2004), pp. 192
  26. ^ Williams, Nick B. Jr. (12 September 1987). "Commerce Snarled as Burma Rules Much of Its Currency Is Worthless". Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h Tucker (2001), pp. 228
  28. ^ Fong (2008), pp. 146
  29. ^ Lwin (1992)
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Boudreau (2004), pp. 193
  31. ^ Lintner (1989), pp. 95–97.
  32. ^ Yitri (1989)
  33. ^ a b c d Yawnghwe (1995), pp. 171
  34. ^ Fong (2008), pp. 147
  35. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 1–14
  36. ^ Fong (2008) pp. 147–148.
  37. ^ Fink (2001), pp. 51
  38. ^ a b c Fong (2008), pp. 148
  39. ^ a b Smith (1999)
  40. ^ Fong (2008). In 1962, Lwin had ordered troops to fire on student protestors, killing dozens, and ordered the Union Building at Rangoon University to be blown up.
  41. ^ a b Boudreau (2004), pp. 202
  42. ^ Lintner (1989), pp. 126
  43. ^ Boudreau (2004) Two groups considered to have large underground and internal support networks
  44. ^ a b c d Boudreau (2004), pp. 203
  45. ^ a b c Ghosh (2001)
  46. ^ a b c Mydans, Seth. (12 August 1988). Uprising in Burma: The Old Regime Under Siege. The New York Times.
  47. ^ Williams Jr., Nick. (10 August 1988). "36 Killed in Burma Protests of Military Rule." Los Angeles Times.
  48. ^ a b c Boudreau (2004), pp. 205
  49. ^ Callahan (2001)
  50. ^ a b Boudreau (2004), pp. 204
  51. ^ a b Burma Watcher (1989), pp. 179.
  52. ^ The Vancouver Sun 17 August 1988. pg. A.5
  53. ^ Fink (2001)
  54. ^ Fink (2001), pp. 58
  55. ^ a b c d Fong (2008), pp. 150
  56. ^ a b Boudreau (2004), pp. 208
  57. ^ Clements (1992)
  58. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 9
  59. ^ Silverstein (1996)
  60. ^ Fink (2001), pp. 60
  61. ^ a b c d e f Tucker (2001), pp. 229.
  62. ^ Boudreau (2004), pp. 212.
  63. ^ Callahan (1999), pp. 1.
  64. ^ United States State Department, 1988
  65. ^ a b c Boudreau (2004), pp. 210.
  66. ^ Maung (1999)
  67. ^ Yeni. "Twenty Years of Marking Time". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  68. ^ Kyi May Kaung (8 August 2008). "Burma: waiting for the dawn". Open Democracy. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  69. ^ Delang (2000)
  70. ^ Ferrara (2003), pp. 313–4.
  71. ^ a b c Ferrara (2003), pp. 314.
  72. ^ a b c Fong (2008), pp. 151
  73. ^ Yawnghwe (1995), pp. 172.
  74. ^ Europa Publications Staff (2002), pp. 872
  75. ^ Fong (2008), pp.152.
  76. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 371.
  77. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 17.
  78. ^ a b c d Boudreau (2004), pp. 190
  79. ^ a b Lintner (1990), pp. 52
  80. ^ Mydans, Seth. (23 September 1988). Burma Crackdown: Army in Charge. The New York Times.
  81. ^ Thein, Seinenu (May 2014). "Heroes of Democracy: Burma's 88 Generation and the Legacy of Mandela". Psychocultural Cinema. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  82. ^ The Nation. (9 August 1997). Burmese exiles mark protest. The Nation (Thailand).
  83. ^ *Tun, Aung Hla. (8 August 2008). Myanmar arrests "8-8-88" anniversary marchers Archived 8 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. International Herald Tribune.
  84. ^ Moe, K Z (21 January 2012). "The last night in the cell". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  85. ^ Jonathan Head (11 November 2008). "Harsh sentences for Burma rebels". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  86. ^ "A former political prisoner was arrested for protesting alone in front of the United Nations office in Rangoon". Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. 23 September 2004. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.

Bibliography

Books and journals

Further reading

External links

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