Protesters march in Mandalay on August 8 to mark the 33rd anniversary of the 1988 uprising (Supplied)  

Protests were staged around the country on Sunday as a younger generation renews the struggle against military rule

By Myanmar Now

As Myanmar marked the 33rd anniversary of the “Four Eights” pro-democracy uprising on Sunday, activists around the country renewed calls to end military rule once and for all.

Anti-dictatorship protests were held in both urban and rural areas to commemorate the 1988 uprising, which began on August 8 of that year and was crushed the following month by a bloody coup that claimed thousands of lives.

Coming 188 days after the latest military coup, the anniversary was remembered with a renewed sense of urgency, with many activists linking the two events.

“Let’s struggle together towards completion of the unfinished 8-8-88 people’s liberation movement” was a slogan seen on placards and banners at a number of protests.

Some signs, meanwhile, bore starker messages.

“Blood that was shed in ’88 must be repaid in ’21,” read one that hearkened back to the violence that ushered in nearly a quarter century of brutal military rule.

That era ostensibly ended a decade ago after the military orchestrated a “transition” to quasi-civilian rule that left its power largely intact.

However, the country was again plunged into crisis when the military seized direct control on February 1, citing alleged irregularities in last year’s election.

Since then, the newly installed regime has killed nearly a thousand civilians and arrested another 7,000 in an effort to crush a massive popular resistance movement reminiscent of the one that emerged in 1988.

Many who came out into the streets on Sunday made it clear that they considered themselves heirs of that earlier struggle.

“We are carrying over the effort of previous generations who fought against the military dictatorship. The responsibility falls upon our generation now – a student activist.”

“The current generation must learn from history and defeat the fascist military dictatorship once and for all,” the General Strike Committee, a protest organizing coalition, said in a statement released ahead of the protests.

Nyi Zaw, the chair of the Yangon University Students’ Union, also pointed to the intergenerational nature of the current anti-coup movement.

“We are carrying over the effort of previous generations who fought against the military dictatorship. The responsibility falls upon our generation now,” he told Myanmar Now.

Others, meanwhile, called for unity among anti-regime forces, including people of different ethnicities, and emphasized the endurance of the resistance movement.

“Our public struggle and resilience over the past six months are the best proof that we will achieve victory,” said Tayzar San, a prominent anti-coup activist from Mandalay, who spoke to Myanmar Now on Sunday.

One of the most prominent voices of the 1988 uprising used the occasion of the anniversary to denounce the military for acting in bad faith during its past engagement with pro-democracy forces.

“It seems that we need to win by a knockout. Fine, then. We’ll give them a knockout – Min Ko Naing.”

Min Ko Naing, a former student leader who spent nearly two decades in prison for his outspoken opposition to military rule, told Myanmar Now he didn’t think the younger generation would fall for the “lies” that kept the former regime in power for so long.

“All their lies were unmasked on February 1,” he said.

As hundreds of members of the Myanmar diaspora gathered in Washington, D.C., on Sunday to call on US support for the shadow National Unity Government, Min Ko Naing also reflected on the international response to the crisis in Myanmar.

“Our people have fought every round and won every one with a high score. The world knows that. But it seems that we need to win by a knockout. Fine, then. We’ll give them a knockout,” he said.

Original Post: Myanmar Now