A Spirit That Never Dies

On March 16, 1988, about 3,000 students came to listen to "a thin, dark-skinned young man with curly hair, a slight moustache and beard who was giving anti-government speeches at Taung Ngu dormitory in the RASU campus," recalled another prominent activist.

Min Ko Naing called on students to speak out against the government's mistreatment. He also told them about the history of student movements in Burma, and the role they played in national politics, something the military government tried to play down in their textbooks.

It was Min Ko Naing's first public speech. The students then marched to the Convocation Hall where he and other student leaders gave more speeches. He told his audience about the fate of earlier students' movements that had challenged the present regime: "Our brothers in the past sacrificed to topple this military dictatorship but their demands were only met with violence, bullets and killing."

When the speeches had ended, the students left the RASU campus to join a small demonstration at RIT. They soon found themselves facing a barricade of barbed wire manned by dozens of soldiers on the Prome Road. Confronted with this show of force, Min Ko Naing asked the students to sing the national anthem and salute Burma's independence heroes, including Gen Aung San, founder of the Burmese army. Then they shouted, "The peoples’ soldiers are our soldiers."

Min Ko Naing and two other students then went to negotiate with the army officer in charge. Stressing the importance of good relations between the army and the people, he asked the officer to let them pass.

The officer refused, insisting that he had to follow orders from his superiors, but Min Ko Naing's words seemed to have had some effect. After hearing him speak the soldiers lowered their guns and the tension eased.

Suddenly, however, hundreds of riot police rushed in from behind and, without warning, started beating the students. Some tried to escape their attackers by fleeing to nearby Inya Lake, where many drowned. Those who couldn't escape were severely beaten and taken to Insein prison.

After this, the government closed down the universities and colleges. Min Ko Naing and his fellow student activists went into hiding to continue their activities. When the universities and colleges were reopened in June, the activists immediately began distributing anti-government leaflets urging students to join the student movement.

News of young students being tortured in Insein prison spread all over the country, but on the campuses, the protests continued and the student movement was gaining momentum.

On June 12, 1988, a crowd of students formed on the RASU campus to look at copies of a poster drawn by Min Ko Naing which depicted a girl being beaten by soldiers near Inya Lake. The caption below the drawing said: "Don't forget March 16th. If we are cowed into submission and fail to rise up this time, then the country will be ruled by even more repressive rulers in the future."

Several students were moved to speak out, demanding the release of student activists and the reinstatement of students who had been expelled from universities for political reasons.

Within a week the government closed all universities and colleges again. To everyone's surprise, Ne Win stepped down the following month. His loyal supporter, Gen Sein Lwin, replaced him as president of Burma, and student activists were released from prison. However, as Sein Lwin was widely disliked, fresh protests broke out in cities and provincial towns.

A day after the detained students were set free, on July 8, Min Ko Naing and his fellow students issued a statement saying "We shouldn't be swayed by the release of our fellow students. We will continue to fight."

It was on this occasion, in fact, that Paw Oo Tun officially became known as Min Ko Naing, "Conqueror of Kings."

The statement was also significant for another reason. It had been issued under the name of the All Burma Federation of Students' Unions (ABFSU), an organization that had played an important role in the struggle against colonial rule.

Many of its early leaders were later recognized as independence heroes and statesmen, but when Ne Win came into power in 1962, he brutally repressed the organization and had the historic Students' Union building demolished.

The reemergence of the ABFSU was undoubtedly seen as a formidable challenge to the Ne Win government. 8-8-88 The ABFSU released a series of statements signed by Min Ko Naing in the following weeks. By far the most important was the one calling for a general strike on August 8, the date that would always be remembered as the start of the 8-8-88 pro-democracy movement.

On August 8, 1988, despite the heavy presence of troops, intimidation and threats, thousands of people took to the streets. Anti-government demonstrations broke out simultaneously in towns and cities all over the country.

In Rangoon, workers, monks, and students marched to the center of the city to join the protests.