After 20 years at a political standstill, the iconic images of Burma’s 1988 pro-democracy uprising have lost none of their immediacy

BURMA imploded on August 8, 1988. Students and monks governed the country for months as millions marched through the streets, demanding democracy and an end to  one-party rule.

Economic mismanagement and the demonetization of the Burmese currency in 1987 finally forced many to come out in protest. The regime that had ruled the country for 26 years wasn’t wise enough to negotiate with the protesters but countered with brutal force, at a cost of many lives. 

Politicians, a new generation of student leaders and the general public joined forces in a movement for change that became known as the “four eights” uprising.  Its foundation coincided  with the 50th anniversary of the “1300 Movement,” the Burmese resistance against British colonial rule.

This time, Ne Win was the public enemy No 1, inflaming popular anger still more with a speech in which he warned: “If the army shoots, it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It will shoot straight to hit.”

The regime made good that warning and Rangoon became a killing field. Ne Win resigned ,but his puppet regime remained and the protests continued. The country saw the presidency change three times in a few months.

A close Ne Win aide, Sein Lwin, known as the “Butcher of Rangoon”  for his role in suppressing earlier unrest, led the country for just two weeks before resigning two days after the August 8 uprising. It’s still not known for sure how many died in the uprising, but independent sources estimate that as many as 3,000 peaceful demonstrators were gunned down. The regime maintained they were looters, but the claim has been discredited.

The appointment of Maung Maung, a scholar and Ne Win biographer, to run the government did not stop the mass demonstrations, and military leaders staged a bloody coup on September 18.

The uprising resulted in the arrival of a new team of incompetent military leaders to run the country, but it also gave birth to a generation of young and talented leaders and activists, many of whom ended up in prison.

Despite the military regime’s attempts to stifle all opposition and to present a picture of normalcy to the outside world, Burma continues to make international headlines—whether because of political news or coverage of disasters such as Cyclone Nargis.

The headlines are almost invariably negative. Twenty years after the 1988 uprising, the country remains a pariah state, at war with itself and sinking inexorably lower into poverty and isolation.

The regime and its media see a different picture, of a country heading towards the attainment of a peaceful, modern, prosperous “disciplined democracy.” But that false optimism doesn’t fool the Burmese people—who continue to strive for real democratic change.