One of Burma’s most prominent student leaders was released on Thursday after being detained for 13 and half years in jail and said that he would take part in the reconciliation process to solve the country’s political stalemate.  

Ko Ko Gyi, before his arrest

“We paid the price with our families, our youth and our society,” said 44 year-old Ko Ko Gyi, whose mother died while he was in prison. “But we are satisfied with that sacrifice.” The student leader was talking to The Irrawaddy in a phone interview from Rangoon on Friday.

Ko Ko Gyi became vice chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions— which is banned inside Burma—during the 1988 nationwide democracy uprising. In 1991 he was arrested in connection with a student movement at Rangoon University which protested against the junta.

A graduate of the Government Technical Institute, Ko Ko Gyi was studying as a final year student of international relations in Rangoon University prior to his arrest. Military authorities sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment, later reduced to 10. When he completed his prison term, the authorities continued to detain him under section 10(A) of the State Protection Act until his release from Insein and Thayet prisons. 

Ko Ko Gyi said it would not take long for him to think about what he has to do in politics. “As far as I understand, we need dialogue to resolve the country’s ongoing stalemate,” he said. “I believe round-table talks are the best way for the country.”

History is important but it should not be a burden when we build a future. — Ko Ko Gyi

The student leader said: “Now we, the students of ‘88, have experience in politics and we can make ourselves understood. So, I anticipate we can play a role in the country’s reconciliation process.” 

When asked about the student movement he once led, he said: “It’s like a river. We can’t take a bath twice in a river. But as water flowed in our past, new currents will flow in new generations.”

“Our peacocks have relentlessly fought [for democracy], having suffered severely. As soon as possible, I would like to see our peacocks singing and dancing,” he continued. Peacocks, especially fighting peacocks, are the historic symbols of students in Burma. 

Ko Ko Gyi has noted subtle changes in Rangoon since his release. “I feel that even those small changes are fruits that came out of our sacrifice in 1988,” he said. The 1988 movement managed to remove the late dictator Ne Win’s authoritarian Burma Socialist Programme Party. 

The student leader refused to talk about how he was tortured and suffered in prison, instead, wanting to talk about the future. “History is important but it should not be a burden when we build a future,” the student leader said. “History should support it.”