The 88 Generation – Student Movement
Yangoon, 2013-02-23 12:00 by Laerke
We had a meeting with the 88 generation, they did a presentation for us, answered questions and in the end we had lunch together. The 88 Generation Students is a Burmese pro-democracy movement known for their activism against the country's military junta. Many of its members were imprisoned by the Burmese government on charges of "illegally using electronic media" and "forming an illegal organization". The man in the photo, Min Ko Naing, has been in prison for more than 20 years...


Min Ko Naing shared a lot of personal experiences with us, he got rather emotional and in the end he even sung a song for us, a song he had learned in prison. It was a song they used to communicate with each other and to try and keep their spirits up.
At the end of the meeting one of my Burmese classmates, Wai, thanks the 88 generation for having us and hands over a small token of appericiation from Chulalongkorn. Wai is very moved, she says she is proud of what they have accomplished and she appreciates their sacrifice. Min Ko Naing mentions time and again that it is an honor to sacrifice oneself for the motherland.


8888 Uprising
The group takes its name from the 8888 Uprising, a series of student-led protests in 1988 opposing the military rule of Ne Win. In September 1987, Ne Win voided most denominations of the kyat without warning, causing many people to lose their savings overnight. Students who saved money for tuition fees were particularly affected. The announcement led to riots at several universities. The situation was further exacerbated by the shooting of protesting student Phone Maw in a 12 March 1988 clash with police. The protests continued to grow through August of that year, and on 8 August 1988 (8-8-88), a general strike began from which the uprising would later take its name. The protests culminated in the 1990 general election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party the National League for Democracy won 392 of 492 available seats. However, the military refused to recognize the results, and continued to rule the country as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Following the coup, many future members of the 88 Generation Students Group were imprisoned for participation in pro-democracy activities, including Min Ko Naing.


The 88 generations logo – the dancing peacock a.k.a the fighting peacock.

Founding and early activities
The 88 Generation Students Group was founded in 2005. An analyst for The Asia Times described them as "not a political party, but rather a movement comprising a generation of students who were active during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising". In October 2006, the group traveled the country, dressed symbolically in white, to gather signatures on a petition calling for the release of all Burma's alleged political prisoners. They delivered the resulting 535,580 signatures to both the SPDC and the United Nations. In November, the group organized a multi-religion prayer campaign to call for peace, help for the victims of recent flooding, and the release of political prisoners, and in January 2007, they called on Burma's citizens to write their complaints to SPDC Chairman Than Shwe in a campaign called "Open Heart".