The Irrawaddy Thu, August 6, 2020

(Photo: Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy)

YANGON – Posters commemorating the ’88 Popular Uprising are erected in downtown Yangon on Wednesday ahead of the event’s 32nd anniversary on Saturday. Also known as the “Four Eights Uprising” in reference to the mass protests on Aug. 8, 1988, the nationwide democracy movement—the largest popular upheaval in modern Myanmar history—toppled the then military-backed Socialist government.

However, the movement ended with a bloody military crackdown and takeover that paved the way for military rule until early 2011. Five years later, Myanmar had its first elected civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, which was born out of the uprising 32 years ago. Unlike previous years, the ’88 Uprising commemorations this year will be low-key due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to event organizers.
(Photo: Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy)

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