Mizzima Myanmar Saturday August 9, 2025

PHOTO: Mizzima

Despite heavy security and repression in Yangon, revolutionary youth staged an umbrella strike on 8 August to mark the 37th anniversary of the historic 8888 Uprising.

The demonstration was held in key locations across the city, including in front of Yangon City Hall, Yangon University, and Kandawgyi Lake. Youth participants carried umbrellas bearing the number “8” and the slogan “Rebellion and Resistance” as a symbol of defiance.

In a statement, the Yangon People’s Strike group said the action commemorates the struggle for democracy from the 8888 Uprising to the present-day Spring Revolution. It condemned successive military regimes for brutally suppressing the people and causing countless deaths.

“The fascist military dictatorship, which is killing and annihilating the people as if they were enemies to maintain its grip on power, must be rooted out,” the revolutionary youth declared.

The strike was organized by the Yangon People’s Strike, Yangon Revolutionary Four Brothers, and local residents, who were undeterred by the junta’s tightened security measures across the city.

Solidarity events under the global umbrella strike movement are also being held by Myanmar communities and supporters abroad on 8 August.

To mark the anniversary, the embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden released statements expressing support for the people of Myanmar in their ongoing struggle for democracy and peace.

“The Spring Revolution is a time when all allied ethnic revolutionary forces must unite and fight the final battle, focusing only on the will of the people, to completely eliminate the military dictatorship and all forms of authoritarianism,” the National Unity Government (NUG) stated.

On 8 August 1988, a nationwide pro-democracy uprising erupted in Myanmar as millions rose against military rule. The movement became a defining moment in the country’s political history, remembered as a powerful symbol of the people’s aspiration for justice and dignity.

Though brutally suppressed by the military, the spirit of the 8888 Uprising lives on. When the military again seized power in February 2021, the echoes of 1988 returned louder, more unified, and more determined than ever as people from cities to rural areas rose once again to demand freedom.

https://eng.mizzima.com/2025/08/09/25237#google_vignette

SOURCE: Mizzima Saturday August 9, 2025

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