Students and their unions vow to end military dictatorship in Myanmar

By Admin 07 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
7 July 2023, Sittwe

The Yangon University Students Union, in a statement marking the July 7 anniversary of the beginning of the Myanmar people’s revolution against dictatorship in 1962, vowed to fight side by side with those oppressed until authoritarianism is crushed and a new Myanmar is built.

The anniversary honours those students who sacrificed their lives for the cause, said the statement from the Yangon University Students Union, a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).

On July 7, 1962, the Myanmar military regime led by General Ne Win carried out a brutal crackdown on student protests on the Yangon University campus. More than 100 students were killed and the following day, the regime demolished the historical Yangon University Students Union building with dynamite.

“Any act to reconcile with the military dictatorship while sitting on the heap of bones from successive generations who have sacrificed their lives in revolt beginning on July 7, [1962,] is similar to kicking the martyred students in their faces,” reads the statement.

Political analyst U Than Soe Naing said: “General Ne Win wanted to teach a lesson to students who opposed his coup, and he decided to use new weapons he had purchased from Germany on July 7. This was how the row between students and General Ne Win started. The fight by students continues today.”

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw — a group of elected lawmakers from the 2020 general election who never took their seats due to the February 2021 coup — also released a statement on Friday, calling for efforts based on the “July 7 spirit” to end the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

This year marks 61 years since the deadly crackdown on student protesters, noted the CRPH.

Students and activists also marked the July 7 anniversary on Friday in cities including the commercial capital Yangon.

“From the time of U Ne Win to the current military regime, the Myanmar military has oppressed students and people in various ways,” said Ko Oo Than Naing, information officer for the Arakan Students Union. “The worst thing is U Ne Win’s regime dynamited the student union building, which played a central part in Myanmar’s independence struggle. Student unions will be there as long as there is support from the public and students.”

According to a July 4 press release from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a total of 138 students have been arrested and jailed for opposing military rule since the coup on February 1, 2021.