- A look back on 1988 Uprising -

Event occurred on 8, August, 1988. Therefore it is known as "8888 Uprising". The 8888 uprising was started by students in Yangon (Rangoon) on 8 August 1988. Monks, children, university students, doctors, housewives and from all walks of life participated. The uprising ended on 18 September. Thousands of deaths have been attributed to the military during this uprising. Tens of thousands of protesters fled to Thailand and joined insurgent groups
Goal was to achieve democracy in Burma. "Withdrawal of currency notes without compensation" was one of the problems. On 5 September 1987, Ne Win announced the withdrawal of the newly replaced currency notes, 100, 75, 35 and 25 kyats, leaving only 45 and 90 kyats notes, apparently because only the latter two are numbers divisible by 9, considered lucky by Ne Win.
Next, the uprising was caused by Economic mismanagement,
failure of the Burmese Way to Socialism, police brutality, corruption and Military dictatorship.

Many of the student leaders of the uprising became lifelong activists and human rights leaders. The 88 Generation Students Group, named for the events of 8 August 1988, organised one of the first protests that eventually culminated in the Saffron Revolution. They were arrested and All of them were released in a general amnesty in 2012. They also campaigned for the National League for Democracy in the 2015 Elections. Pyone Cho, one of the main leaders of the 88 Generation, was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2015 Election.

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