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History Daily

Burma’s Pro-Democracy Uprising

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2023

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 8, 1988. A wave of nationwide student-led protests against Myanmar’s socialist dictator leads to a ruthless military crackdown.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:13.4

It's March 16, 1988 in Rengoon, the capital of Burma.

0:18.8

The young woman cycles down a narrow back alley,

0:21.4

her wheels splashing through puddles left by a recent monsoon.

0:25.4

Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a thousand angry voices chanting in unison

0:30.5

rises above the corrugated iron rooftops and hangs in the air like an electric charge.

0:36.2

The young woman's heart rate quickens as she follows the rumbling noise.

0:40.4

She turns a corner onto a tree-lined road where thousands of demonstrators are marching

0:45.1

with signs bearing pro-democracy messages. The crowd is mostly students like her, young people

0:51.4

angered by the corruption and violence of Burma's socialistic dictatorship.

0:55.9

The young woman abandons her bicycle and joins the demonstration, lending her voice to the spirited

1:01.3

cries for democracy and freedom. She follows the flow of protesters onto a bridge over a lake

1:07.6

where a line of military vehicles forms a menacing blockade. As armed soldiers square up to

1:13.3

the front line of protesters, there's a sudden screech of times. The young woman spins around to

1:19.3

see a fleet of police fans have appeared behind the demonstrators, trapping them on the bridge.

1:24.8

Officers and riot gear start pushing and shoving the students who suddenly have nowhere to run.

1:30.9

Then a single gunshot rings out and a protester crumples to the ground, dead. Chaos ensues as

1:37.7

the demonstrators panic and try to escape the bridge. But within seconds bullets fly through the

1:43.5

air as the officers start firing indiscriminately into the ground. A dark tide of blood courses over

1:49.6

the concrete of the bridge. The young woman joins a frantic crush of fleeing students, but the police

1:55.6

fans block them in, forcing them back with batons, assault rifles and tear gas. Her eyes stinging,

2:02.4

the young woman is left to wonder if their dream of a free Burma will ever be achieved or if it's

...

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