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🗓️ 8 August 2023
⏱️ 18 minutes
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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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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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