Remembering July 7
7-7-62. A peaceful march takes place from Convocation Hall along Chancellor Road.
U Myo recalls when he was growing up, 7 July was like a religious holiday for school kids—no classes. Now a lawyer and member of the Thailand-based Burma Lawyer Council, Myo said he was young when he first heard of the traumatic events that befell students a few years before at the prestigious Rangoon University.
July 7 provided Myo and other students a story and inspiration that has been passed down through generations.
Myo said he and his two friends were model school kids, never missing a day at school. And so he and his friends were initially put out when told by a young relative there was no school.
“Please don’t go to school, my younger brothers,” he recalls the brother of his cousin shouting. “Today is 7 July, on that day our brethren university students were killed by Ne Win’s army. Over 100 students were killed on that day. Please come with us.”
Myo remembers passing the high school on the way from his primary school to his home. “Many people from our village were assembled in front of this school, not only the students but also the people. I went to see what was happening out of curiosity. Soon after I arrived, I heard a loud voice singing.”
Myo said he was surprised to see his elder sister Mi Nge. “She was prettier than any film actress and her voice was so sweet. She sang a song with the first stanza—‘The rubble of our university at the place of our campus’.”
Myo said his elder brother standing beside him started to cry. And then other students followed suit. Elder university students with roses pinned in their chests were crying too.
Myo said he was transformed—“This was the beginning of my life.”
In 1970, Myo, now an adult student, recalled how he sat beneath the Thitpope tree on the Rangoon University campus and talked with other students about the tragic incident that happened there on July 7 just eight years before.
“That day was the second day of the celebration of golden jubilee of our university. We asked ourselves should we sit as mute spectators. What should we do?”
Myo and his colleagues discussed the troubles that had wrecked the calm of their campus. After General Ne Win’s military coup in March 1962, Rangoon University had been wrested from the hands of professors and academics and put directly under the control of the Directorate of Higher Education, a junta agency.
On July 7, students rose up in peaceful protest against “unjust university rules” that had been imposed by the new directorate.
General Ne Win sent troops to disperse the uprising, at which they shot dozens of students dead and dynamited the historic Student Union building the next morning with students still inside. According to official figures, 16 students died and 70 were injured at the university, but other sources put the toll at over 100 dead.
The crackdown proved the birth of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions that carried on its revolution against dictatorship underground as successive Burmese dictators continued to ban student unions.
As Myo found, July 7 was the first of a number of incidents to disrupt the Rangoon University campus. There were periodic protests and clashes over the years, and the university was subject to closure.
On 5 December, 1974, the day of the funeral of former UN Secretary- General U Thant, Rangoon University students stole the coffin and erected a temporary mausoleum in the grounds of the university to protest against the government not honouring their famous countryman with a state funeral. The army stormed the campus, killing several students, and recovered the coffin, burying it at the foot of Shwedagon pagoda.
Myo remembers seeing photos of the July 7, 1962, incident shown to him by former students who had taken part in the protest.
He said he met with former Rangoon Student Union leader Ko Nyan Win.
“Then I heard both of these duo brothers Nyan Win and Tim Maung Win were killed in action in the revolution. They have performed their tasks. I cried when I heard this news …They are no more.”
Another friend was murdered in prison. “Many of our elder brothers have died. Their images are lingering in my mind. They have not yet died in my mind.”
Myo himself was unable to evade the control of the state. “I was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for my involvement in the June 6, 1975 labour protest day first anniversary,” he said.
After being released from prison, he said encouragement from his father saw him return to school to earn a law degree.
‘Reminiscences of my student life reappeared whenever I visited my university campus,” he said.
“I went back to my campus again in 1988 during the climax of the 1988 uprising,” Myo said, recounting the student-led protests that resulted in the deaths of thousands of demonstrators. “I found myself still feeling fresh and young. I called the junior students at the campus who were the age of my nephews and nieces brother and sister.”
Myo knows about the sacrifices of student activists. Hence, for the exiled lawyer, July 7 is a day to remember.
Historical Photographs July 7, 1962
Link:http://www.mizzima.com/edop/features/5559-remembering-july-7.html
Myo said he and his two friends were model school kids, never missing a day at school. And so he and his friends were initially put out when told by a young relative there was no school.
“Please don’t go to school, my younger brothers,” he recalls the brother of his cousin shouting. “Today is 7 July, on that day our brethren university students were killed by Ne Win’s army. Over 100 students were killed on that day. Please come with us.”
Myo remembers passing the high school on the way from his primary school to his home. “Many people from our village were assembled in front of this school, not only the students but also the people. I went to see what was happening out of curiosity. Soon after I arrived, I heard a loud voice singing.”
Myo said he was surprised to see his elder sister Mi Nge. “She was prettier than any film actress and her voice was so sweet. She sang a song with the first stanza—‘The rubble of our university at the place of our campus’.”
Myo said his elder brother standing beside him started to cry. And then other students followed suit. Elder university students with roses pinned in their chests were crying too.
Myo said he was transformed—“This was the beginning of my life.”
In 1970, Myo, now an adult student, recalled how he sat beneath the Thitpope tree on the Rangoon University campus and talked with other students about the tragic incident that happened there on July 7 just eight years before.
“That day was the second day of the celebration of golden jubilee of our university. We asked ourselves should we sit as mute spectators. What should we do?”
Myo and his colleagues discussed the troubles that had wrecked the calm of their campus. After General Ne Win’s military coup in March 1962, Rangoon University had been wrested from the hands of professors and academics and put directly under the control of the Directorate of Higher Education, a junta agency.
On July 7, students rose up in peaceful protest against “unjust university rules” that had been imposed by the new directorate.
General Ne Win sent troops to disperse the uprising, at which they shot dozens of students dead and dynamited the historic Student Union building the next morning with students still inside. According to official figures, 16 students died and 70 were injured at the university, but other sources put the toll at over 100 dead.
The crackdown proved the birth of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions that carried on its revolution against dictatorship underground as successive Burmese dictators continued to ban student unions.
As Myo found, July 7 was the first of a number of incidents to disrupt the Rangoon University campus. There were periodic protests and clashes over the years, and the university was subject to closure.
On 5 December, 1974, the day of the funeral of former UN Secretary- General U Thant, Rangoon University students stole the coffin and erected a temporary mausoleum in the grounds of the university to protest against the government not honouring their famous countryman with a state funeral. The army stormed the campus, killing several students, and recovered the coffin, burying it at the foot of Shwedagon pagoda.
Myo remembers seeing photos of the July 7, 1962, incident shown to him by former students who had taken part in the protest.
He said he met with former Rangoon Student Union leader Ko Nyan Win.
“Then I heard both of these duo brothers Nyan Win and Tim Maung Win were killed in action in the revolution. They have performed their tasks. I cried when I heard this news …They are no more.”
Another friend was murdered in prison. “Many of our elder brothers have died. Their images are lingering in my mind. They have not yet died in my mind.”
Myo himself was unable to evade the control of the state. “I was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for my involvement in the June 6, 1975 labour protest day first anniversary,” he said.
After being released from prison, he said encouragement from his father saw him return to school to earn a law degree.
‘Reminiscences of my student life reappeared whenever I visited my university campus,” he said.
“I went back to my campus again in 1988 during the climax of the 1988 uprising,” Myo said, recounting the student-led protests that resulted in the deaths of thousands of demonstrators. “I found myself still feeling fresh and young. I called the junior students at the campus who were the age of my nephews and nieces brother and sister.”
Myo knows about the sacrifices of student activists. Hence, for the exiled lawyer, July 7 is a day to remember.
Historical Photographs July 7, 1962
Link:http://www.mizzima.com/edop/features/5559-remembering-july-7.html
