After the regime’s military brutally cracked down on the 88 people’s uprising, it proposed sham elections to ease the opposition’s temper. As a result, new political parties were registered under the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)’s political party registration law on September 30, 1988. The National League for Democracy, one of the leading political parties after the 88 Uprising, was led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi @ Daw Suu, with an ideology of non-violent movement towards multi-party democracy in Myanmar.
Some chose a different path. A group led by student leaders and revolutionary minds set up armed resistance. One notable armed organization formed after the 1988 uprising was the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF). Several students, protesters, and exiles joined ABSDF forces and waged war against the army.
Not long after political parties were registered, NLD leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and other prominent political figures, were detained and placed under house arrest by the military under the State Protection Act on July 20, 1989. Despite this, the general election was held as promised in 1990. Ironically, the NLD, whose leaders were in custody, won in a landslide victory. The junta did not accept the result and brazenly annulled the election. Instead, the regime introduced the National Assembly process under its roadmaps to maintain its grip on power.
The military regime, led by Than Shwe, hoped to build the nation under its iron fist but later released Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. She was freed for the first time on July 10, 1995, after six years.
According to a New York Times article dated July 12, Daw Suu delivered a speech to crowds in front of her residence, saying, “We will not bear grudges against anybody else” following her release. NY Times writer Phillip Shenon described this as a “conciliatory tone” in his article, adding that her remarks should delight the Burmese Junta leaders. Daw Suu added, “I have always believed that the future stability and happiness of our nation depend entirely on the readiness of all parties to work for reconciliation.” She warned her supporters, “We have to choose between dialogue and utter devastation.”
Daw Suu chose political reconciliation, non-violent peaceful resistance, and dialogue. Throughout her political journey, she demonstrated utmost tolerance towards her political rivals, the regime’s army, which viewed her party and herself as sworn enemies. In every confrontation with the regime, the NLD maintained its non-violent policy; however, the army never showed mercy, always waging war against the party’s activities and peaceful protesters. Ultimately, Daw Suu and her loyalists often ended up in jail.
On May 30, 2003, a “notorious massacre” occurred in Depayin, Sagaing region. The junta wanted to prevent Daw Suu and NLD members’ convoy from continuing their rally, which was attracting large crowds. Regime strongmen wanted to use “any means” to achieve this goal. At least 70 people were killed after a mob attack directed by army elements. In response to this inhumane massacre, the late U Tin Oo, a patron of NLD, filed a complaint at the nearest police station. No action has been taken against the perpetrators to date. Why was Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy icon of Myanmar, so committed to non-violent movement, peaceful resistance, and dialogue?
Her non-violent stance was influenced by her education, Western political theory, Gandhian philosophy, and Buddhism. Daw Suu emphasized dialogue, democracy, and peaceful resistance, rejecting armed struggle. In one interview, she said, “I do not believe in armed struggle because it will perpetuate the tradition that he who is best at wielding arms wields power. That will not help democracy.” Daw Suu’s non-violent, peaceful resistance and dialogue strategy finally paid off after 24 years of struggle for her, her party, and the people of Myanmar who longed for democracy. In the 2012 by-election, Daw Suu contested and won a seat in parliament after years of boycotting. The NLD won a landslide victory in the 2015 General Election, and the transition of government was smooth for the first time in Myanmar’s history. Daw Suu said, “I know it is the slower way, and I understand why our young people feel that it will not work. But I cannot encourage that kind of attitude (armed means). Because if I do, we will be perpetuating a cycle of violence that will never end.”
Despite Daw Suu’s reconciliation efforts with the military regime, the question remained whether the military constitutionally wanted political reform. She answered, “I don’t think we can say until the army is totally committed to change because, under the present constitution, the army can always take over all parts of the government if it feels necessary. So until the army comes out clearly and consistently in support of the democratic process, we cannot say that it’s irreversible.” The military proved her right, showing their intention to cut the country off from democracy permanently by staging a coup on February 1, 2021.
At the beginning of the coup, people didn’t know how to react. By the end of the day, a letter popped up on social media, supposedly from Daw Suu, urging the people of Myanmar to reject it. At the same time, her trusted advisor, Win Htein, cited Mahatma Gandhi and called for civil disobedience, following Daw Suu’s strategy of nonviolent resistance. This started the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Health workers and teachers were the first to join, refusing to work. Soon, trade unions, civil servants, music and movie stars, LGBT+ groups, and ethnic minorities joined in support. Like the previous uprisings in 1988 and 2007 (Saffron Revolution), the 2021 spring revolution practiced non-violent protest movements at first, as Daw Suu wished. However, the anti-coup protests gradually transitioned from peaceful strikes to self-defense measures as the army made it clear they would not support the public’s desire to maintain the democratic process in the country.
When the army saw the surge of resistance, they tried to stop it with lethal strikes against peaceful protesters using live bullets. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), formed with outcast lawmakers from NLD, announced on March 14, 2021, that the public would practice “self-defense in response to the terrorist (regime army)’s violence.” The CRPH stated, “Fundamental humanitarian rights of citizens, which are the right to defend life, and the right to live in freedom and security, as well as to give the citizens the right to defend one’s livelihood in accordance with the law.” For the first time in Myanmar’s history since gaining independence in 1948, an internationally recognizable armed resistance against its own army is emerging.
In 1988, there were two groups – the political wing (NLD) and the striking wing (ABSDF). When Daw Suu and her party introduced the policy of non-violent movement and political reconciliation, almost all of Myanmar followed the political wing, showing little support to the ABSDF, causing the failure of military intervention against the regime’s army. But in the 2021 spring revolution, almost everyone has committed to the fighting wings. Even those in the political wings support military intervention. Unlike 1988, in 2021, numerous striking forces emerged, including militias, local resistance forces, revolutionary forces based on ethnicity, and union forces such as the People Defense Force (PDF) by the National Unity Government (NUG), fighting alongside longstanding Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) like Kachin, Karen, Ta’ang, Kokang, Rakhine, Chin and Karenni forces.
A research paper, “Burma’s Struggle” by Lt. Col. T.J. Bouchillon, reads, “We are seeing the Burmese people rise against the military and take arms against the military in a way they never have before.” He adds, “Community-based, now organized groups, primarily from the ethnic Burmese who haven’t always protested against military rule. They are the ones who are fighting back now against the military and some of these former military strongholds.” He concludes, “The people had a taste of democracy and they were not ready to give it up with this latest coup.”
Daw Suu spent her latest birthday in jail on June 19, 2024. As armed resistance intensifies in Myanmar, some people worry that the army might use her, once a non-violent opposition leader, to calm the military convention’s tempo. Both sides (army and resistance) want to hear Daw Suu’s comments about the ongoing armed clash. Her legal team officially said that Daw Suu is not aware of the current situation since she has been behind bars since the coup began. What if she is released now? What would be her reaction to the armed conflict? She once said, “I will prioritize the party’s interests over personal ones. I will place the country’s needs above those of the party. I will make decisions by consulting with the people, ensuring nothing is done against their will.” This is what people want, “the end game,” and Daw Suu herself may understand that the generation is different from her era. This generation does not want to practice non-violent and peaceful resistance against ignorant, brutal army leaders. This generation understands that not just tyrants, but the entire army institution is a threat to democracy in Myanmar. This generation is not willing to wait another 20 years to get what it wants. This generation understands that the regime’s army is not for those with a big heart.
