A study in revolt: Myanmar coup puts Yangon University students on frontline of protest again

In 1962 and 1988, students fought against military rule in Myanmar. In 2021, they are doing so again, reports Rory Sullivan

The University of Yangon Teachers Association protests against the military coup on 5 February, 2021. (Getty Images)

The University of Yangon has long been at the centre of protests against military dictatorship in Myanmar, and things are no different after this month’s coup. 

When the military - or Tatmadaw - seized power in 1962, students at what was then Rangoon University organised a series of demonstrations against the junta’s policies. In what would become a grimly familiar pattern, these were violently suppressed by the new ruler General Ne Win, who had studied, but failed to get a degree, at the institution. 

It is the university’s involvement in the events of 1988 though that are most keenly seared into the nation’s consciousness.