BURMESE ORGAZATION'S NEWS
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Min Ko Naing Scholarship Fund
source :Voice of Peacock
Vol 2. No. 4
Dec 2000.
The committee for Restoration Democracy in Burma (CRDB) announced that the scholarship fund in honor of our hero Min Ko Naing for his personal sacrifice for Democracy in Burma, will be distributed in the near future. The fund, if the US president signs it will be distribute by the US state department USIA agency from the US embassy. The fund has been signed in the upper house.
"Min Ko Naing scholarship fund, US $ 250,000 will be provided to educate students arriving in exile. The fund was developed because of Min Ko Naing's sacrifice," said the CRDB Chairperson U Kyaw Win.
Paw Oo Tun (Min Ko Naing), chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students Union, was detained on March 1989. He was one of the main student leaders of the 1988 prodemocracy movement.
In 1988, Paw Oo Tun was a 3rd year Rangoon University student majoring in zoology. He rapidly became an important leader in the 1988 student movement and the 8888 uprising. He took the name Min Ko Naing meaning Conqueror of King to symbolize the fight and victory against the military dictators who had ruled Burma for the past 26 years.
In March 1988, students at the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) rose
up against the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP), and were badly
crushed. Ko Phone Maw and Ko Soe Naing from Rangoon Institute of Technology were killed on 13 March 1988, and became the first victims of the 8888-movement. These demonstrations later spread to other universities and school, where the students were demanding an end to the one-party rule and the restoration of democracy. The demonstrations in March and June 1988 triggered the bloody 8888 uprising, that caused the downfall of three successive governments. As the main leader of the students, Min Ko Naing also became one of the main leaders of the broad, nation wide pro-democracy movement.
The All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) was formed on 28 August 1988 during a student conference on the spot where the Rangoon University student Union (RUSU) building had been destroyed by the military government after Gen. Ne Win seized power in 1962. In addition to former student leaders, workers, monks and other civilians also attended this conference. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as a leader of the pro-democracy movement, sent a message of felicitation to honor the role of the students. This conference was officially established with Ko Min Naing as chairman, Ko Ko Gyi, as vice-chairman and Ko Moe Thee Zun as general-secretary. Together with other pro-democracy forces, the ABFSU led the 8888 general strike.
On 18 September 1988, the military staged a coup and took over power under the name of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The ABFSU therefore held a meeting where it was decided what should be the organizations position, strategies and tactics. It was decided that the students should divide themselves into three groups, that ultimate goal of the students union was the abolishment of the military dictatorship, and that armed struggle should be its last resort.
It was decided that a political party with a student base had to be formed to face the SLORC on the political front; a student union representing all the students was to be formed secretly in order to function as an underground organization, while a student army would be built up to lead the student movement.
The ABFSU continued its activities under the guidance of its chairman, Min Ko Naing. He traveled secretly all over the country to organize the students in spite of being watched by the military intelligence. On the first anniversary of Phone Maws death, on 13 March 1989, he gave speeches all over in Rangoon.
On 23 March 1989, Min Ko Naing was arrested by military intelligence. He was detained under Article 10(a) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act for 2 years without being allowed to meet with his family. Moreover, the MI did not initiate a legal prosecution against him. In December 1991, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment at a military tribunal, where there is no legal defense.
Although Min Ko Naing is still in prison, he remains the last chairman of the ABFSU, as was decided during the last student conference held in Mandalay in 1990. Since this conference, no new chairman has been elected up to now.
In early 1998, Min Ko Naing was moved from Insein prison to Sittwe prison (Akyab), or which is about 400 miles north-east of Rangoon. This has made it more difficult for his family to meet with him regularly. Although his health condition is bad, his spirit is still strong.
When FAC (ABFSU) contacted CRDB, U Tin Maung Thar, a member of CRDB, said "the main concern for me is the well prepared military junta's sons and daughters will take advantage of this programme as they did before which resulted in real needy democratic students losing their opportunities, which were originally designed to help them. The CRDB will express this concern to the US government and searching the best way to reach the targeted student. At this moment the CRDB welcomes any good and practical ideas to solve this possible problem."
Foreign Affairs' Committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions