Win Maw Oo
ဝင်းမော်ဦး
Photograph taken by Steve Lehman and appeared on the cover of Newsweek. It shows Win Maw Oo after she has been shot while two doctors carry her to an ambulance.[1]
Born19 November 1971
Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon
Died19 September 1988(1988-09-19) (aged 16)
Yangon
Parent(s)Win Kyu
Khin Htay Win

Win Maw Oo (Burmese: ဝင်းမော်ဦး; 19 November 1971 – 19 September 1988) was a Burmese student activist who was killed during the 8888 Uprising in Burma (Myanmar).[1][2] She is considered one of the most prominent heroes of Burma's pro-democracy movement.[3][4][5]

Early life and education

Win Maw Oo, the eldest of six siblings, was born on 19 November 1971 in Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon. She went to Basic Education High School (4), Kyimyindaing.[6]

Death

Against her parents' wishes, she marched with her fellow classmates on 19 September 1988, carrying a picture of Independent hero Bogyoke Aung San.[7] She was shot by soldiers as part of the Myanmar military's crackdown on the protests, receiving two bullets in her legs and one in her chest.[8][9]

Legacy

An image of Win Maw Oo's bloodied body being carried by two medical students became an emblem for the opposition against Myanmar's brutal military regime. Her sacrifice became an icon of the "88 movement".[10]

Win Maw Oo's last request was to not perform her last funeral rites until Burma enjoys democracy.[8] 28 years later, in May 2016, one month after the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi came to power, her family held the last Buddhist funerary rites of Win Maw Oo.[3] The event was widely publicized.[8]

She is the subject of a film by U Anthony which depicts her real-life events surrounding the death.[6][11]

References

  1. ^ a b Htusan, Esther (May 26, 2016). "Democracy helps fulfill long-dead Myanmar teen's last wish". Associated Press. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  2. ^ "From The Archive | Why the Past Can't Be Put to Rest". The Irrawaddy. 19 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The Heroic Medics of the 8888 Uprising". The Irrawaddy. 7 August 2017.
  4. ^ "မှုန်ဝါးနေဆဲ ရှစ်လေးလုံး ရည်မှန်းချက်များ". The Irrawaddy (in Burmese). 7 August 2021.
  5. ^ "အမှန်တရား၏ ဒဏ်ခတ်မှု၌ ပျော်မွေ့တတ်သော (ယမင်းမြတ်အေး) စာအုပ်အညွှန်း". DVB. 20 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Film tells the story of a young student shot dead in 1988". The Myanmar Times. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. ^ "From the Archive - The Women of 1988". The Irrawaddy. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "28 years later, Myanmar bids adieu to activist who died fighting for democracy". San Diego Union-Tribune en Español (in Spanish). 27 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Girl's death 24 years ago haunts quest for justice in reformist Myanmar". Reuters. September 13, 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Opinion | In Myanmar, It's Back to the Future … but Not Quite". The Irrawaddy. 13 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Burma Director to Make Film About '88 Uprising Victim— If Constitution Is Amended". The Irrawaddy. 10 October 2013.
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