SPRING REVOLUTION IN MYANMAR: Songs, Symbols and Tattoos of Resistance

Description

Myanmar is synonymous with ethnic conflicts, brutal military repression and insurgencies. The ongoing civil war against the junta has been described as the longest and one of the most violent conflicts in the world today. This book celebrates the spirit of defiance, resilience and enormous courage of the Burmese people in the face of the military regime’s extreme violence. It is a window into the world Burmese resistance and the myraid cultural expressions that it has taken ever since the February 2021 coup. Crowdfunded by the Burmese diaspora, but largely ignored by the international community, this is a resistance where every cultural form – poems, songs and even tattoos – has been explored as a weapon.

The regime has tried to ban these songs of resistance, and persecuted and even executed artists, musicians and poets. But as poet Khet Thi (1986-2021) said, before he was killed by the junta, “You try to bury us underground, because you don’t know that we are the seeds.”

Nandita Haksar (70) has been associated with the Burmese resistance movement since 1988, when there was a national uprising followed by a military crackdown which forced Burmese students and activists to take shelter in India. As a human rights lawyer, she has fought cases on behalf of Burmese refugees and continues do so as more refugees flee to India from Myanmar. In the process she has set important precedents in refugee law. Haksar, is the author of more than 20 books, including her latest, co-authored with Burmese journalist Soe Myint, called Resisting Military Rule in Burma (1988-2024) Story of Mizzima Media: Born in Exile, Banned in Myanmar (2025). Her writings have won her many awards for contributing to peace in conflict areas.