Anti-Myanmar-regime activists launch global ‘rose campaign’ to mark Aung San Suu Kyi’s 81st birthday

Mizzima

Revolutionary forces and anti-regime activists launched a coordinated series of “Rose Campaign” protests both inside Myanmar and internationally to mark the 81st birthday of detained public leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB) issued an official statement urging the public to participate based on local security conditions by offering roses or available flowers at shrines, wearing or distributing them, posting solidarity photos on social media, or carrying roses during physical street protests.

In Sagaing Region, the Monywa Mass Strike Leading Committee and the 5-Ayadaw Strike Committee collaborated to distribute roses to residents in Ayadaw Township. Teachers and students from an interim education school in Myaung Township also carried out localized campaign activities.

Activists in Monywa successfully executed the initiative despite strict military blockades and bans on purchasing or transporting flowers, which prompted retaliatory junta searches and security checks across the city.

In Yangon, the “Yangon 4 Brothers” alliance conducted a flash movement at a public bus stop by pasting a pencil sketch of Aung San Suu Kyi wearing roses alongside a birthday wish and the phrase “Proof of Life.”

The alliance released a statement demanding solid proof that the ousted State Counsellor is alive and healthy, while calling for the junta to permit communication between her and her son, Kim Aris.

Public demonstrations also extended to other parts of the country, including Hpakant in Kachin State, where protesters held signs demanding the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, while calling for unified resistance to eradicate the military dictatorship.

Internationally, Myanmar expatriates and National League for Democracy (NLD) members gathered in the Thai-Myanmar border town of Mae Sot to offer alms to Buddhist monks, distribute free meals, and hand out roses.

In the United Kingdom, expatriate activists led by organizer Min Hein launched a 24-hour hunger strike in front of the Myanmar embassy in London, spanning from 18 June until the afternoon of 19 June to protest her ongoing detention.