Mizzima 

People across Myanmar and the Burmese activists around the world participated in a Flower Strike to mark Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s 78th birthday on 19 June.

To commemorate Suu Kyi’s birthday, some people came to the bus stop benches in Yangon and left flowers. Anti-dictatorship texts are also attached in the benches.  Additionally, many women in Yangon adorned themselves with flowers today. 

In Mandalay, the junta’s authorities seemed to worry that the general public would participate in the flower strike, so they have blocked the streets in Mandalay and conducted strict inspections since early this morning,  19 June. 

"Starting around 7:00 am, they blocked the main roads in Mandalay and outside the city. They mainly checked motorcycles. They were very aggressive in the area near Bank 3 on 26th Street. If they see someone wearing flowers, they pull the flowers and throw them away. They said curses and were very aggressive,” a Mandalay resident told Mizzima.  

Anti-junta resistance groups, including Yangon Revolution Force [YRF], Magway PDF Battalion (1), western Bago PDF Battalion 3801 and Karen National Liberation Army [KNLA] Unit 201, also commemorated Suu Kyi's birthday in their respective areas across Myanmar.   

A YRF official told Mizzima that the group displayed a banner featuring a photograph of Aung San Suu Kyi alongside the text "We Miss You [Aung San Suu Kyi]". 

“We hung the banner today because we wanted to show that the people of Myanmar are always together with the leader [Suu Kyi] who has been detained under unfair charges by the Military Council. It was a day with tighter security than usual, so we had to make great efforts," the YRF official told Mizzima. 

Similarly, Burmese activists across the world, including in India and South Korea, participated in the flower strike and celebrated Suu Kyi’s birthday.  

On Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday, her political party National League for Democracy (NLD) issued a statement saying: “There will be no way out to the resolution addressing Myanmar’s political problems arising from the military coup without dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.” 

“We hereby declare that we will work effectively in collaboration with allied countries and allied forces both inside and outside the country for the immediate release of all political prisoners without exemption, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” the NLD statement reported.