The 404-mile march to Letpadan
In January 2015, student-led groups began a 404-mile (650 km) march from Mandalay to Yangon. The demonstration opposed the recently passed National Education Law, which protesters argued centralized control over universities and limited academic freedom. The march's route followed the Yangon-Mandalay highway, a modern road that overlays transportation corridors established during the British colonial period. These original roads were constructed to link administrative hubs and facilitate resource movement, embedding a political and economic geography into the geography that persists today.
The march, organized by groups like the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and the Action Committee for Democratic Education, gathered supporters as it moved south. By early March, the column of approximately 200 protesters reached the town of Letpadan, about 90 miles (145 km) north of their destination. There, authorities established a blockade, preventing the march from proceeding. The students and their supporters, including Buddhist monks, took up residence in the Aung Myay Baik Mann monastery, resulting in a week-long standoff with police.
The March 10 crackdown
Tensions in Letpadan culminated on March 10, 2015. After negotiations failed, protesters attempted to push through the police blockade. Hundreds of riot police responded with force, using batons to beat students, monks, and journalists. Eyewitness accounts and video evidence documented police chasing protesters into the nearby monastery, beating those on the ground, and using plainclothes auxiliaries to make arrests.
The crackdown resulted in the arrest of 127 people. Many of those detained faced charges that carried sentences of over nine years in prison. The event drew condemnation from international human rights organizations, which cited the disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters. The government, however, maintained that the police actions were justified. The violent dispersal at Letpadan effectively ended the nationwide student protest movement against the 2014 education law.