Remembering a True People’s Uprising – Tiananmen Square

This June marked the rather unceremonious 20th Anniversary of one of the most singular uprisings against a totalitarian regime that the world has ever seen. In this month of June in 1989, a peaceful protest to demand for greater democracy in China became one of the most enduring symbols of human courage in the face of fire.

Tiananmen Square. The very name had become associated with the most brutal repressions of a populist movement for a whole generation. In a year that saw the end of Communist regimes throughout the world, the intellectuals and students of China started organizing protests against the authoritarianism and market policies of the Communist Government. The death of Hu Yaobang, a liberal voice who was forced to resign from his post of Secretary General because of his pro-democracy stand, acted as a catalyst. Something that started off as a peaceful collection of students from Peking and Tsinghua Universities soon elevated. The officials refused to meet the students, even ordering the police to form cordons and keep students out of official institutions. This led to minor clashes. The state-run Chinese media however reported a distorted version of the nature of activities, something that backfired and ended up giving much-needed momentum to the protesters.



Police Brutalities on the protesters

The day before Hu Yaobang’s funeral, on 21st April, nearly 1,00,0000 students marched into Tiananmen Square. The authorities claimed that it was just ‘a segment of opportunists’, creating trouble. The next day a 50,000 strong assembly of students demanded that the statement be retracted. A complete strike in all universities was started and all communist associations in colleges were removed, with new associations setup in their place. Their next demand was the formalization of these associations and free media. The government rejected the proposed dialogue, only agreeing to talk to members of appointed student organizations. On 13 May, two days prior to the highly-publicized state visit by the reform-minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, huge groups of students occupied Tiananmen Square and started a hunger strike, insisting the government withdraw the accusation made in the People's Daily editorial and begin talks with the designated student representatives. Nearly a 1000 students went on hunger strike during these protests.

There was a large presence of foreign media due the visit of Gorbachev. Their coverage of the protests was extensive and generally favorable towards the protesters, but pessimistic that they would attain their goals. Toward the end of the demonstration, on 30 May, a statue of the Goddess of Democracy was erected in the Square. General Secretary Zhao Ziyang was ousted from his posts for his open support to the protesters.

On June 1st, soldiers from the 27th and 28th Regiments of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were sent to suppress the protesters. There was widespread support for the protesters in PLA ranks as well, but these regiments had brought in from outside provinces.

As word spread that hundreds of thousands of troops were approaching from all four corners of the city, Beijingers flooded the streets to block them. People set up barricades at every major intersection. Protesters burned public buses and used them as roadblocks to stop the military's progress.



Carnage in the roads of Beijing

The battle continued on the streets surrounding the Square, with protesters repeatedly advancing toward the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and constructing barricades with vehicles, while the PLA attempted to clear the streets using tear gas, rifles, and tanks. In a couple of cases, officers were pulled from tanks, beaten and killed by protesters.

Meanwhile, the PLA had been given till 6:00 A.M. to clear the Square. They gave the protesters till 4:00 A.M. to clear it. While the protesters were debating on the further course of action, three armored cars rolled into the Square and opened fire on the protesters. Around 4:00 AM several tanks crashed into the square, crushing vehicles and humans under their treads.

On the morning of 5 June protesters tried to enter the blocked square but were shot at by the soldiers. The soldiers shot them in the back when they were running away.
The Chinese Red Cross put the estimate of people killed at 2,600 and the number of people wounded at 7000-10000. Other estimates on the number of people killed range from 3700 (by a PLA defector) to 10000 (Russian Intelligence).


Dead bodies lying around near Tiananmen Square

The Chinese Government categorically denied the firing of a single shot and in an official statement said that there were no mortalities.

The suppression of the protests were immortalized by the video and photographs of a lone man in a white shirt standing in front of a column of tanks attempting to drive out of Tiananmen Square. The pictures depicted the unarmed man standing in the center of the street, halting the tanks' progress. As the tank driver attempted to go around him, the "Tank Man" moved into the tank's path. He continued to stand defiantly in front of the tanks for some time, finally climbing up onto the turret of the lead tank to speak to the soldiers inside.


The 'Tank Man' stopping the Tanks - It is said he was killed soon after

Tiananmen Square effectively spelt the end of the pro-Democracy Movement in China. The controls over media were strengthened with sympathizers of the protesters removed from public life. All written records of Tiananmen Square were removed.
Despite early expectations in the West that PRC government would soon collapse and be replaced by the Chinese democracy movement, by the early 21st century the Communist Party of China remained in firm control of the People's Republic of China, and the student movement which started at Tiananmen was in complete disarray after the death of most of its leaders.

This month marks the 20th Anniversary of this gruesome turn of events. The new generation of Chinese students being mostly unaware of them, there was hardly anything to commemorate it.

There has been a lot of talk about how India should follow the Chinese system. Twenty years ago, in this very month, the Chinese showed us their system. Are we sure we want to follow it?