Exiled Burmese freedom fighter dies in Ithaca
From Journal Staff Reports • September 27, 2008
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Buzz up! Han Lin, who helped bring attention to the fight for democracy in his homeland of Burma to his adopted hometown of Ithaca and internationally, died Friday of cancer at Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca.
He was diagnosed with cancer in January 2007 and was admitted to the hospital Sept. 11, said Maura Stephens, an Ithaca humanitarian and writer who worked with him. His death came five days after his 57th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Htay Htay Yee, and six children.
Han Lin — like many Burmese he didn't use first and last names, and the two parts are his full name — was born in southern Burma and grew up under military regimes.
In 1988, while working as a middle-school math teacher, Han Lin led his village in a populist uprising, which led to widespread killing by the regime and arrest of many opposition leaders.
Among the leaders was Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the party that won elections the regime refused to recognize and who would later win the Nobel peace prize.
Han Lin fled into the jungles near the Thai border and in 1996 crossed over to a refugee camp. He came to Ithaca in 1997, where a colleague, Thun Gyaw, lived, Stephens said. The Ithaca Burmese community came to number about 100 families.
In 2005, Han Lin, fellow exiles and others working with them persuaded Ithaca Common Council to pass the country's first resolution declaring Aug. 8, a key date in the 1988 uprising, Burmese Democracy Day. It was the first such resolution in an American city calling attention to the situation in Burma, which the regime now prefers to be called Myanmar.
“We will never give up,” he said in a 2006 interview.
Han Lin began working as a facilities attendant at Ithaca College and worked there until late 2006. While living in Ithaca, he led demonstrations in Washington seeking international intervention in Burma. Among his efforts to draw attention to the plight of Burmese were marches and hunger strikes. After one 260-mile march and 17-day fast, he was hospitalized in Brooklyn. “I was a little tired,” he said, recalling it a year later.
Stephens said Han Lin's family is very grateful to the staff at Cayuga Medical Center for the care given him during his hospitalization. He never returned to Burma, she said, but his friends and family members still are active in fighting for the Burmese people.
Calling hours with Buddhist prayers are planned for 12:30-2:30 p.m. Sunday at Bangs Funeral Home, 209 W. Clinton St., followed by a celebration of his life, open to all, from 3-5 p.m. at the Women's Community Building, 100 W.
