Political tension in Myanmar escalated steadily in 1996, characterized by political brinkmanship between the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC, Myanmar?s military government) and the National League for Democracy (NLD, the primary legal opposition party). Each time the NLD attempted to organize large-scale political activities, the SLORC took rapid pre-emptivesteps to prevent such plans from coming to fruition. SLORC repression of the NLD included mass arrests of NLD supporters by the security forces in order to prevent meetings; sentencing dozens of NLD members to long terms of imprisonment; and restrictions on movement and intensified surveillance and intimidation of NLD members and leaders. Long dormant student activism also emerged in the last three months of the year, with protest demonstrations calling for student rights in Yangon, the capital, and in Mandalay, Upper Myanmar. Demonstrations were broken up by the authorities, who arrested hundreds of students during and after the protests. Although most were released, others remain in detention.