In the morning hours of the next day , the military regime blew up Destroying the historic Rangoon University Students ' Union ( RUSU ) building , which had been the symbol of the anti-colonial nationalism struggle Hostile_encounter since the 1920s .

General Ne Win prominently illustrated the continuing symbolic power associated with the protests when he referred in his departure speech in 1988 to the destruction Destroying of the RUSU building as `` one of the key episodes '' during his time in power .