In memoriam: Demonstrators marching during a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of the 1947 assassination of independence heroes including Aung San (below) in Launglon township in Tanintharyi region. — AP
THE military government held a wreath-laying ceremony in the country’s largest city to mark the anniversary of the assassination of the country’s fallen independence heroes, including Gen Aung San, the father of Myanmar’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Neither Suu Kyi, who is imprisoned, nor Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the current head of the army-led government, attended this year’s main ceremony at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum near the foot of the towering Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.
Hlaing led the army’s 2021 seizure of power from Suu Kyi’s elected government.
Aung San, who led the independence struggle against Britain, was 32 years old when he was gunned down along with six Cabinet ministers and two other officials 77 years ago.
He is considered the architect of Myanmar’s independence from Britain, which was achieved less than six months after his death.
A political rival, former prime minister U Saw, was tried and hanged for plotting the attack.
The anniversary of his death has been an important day in Myanmar’s calendar for years, but the main ceremony at the mausoleum has had a lower profile since the 2021 military takeover.The highest-ranking officials present at Friday’s ceremony were Gen Maung Maung Aye, chief of the combined armed forces and Mahn Nyein Maung and Hmu Htan, all members of the military’s ruling council.
Suu Kyi’s estranged older brother, Aung San Oo, laid a wreath in front of their father’s tomb with a flag flying at half-staff.
In Yangon, neighbourhoods heard wailing sirens and car horns bellowed out for one minute at 10.37am local time, the time of the 1947 attack.
Scattered rallies by the pro-democracy and members of armed resistance forces were also held in several cities across the country to commemorate the death of the independence heroes.
Suu Kyi, who led a decades-long struggle against military rule, was detained when the army took over in 2021 and is currently serving a 27-year prison term on what are widely regarded as charges that were contrived to keep her from political activity. She has not been seen in public since her arrest.
The 2021 military takeover was met with widespread nonviolent protests.
But after peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
The military is now estimated to control less than half of the country, but is holding on tenaciously to much of central Myanmar, including the capital, Naypyidaw, which was recently targeted by small rocket and bomb attacks. — AP
