Published on
The head of Myanmar’s military junta made a rare appearance at a ceremony on Saturday honouring General Aung San, an independence hero and father of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It was the first time the 69-year-old Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attended the Martyr’s Day wreath-laying ceremony since the army deposed Suu Kyi and seized power in February 2021.
His appearance comes as his embattled government is preparing to hold elections while fighting armed opposition groups across the country.
Martyrs’ Day was an important event in Myanmar’s calendar for decades, but the military has downplayed the holiday in recent years.
It commemorates the assassination of Aung San, a former Prime Minister who was killed at the age of 32 along with six cabinet colleagues and two other officials in 1947, just months before the country — then called Burma — achieved freedom from British colonial rule.
Political rival and former Prime Minister U Saw, was tried and hanged for plotting the attack.
Suu Kyi, who was detained when the army took over in 2021, was absent from the event for a fifth consecutive year. She is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence on what are widely regarded as politically motivated charges meant to keep her from political activity.
Ye Aung Than, a son of Suu Kyi’s estranged older brother, laid a wreath in front of his grandfather’s tomb during the main ceremony at the Martyr’s Mausoleum near the foot of the towering Shwedagon Pagoda in the southern city of Yangon.
With Myanmar flags flying at half-staff, members of the ruling military council, and cabinet, as well as high-ranking military generals joined Min Aung Hlaing in placing a basket of flowers in front of the tombs of the nine martyrs.
People in Yangon also paid tribute to independence leaders by blaring car horns and sirens at 10:37 am local time, the exact time of the 1947 attack. Democracy supporters also held rallies in parts of the country that are not under military control.
The event comes just five months before elections that the military has promised to hold by the end of this year. The poll is widely seen as an attempt to legitimise their seizure of power through ballot boxes and is expected to deliver a result that ensures the junta retain control.
The 2021 military takeover was met with widespread nonviolent protests, but after peaceful demonstrations were met with lethal resistance, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
Humanitarian organisations estimate that close to 7,000 people were killed since the army seized control, including poets, activists, politicians. Almost 30,000 people are also believed to have been arrested in what groups such as Amnesty International call “bogus charges”.
The military says the figures are highly exaggerated, inflated and do not reflect reality. They’re estimated to now control less than half of Myanmar, but have recently accelerated counteroffensives to retakes areas controlled by opposition groups ahead of the election.
Additional sources • AP
