BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government held a wreath-laying ceremony in the country’s largest city on Friday to commemorate the killing of the country’s fallen independence heroes, including Gen. Aung Santhe father of the country’s deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Neither Suu Kyi, who is detained, nor Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaingthe current head of the military-led government, attended this year’s main ceremony at the Mausoleum of the Martyrs, near the foot of Yangon’s towering Shwedagon Pagoda. Min Aung Hlaing led the military takeover in 2021 of the government elected by Suu Kyi.
Aung San, who led the struggle for independence from Britain, was 32 when he was shot 77 years ago, along with six ministers and two other officials. He is seen as the architect of Myanmar’s independence from Britain, which came less than six months after his death. A political rival, former Prime Minister U Saw, was tried and hanged for planning the attack.
The anniversary of his death has been a significant day in Myanmar’s calendar for years, but the main ceremony at the mausoleum has become less conspicuous since the military takeover in 2021.
The most senior officials 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 council. Suu Kyi’s estranged older brother, Aung San Oo, laid a wreath at their father’s grave with the flag at half-mast.
In Yangon, sirens and car horns could be heard in neighborhoods for a minute at 10:37 a.m., the time of the attack in 1947.
Demonstrations were also held across the country by pro-democracy activists and members of armed resistance groups to commemorate the deaths of the independence heroes.
Suu Kyi, who led a decades-long struggle against military rule, was detained when the military took power in 2021 and is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence on what are widely believed to be trumped-up charges to prevent her from engaging in political activity. She has not been seen in public since her arrest.
The military takeover in 2021 was met with widespread nonviolent protests. But after peaceful demonstrations were crushed with deadly force, many opponents of military rule took up arms and large parts of the country are now under involved in a conflict.
The military is now estimated to control less than half the country, but it remains firmly in control of much of central Myanmar, including the capital Naypyidaw, which has recently been targeted by small rocket and bomb attacks.
The military has justified its absolute power through a state of emergency it stated after the takeover, which is to be renewed every six months, with the last one expiring at the end of July.
The renewal may face procedural problems this time around because acting President Myint Swe, who normally carries it out, is ill. This raises questions about whether he can call the National Defense and Security Council meeting to carry it out, and if not, who can legally act in his absence.
A report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar on Friday said Myint Swe, 73, was suffering from neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy. It said he had been receiving medical treatment since the beginning of the year and was still unable to perform normal daily activities, including eating.
Myint Swe became acting president after the military takeover in 2021, when President Win Myint was arrested along with Suu Kyi. Myint Swe, a member of a pro-military party, took over the presidency because he was first vice president.
The move, whose legitimacy has been questioned by legal experts, allowed the council to convene to declare a state of emergency and hand power to Min Aung Hlaing
