Amar Nag alias ''Yebaw'' Tun Maung or U Hla (1917–1968), was one of the founding leaders of the communist movement in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Dr. Nag was active in the struggle for Burmese independence. He was an important leader of the

Communist Party of Burma The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country. Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought aga ...

, but was killed in an ambush in 1968.

Revolutionary activities

Nag was of

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

origin. He became interested in communism after meeting with Harinarayan Ghosal, the great personality of the communist movement. He was involved the Bengali revolutionary groups active in Burma. On August 15, 1939 Nag took part in the founding meeting of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he went to India to study. He obtained a

M.B.B.S. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

degree there. During his stay in India he was active in the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

and led the field work of the Bengal Medical Relief Camp and Coordination Committee. He worked closely with Dr. Bijoy Kumar Bose (from the Congress Medical Mission to China), organizing relief efforts for the people of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

suffering from plague and famine with instruction of Dr.

Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician, educationist, and statesman who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 until his death in 1962. Roy played a key role in the founding of several institutio ...

. He was also active in organizing the Calcutta Tramways Workers' Union in

Park Circus Park Circus is a neighbourhood of Central-South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. Geography Police district Karaya police station is in the South-east division of Kolkata Police. Karaya Women police station, at the same a ...

section. In 1947 he returned to Burma and began to practice at the

Rangoon General Hospital The Yangon General Hospital (YGH, my, ရန်ကုန် ပြည်သူ့ ဆေးရုံကြီး) is a major public hospital in a compound in Yangon, Myanmar. The 2,000-bed hospital consists of seven medical wards, three surgical ...

. However, politics would soon put an end to his career. Dr. Nag went underground in March 1948. He set forth to travel to

Pyinmana Pyinmana (, ; population: 100,000 (2006 estimate)) is a logging town and sugarcane refinery center in the Naypyidaw Union Territory of Myanmar. The administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved to a militarized greenfield site (which the ...

, where the party headquarters was located, reaching the site in May 1948. Dr. Nag served as a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the party. As a medical practitioner in the communist movement, Dr. Nag trained the first batch of medical brigades of the party. He was a key figure in the party in the 1950s. Dr. Nag was a Political Commissar for the party in the North-West Military Region, operating in

Sagaing Sagaing (, ) is the former capital of the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located in the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and ...

and Magwe. He served as the principal of the Central Medical School of the Communist Party of Burma.

Death

On November 9, 1968 the 77th Division of the Burma Army attacked the CPB Medical School in the

Pegu Yoma The Pegu Range ( my, ပဲခူးရိုးမ; Pegu Yoma or Bago Yoma) is a range of low mountains or hillsSeekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Marylandpage 357 and uplands between ...

mountain range. Several students of the school were killed in the attack. Dr. Nag and a small group of followers managed to escape, but was killed by Army forces on November 11, 1968.

References

{{reflist Indian communists Communist Party of Burma politicians 20th-century Burmese physicians 1917 births 1968 deaths Burmese people of Bengali descent