U Razak (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Burmese politician and an

educationalist Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

. He was a Bamar of Tamil ancestry and also was a cabinet minister in

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his go ...

's pre-independence interim government, and was assassinated on 19 July 1947 along with six other cabinet ministers. July 19 is commemorated each year as

Martyrs' Day Martyrs' Day is an annual day observed by nations to salute the martyrdom of soldiers who lost their lives defending the sovereignty of the nation. The actual date may vary from one country to another. Here is a list of countries and Martyrs' Days. ...

in Myanmar. Razak was Minister of Education and National Planning, and was chairman of the Burma Muslim Congress. Abdul Razak was born in

Meiktila Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan-Taunggyi, Yangon-Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanmar Ai ...

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...

, on 20 January 1898 to a Bamar Buddhist, Nyein Hla, and Sheik Abdul Rahman, a wealthy

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

police inspector. While his brothers and sisters chose to be Buddhists, he maintained the Muslim name Razak, in honor of his father. Although nominally Muslim, Razak was a secularist who deeply loved Burma and encouraged unity in diversity. He studied at the

Wesleyan School Wesleyan School is a private college-preparatory nondenominational Christian school located 20 miles north of Atlanta in the suburban city of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1963 and has existed on its current ground ...

in Mandalay, and continued his studies at the

Rangoon College '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

, earning a B.A. degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Throughout his school years, Razak was involved in athletics. In 1920, Razak was the first Burmese organiser of a boycott to the

British colonial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

education system. In 1921, he became headmaster of

Mandalay National High School Basic Education High School (BEHS) No. 2 Mandalay ( my, အခြေခံ ပညာ အထက်တန်း ကျောင်း အမှတ် (၂) မန္တလေး; formerly, Mandalay National High School) is a public high school in Ma ...

. Razak's natural charisma was effective in persuading the Mandalayans. Mandalay, where he taught, was a center of Burmese Buddhist faith and culture. Yet Razak, of ethnic Bamat, was fully accepted by the community. When

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

invaded Burma in

World War II 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 was imprisoned. In 1945, Abdul Razak was named chairman of the Mandalay branch of

Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), ; abbreviated , ''hpa hsa pa la'' was the dominant political alliance in Burma from 1945 to 1958. It consisted of political parties and mass and class organizations. The league evolved out of t ...

(AFPFL) and was elected a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

to represent Mandalay. He was Minister of Education and National Planning in

's cabinet. He died on 19 July 1947 together with six other cabinet members. Razak initiated calls for unity between Burmese

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

s. He was a Muslim, but maintained ties to Buddhism, educating himself on

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

, the sacred script of

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, and helped found the Mandalay College (modern

Mandalay University Mandalay University (also translated as University of Mandalay; my, မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ) is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities un ...

). Razak fathered three children.

References

*''Burmese Encyclopedia'', Vol. 11, p. 73 printed in 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Razak, U Assassinated Burmese politicians Deaths by firearm in Myanmar 1898 births 1947 deaths Burmese Muslims People murdered in Myanmar University of Yangon alumni Muslim activists Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League politicians Government ministers of Myanmar Burmese people of Indian descent People from Mandalay Region Burmese Muslim activists