Martyrs' Day (, ) is a Burmese national holiday observed on 19 July to commemorate Gen.

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947), known honorifically as '' Bogyoke'' Aung San, was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he w ...

and seven other leaders of the pre-independence interim government, and one bodyguard —

Thakin Mya ''Thakin'' Mya (, ; 7 October 1897 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Home Affairs and in June 1947 transferred as Minister of Finance in Myanmar's pre-independence government.https://ro.u ...

, Ba Cho, Abdul Razak,

Ba Win Ba Win (; ; born San Tin (; ; 10 June 1901 – 19 July 1947), best known as U Ba Win (; ), was a Burmese politician, and Minister of Trade in the Interim Government of Burma. He was the eldest brother of General Aung San, and was assassi ...

, Mahn Ba Khaing, Sao San Tun,

Ohn Maung Ohn Maung ( ; 2 February 1913 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese civil servant who served as the Permanent secretary of Transport in Burma's pre-independence government. He, along with seven other cabinet ministers (including Prime Ministe ...

and Ko Htwe—all of whom were assassinated on that day in 1947. It is customary for high-ranking government officials to visit the Martyrs' Mausoleum in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

in the morning of that day to pay respects.

Myoma U Than Kywe Myoma Than Kywe (, ; 26 December 1924 – 22 September 1983) was a Burmese politician. He was one of the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference. The signing of Panglong Agreement is now celebrated as a national holiday, Union Da ...

led the ceremony of the First Burmese Martyrs' Day on 19 July 1947 in Rangoon.

History

On 19 July 1947, at approximately 10:37 a.m., BST, several of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

's independence leaders were gunned down by a group of armed men in uniform while they were holding a cabinet meeting at the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

in downtown

. The assassinations were planned by a rival political group, and the leader and alleged mastermind of that group ''Galon''

U Saw U Saw, also known as Galon U Saw ( my-Mymr, ဦးစော or my-Mymr, ဂဠုန်ဦးစော, lit. Garuda U Saw, ; 16 March 1900 – 8 May 1948), was a leading Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of British Burma duri ...

, together with the perpetrators, were tried and convicted by a special tribunal presided by Kyaw Myint with two other Barristers-at-law, Aung Thar Gyaw and Si Bu. In a judgment given on 30 December 1947 the tribunal sentenced U Saw and a few others to death and the rest were given prison sentences. Appeals to the High Court of Burma by U Saw and his accomplices were rejected on 8 March 1948. In a judgment written by

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice E Maung (1898–1977) on 27 April 1948, the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal against the original judgment. All the judgments of the tribunal, the High Court, and the Supreme Court were written in English.The judgment of the tribunal can be read in ''A Trial in Burma'' by Dr

Maung Maung Maung Maung ( ; 31 January 1925 – 2 July 1994), known honorifically as Dr. Maung Maung, was a well-known writer and legal scholar in Myanmar, who served as the seventh president of Burma from 19 August 1988 to 18 September 1988. Early life ...

(Martinus Nijhoff, 1963), and the judgment of the High Court and Supreme Court can be read in the 1948 Burma Law Reports. Then-

President of Burma The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president chairs the National Defence and Security Council and normally leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the ...

Sao Shwe Thaik Sao Shwe Thaik (, ''Tsaw³ Kham⁴soek³''; , ; 16 October 1895 – 21 November 1962) was a Burmese politician who served as the first president of the Union of Burma and the last Saopha of Yawnghwe. His full royal title was ''Kambawsaraht ...

refused to pardon or commute the sentences of most of those who were sentenced to death, and U Saw was hanged inside Rangoon's Insein jail on 8 May 1948. A number of perpetrators met the same fate, while minor players, who were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, also spent several years in prison. The assassinated people were: #

, Prime Minister # Ba Cho, Minister of Information # Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Industry and Labor #

, Minister of Trade #

, Minister Without Portfolio, unofficially considered as Deputy Prime Minister of Burma # Abdul Razak, Minister of Education and National Planning # Sao San Tun, Minister of Hills Regions #

, Secretary of State Transport # Ko Htwe, Razak's bodyguard Tin Tut, Minister of Finance, and

Kyaw Nyein Kyaw Nyein (; ; 19 January 1913 – 29 June 1986), called honorifically U Kyaw Nyein (;), was a Burmese lawyer and anti-colonial revolutionary, a leader in Burma’s struggle for independence and prominent politician in the first decade after t ...

, Minister of Home Affairs, were not present at the meeting. Additionally, one of the assassins, Ba Nyunt, went to the office of

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

Speaker

U Nu Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...

, who was not present because of a leave of absence due to minor illness. Ba Nyunt could not find U Nu. Later Ba Nyunt became the government witness in the trial process. Many Burmese believe that the British were somehow involved in the assassination plot; two British officers were also arrested at the time and one of them charged and convicted for supplying an agent of U Saw with arms and munitions. A large part of the stockpile, which was enough to equip a small army, was recovered from a lake next to U Saw's house in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Soon after the assassinations, Major General Sir

Hubert Rance Major-General Sir Hubert Elvin Rance, (17 July 1898 – 24 January 1974) was a British politician who was the last Governor of British Burma between 1946 and 1948, during the transition from Japanese to British colonial administration. Later h ...

, the last British

Governor of Burma The colonial governors of Burma were the colonial administrators responsible for the territory of British Burma, an area equivalent to modern-day Myanmar. As a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Burma was initially set up as a province ...

, appointed

to head an interim administration and when Burma became independent on 4 January 1948, Nu became the first

Prime Minister of Burma The prime minister of Myanmar () is the head of government of Myanmar. The post was re-established in 2021 by the State Administration Council (SAC), the country's ruling military junta, to lead its nominally-civilian provisional government. T ...

. 19 July was designated a public holiday known as Martyrs' Day.

Commemorations

Poem for Martyr's Day

Notes

References

External links

Who Really Killed Aung San?

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documentary on

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, 19 July 1997 {{Authority control

Martyrs Day Martyrs' Day are days observed in or by some countries, including the United States, Japan, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia, to recognise martyrs such as soldiers, revolutionaries or victims of genocide. Below is a list of various Martyrs' Days ...