Junta Chief Attends Ceremony Honouring Suu Kyi’s Father Amid Unrest

Myanmar’s junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, made a rare and symbolic appearance on Saturday at a ceremony marking Martyrs’ Day—his first since seizing power in 2021 and jailing Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the man being honoured.

The wreath-laying event at Yangon’s Martyrs’ Mausoleum commemorated General Aung San, the country’s independence hero assassinated in 1947. Once a cornerstone of Myanmar’s national calendar, Martyrs’ Day has been downplayed by the military since its coup. But with elections looming and legitimacy in question, the regime appeared keen to reclaim patriotic ground.

Under heavy security and with Myanmar flags at half-mast, Min Aung Hlaing joined high-ranking generals and junta officials in laying flowers before the tomb of Aung San and his eight slain colleagues. Notably absent, for the fifth year running, was Suu Kyi, who remains imprisoned on politically charged offences totalling 27 years.

In her place, Ye Aung Than—a grandson of General Aung San through Suu Kyi’s estranged brother—paid respects on behalf of the family. Across Yangon, horns and sirens blared at 10:37 a.m., the moment of the 1947 shooting, while pro-democracy activists held rallies in resistance-held regions.

The junta’s public homage comes just five months before elections it has promised to hold—a move widely seen as a bid to entrench military control through the ballot box. But with large parts of the country outside its grip and a civil war raging, few expect the polls to be free or fair.

Since the 2021 coup, nearly 7,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands arrested, according to rights groups. The military disputes the figures but admits to intensifying operations in opposition-held zones.

Analysts say Saturday’s appearance was aimed at projecting unity and authority—but it may also underline just how fractured the country remains. The man paying tribute to Aung San was his daughter’s jailer, presiding over a nation still haunted by the past and uncertain of its future.

-2025-07-21