As polls loom, Myanmar remembers independence hero on Martyr's Day

[Jonathan Fairfield]

As polls loom, Myanmar remembers independence hero on Martyr's Day

YANGON | BY TIM MCLAUGHLIN AND HNIN YADANA ZAW

The Myanmar public got a glimpse into one of the country's darkest moments on Sunday as visitors were given rare access to the compound where Aung San, the country's independence hero and father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was killed.

Aung San has remained a powerful force in Myanmar's politics in the 68 years since his death. His image has been used not only by his daughter but also her political rivals to give themselves legitimacy and gain popular support among a public that still largely reveres the fallen leader.

As Myanmar heads toward a crucial election on Nov. 8, his image is poised to become a campaign tool among hopeful politicians.

Security officers watched on Sunday as hundreds of visitors, some wearing black ribbons and carrying flowers, scrambled up staircases at the Secretariat building in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon and held their phones through broken windows to take pictures of the compound's sprawling courtyard.

For most it was their first time inside the building that had been off limits to the public for decades.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/19/us-myanmar-martyrsday-idUSKCN0PT07I20150719

-- Reuters 2015-07-20