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‘Defanging’ Aung San: Myanmar’s generals wage war on memory
Removing statues of the country’s founding father appears aimed at stripping democratic legitimacy from his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi
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Across Myanmar, the statues are vanishing one by one. Military-backed authorities blame “incorrect proportions and shapes”. Unofficially, analysts see a deliberate attempt to erase the presence of independence hero Aung San from public life – and with it, the legitimacy of the elected government the junta overthrew.
Revered as the country’s founding father, Aung San founded its military, united its diverse ethnic groups and spearheaded the nationalist movement that ultimately wrested independence from British colonial rule.
In the eight decades since his assassination months after brokering the historic 1947 Panglong Agreement that laid the groundwork for modern Myanmar, his statues have watched over the nation he never got to lead – many being erected during the brief democratic interlude when his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, governed through her National League for Democracy, before the military seized power again in February 2021.
The statues’ removal now is an attempt to “diminish” Aung San’s legacy, according to James Char, an assistant professor specialising in Asian history and international relations at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
He said it was a project that would take years to complete, “if it can succeed at all”, adding that “any tangible benefits” for Min Aung Hlaing – the general turned president now courting regional recognition after an election widely discredited as a sham – would be slow to arrive.
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