BURMANET: DASSK TO LAY WREAT AT MAR

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Subject: BURMANET: DASSK TO LAY WREAT AT MARTYR'S MEMORIAL
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 14:07:12 GMT

BURMANET: DASSK TO LAY WREATH AT MARTYR'S MAUSOLEUM
July 17, 1995

[Political background to Martyr's Day wreath laying]

On July 19, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will, at the invitation of the SLORC,
lay a wreath at the Martyr's Mausoleum to commemorate the death of her
father and members of his cabinet who were machine gunned 48 years ago.
According to informed sources, she delayed announcing her attention
to lay a wreath at the mausoleum until she learned whether there
would be an official invitation.

A similar pilgrimage had been planned six years ago but then
canceled because it was likely to lead to a bloodbath as the Burmese
army was warning that it would use force against unauthorized
gatherings.  At the time, there was a fierce debate within the NLD over
the wisdom of the planned march.  DASSK wanted to go through with the
march but former military men within the NLD counselled caution as
there were reports that she would be shot if she marched that day. On
the 18th, DASSK gave way and called off the march.  In the run up to the
march, there were fierce disagreements between DASSK and the former
members of the Patriotic Party, led by Tin Oo.  The Patriotic Party,
consisting mainly of former military men, was one of the three groups
which joined together to make up the NLD.  DASSK was the leader of
another group, consisting mainly of writers, artists and lawyers.

On the morning of the 20th, the day after the planned march, Burmese
army troops took up positions around her compound on University
Avenue.  That morning, the NLD leaders hastily convened a meeting
of the Executive Committee to make plans for continuing the party
after they were arrested.  U Tin Oo and was already in
detention and many other committee members were unable to attend either
because they were in jail or too far away.  She was joined in that
meeting by U Chit Khine, U Aung Shwe, U Lwin and U Kyi Maung.

The troops outside the gate let Executive Committee members in
but no one else.  The meeting began at around 9:00 am and the only item
on the agenda was how to respond to the arrests that they expected at
any moment.  The course they set was to do whatever was necessary to
keep the party functioning and legal and that all members continue
their party work, even if the first line of leaders was in jail. They
also determined not to negotiate separately with the army.  At this
meeting, they also resolved many of the differences between those
taking a harder line (DASSK) and those who who did not want to directly
attack Ne Win.

At about 11:00, the meeting ended and the troops let the Executive
Committee members leave the compound. They were the last ones
allowed out.

At around 5:00pm, an army officer knocked on the gate of the compound
and asked to see DASSK.  She came down to the gate and he asked to come
inside.  The gate was opened and troops in full battle dress took up
positions inside the compound.

DASSK and the officer went inside the house as the troops secured the
area outside.  There were about 20 students and NLD workers in the
compound at the time.  Another 20 NLD workers were in the NLD
headquarters, which was two houses over from her compound.  These people
were brought to her compound by the soldiers and the entire group
assembled on the driveway in front of her house.  According to one of
the people who was arrested that night, they were ordered to sit with
their hands behind their heads.

At about 9:00pm, Aung San Suu Kyi came out of the house to bring water
to those being held in the driveway.  One man remembers here saying a
phrase from a Burmese proverb which translates as: "don't be afraid,
truth is coming one day."  After she went back into the house, those
being held in the driveway were taken off to Insein Prison and her house
arrest began.

When the door to her house closed sometime around 9:30pm on the 20th of
July, 1989 much of Burmese politics came to a halt.  The election of
1990 was held and her party gained electoral legitimacy, but with it's
most effective leadership imprisoned and the SLORC willing to use
unlimited force to remain in power, there was little chance of progress.

With the opening of her door again at about 4:00pm last Monday,
Burmese politics is resuming again after a lapse of 5 years, 11 months
and 20 days.  Her pilgrimage to her father's gravesite is the opening
move for several reasons.  She is resuming the party's activities at
exactly the point where they stopped six years ago.  It will also be a
test of her ability to control the movement that she symbolizes.  She
has repeatedly been counselling restraint and violence could give those
who want a reason to rearrest her the grounds to do so.


**************
The ceremony will be held early in the morning of the 19th.  She is
planning to meet with journalists at her compound later that afternoon.


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