19 July is observed as the Burmese National holiday to commemorate Gen. Aung San and seven other leaders of the pre-independence interim government, and one bodyguard. They were all assassinated on this day in 1947.
The assassinated were:
- Aung San, Prime Minister
- Ba Cho, Minister of Information
- Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Industry and Labor
- Ba Win, Minister of Trade
- Thakin Mya, 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
- Ohn Maung, Secretary of State Transport
- Ko Htwe, Razak’s bodyguard
The assassinations were planned by a rival political group, and the leader and alleged mastermind of that group Galon U Saw, 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.
U Razak or Abdul Razaq was born in 20 January 1898 and was assassinated in 19 July 1947. He was a Muslim, a Burmese politician, Minister of Education and National Planning, and was chairman of the Burma Muslim Congress.
U Razak initiated calls for unity between Burmese Muslims and Buddhists. He was a Muslim, but maintained ties to Buddhism, educating himself on Pali, the sacred script of Theravada Buddhism, and helped found the Mandalay College (modern Mandalay University). Razak fathered three children.
