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Thousands slam plan to name bridge after Suu Kyi’s father

YANGON — Thousands of people protested in eastern Myanmar on Sunday (March 20) against plans to name a bridge after Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, the latest flashpoint between her administration and the country’s restless ethnic minorities.

Aung San Suu Kyi. AP file photo

Aung San Suu Kyi. AP file photo

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YANGON — Thousands of people protested in eastern Myanmar on Sunday (March 20) against plans to name a bridge after Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, the latest flashpoint between her administration and the country’s restless ethnic minorities.

The issue highlights some of the deep distrust among Myanmar’s patchwork of minorities towards the Bamar ethnic majority, from which Ms Suu Kyi and most of the political establishment hail.

Crowds hit the streets of eastern Mon State on Sunday, resulting in the biggest rally yet against plans to rename the local Thanlwin bridge spanning the wide Salween River.

Lawmakers from Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party have proposed calling it the Bogyoke Aung San bridge.

Aung San was Ms Suu Kyi’s father, seen as the founder of post-colonial Myanmar, who was assassinated before the country won its independence from Britain.

With growing unhappiness among the locals since the proposal was mooted early this month, Myanmar’s Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Nai Thet Lwin, had said on Friday that the federal government is prepared to allow the matter to be settled between the state government and the locals.

“The Mon state government will choose an appropriate name and if local residents accept it, it’s fine, and that’s all,” the Myanmar Times quoted him as saying.

Despite the assurance, many locals remained unconvinced, saying that they felt their wishes to keep the old name were being ignored.

“The NLD is powerful in Parliament, and nowadays they can suggest any proposal they like,” demonstrator Lin Htet, 34, told AFP on Sunday.

“But we and all ethnic people value many things in our culture, and they should listen what the local people want.”

Mr Saw Kyaw Moe, who is part of the Karen ethnic group, joined a contingent of protesters that had participated in support of the Mon people.

He said many minorities felt Ms Suu Kyi’s government was deaf to what they want.

“The MPs (Members of Parliament) should listen to the wishes of the people who appointed them as MPs, but now they don’t listen to the voices of the people,” he said.

The outcry over the bridge’s name is seen as more than just a symbolic designation, but part of a larger fight for ethnic self-determination.

Aung San is regarded as a national hero, especially among the Bamar majority.

But many ethnic groups see him as a controversial figure who failed to deliver on promises of greater autonomy and federalism for them.

For decades, Myanmar’s border regions have been plagued by insurgencies and civil wars against the Bamar-dominated military, which is widely loathed by the ethnic minorities.

Since winning a landslide election victory in late 2015, Ms Suu Kyi has made it a flagship policy to find an enduring peace.

But those efforts have been hampered by some of the worst fighting in decades, particularly in the country’s north-east.

Analysts say the still-powerful military has little appetite for greater federalism, or to end wars that justify its bloated budgets.

Mon state remains peaceful, but Ms Suu Kyi’s party faces a by-election over a single seat there next month in which the bridge has become a major issue. AGENCIES

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