Saw Ba U Gyi

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Saw Ba U Gyi ( Burmese စော ဘ ဦး ကြီး ; * 1905 in Pathein ; † August 12, 1950 in Toh Kaw Koe , Kawkareik , Kayin State ) was a politician in Burma who came from the Karen people .

Saw Ba U Gyi was a lawyer. He was one of the founders and the first President of the Karen National Union (KNU). Before Burma gained independence, Saw Ba U Gyi was a member of the Governor's Executive Council of the British Governor of Burma.

In August 1946, Saw Ba U Gyi was a member of a delegation from the Karen Central Organization in London to negotiate an independent Karen state. The other delegation members were Sidney Loo Nee, Saw Tha Din and Saw Po Chit. Despite the support of Winston Churchill , the British government preferred to negotiate with Aung San and ignored the idea of ​​a Karen state that should have become a member of the Commonwealth .

In early 1947, the KNU was founded in the Vinton Memorial Hall in Rangoon . About 700 delegates from various Karen organizations attended, including the Karen National Organization , the Karen Central Organization and the Karen Youth Organization . Both Buddhists and Christians attended the founding meeting.

The assembly called for an independent state with its own coast and issued an ultimatum to the British government. When the demands were not met on March 3, Saw Ba U Gyi resigned from his seat on the governor's board.

On January 4, 1948, Burma gained independence within the borders of the British colony. In contrast to other minorities, the Karen were not included in the independence process. Other minorities had special rights in the constitution, for example the Shan were promised that they could leave the Union after ten years. No such agreements were made with the Karen.

In January 1949 the KNU under Saw Ba U Gyi began its armed struggle against the Burmese central government. She called for an independent Karen state, as the British had promised them during World War II as thanks for their support in the fight against the Japanese. In the early stages of the fighting, the Karen fighters came within 15 kilometers of what was then the Burmese capital, Rangoon.

On August 12, 1950, Saw Ba U Gyi was ambushed and shot dead by Burmese troops in Toh Kaw Koe. His dead body was taken to the coast of Mawlamyaing and thrown into the sea. Since then, August 12 has been considered Martyrs Day by the Karen, on which the fallen Karen soldiers are commemorated.