Detained Shan leader 'did not die of epilepsy'

No.13 - 06/2006

21 June 2006

Politics

Detained Shan leader 'did not die of epilepsy'

"He had never been an epileptic at any time throughout his life," he said. "By saying this, the generals were not only committing physical murder but also character assassination".

Contrary to earlier reports that he was detained on 9 February, two days after observing ' the 58th birthday of Mother Shan State'(Shan National Day), the source, who requested anonymity, maintained that authorities had taken Myint Than into custody at 14:00 on 8 February. "He had been complaining from chest pains since then", he said.

The source also expressed mild surprise by the junta's crackdown on 8-9 February which netted some 30 activists, out of whom all but 9 were released on 7 March 2005. "The Consultative Council formed at Hsengkeow (headquarters of the ceasefire group Shan State Army-North in November 2004) was not calling for regime change but for step-by-step transformation into democracy," he said. "In fact, Saya (Master) Myint Than had publicly declared his opposition to the break-up of the Armed Forces." His call for a National Consultative Council, chosen from people outside the military government , opposition parties and armed organizations, on 10 December 2004, on behalf of New Generation-Shan State, a group he had co-founded in 2002, was only to create an intermediate body that would serve as a balance between two extremisms: perpetual military dictatorship and its total overthrow.

Myint Than, born in Taunggyi on 14 June 1951, was not yet 55 when he died on 2 May. Adept in math, he was teaching the subject to university students although he himself failed to finish matriculation. He also took part in the 1988 uprising against the socialist government of the late Gen Ne Win.

He was credited with ingrained leadership qualities. While he was at Hsengkeow in 2004, he was so popular with the officers and men that Col Gaifah, Deputy Commander in Chief of the SSA-North, was quoted as telling him in feigned seriousness: " You'd better leave soon, U Myint Than, before we become commanders without troops to command." 

Myint Than- a profile

Other name:                Ae Hpyu

Date of Birth:              Thursday, 14 June 1951

Place of Birth:             Chanmya Thazi Quarter, Taunggyi

Parents:                       U Maung Ko, Daw Tin Hla

Race:                           Intha

Siblings:                     Daw Khin Htwe Yi 

                                    U Nyi Nyi Lwin

                                    Daw Pu (?)

Marital Status:           Married to a Namkham Shan Daw Thaung Thaung

Children:                    Son, Kyaw Thurein, 33

                                    Son, Naung Naung Thurein, 28

                                    Daughter, Alainma"Oway"(died in 2001)

1980                            Set up Four Ones private tuition center with friends

1988                            Responsible for law and order among dissident students during

                                    the Four Eights Uprising

2001                            Wife dies; daughter dies in a car accident later

2002                            Sets up New Generation Shan State; Organizes meeting with

                                    Aung San Suu Kyi during her tour to Taunggyi.

2004                            Initiates founding of Shan State Technicians (not Intellectuals,

as reported by junta-media)Consultative Council; proposes founding of National Consultative Council 

8 February 2005          Arrested

2 November 2005     Sentenced to 79 years imprisonment and transferred to Sandoway prison, Arakan State

23 March 2006            Hospitalized

2 May 2006                 Passes away

4 May 2006                 Remains cremated

11 May 2006               Ashes entombed in Taunggyi's new cemetery