Removing statues of the country’s founding father appears aimed at stripping democratic legitimacy from his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenMaria SiowPublished: 10:00am, 26 Jul 2026Across Myanmar, the statues are vanishing one by one. Military-backed authorities blame “incorrect proportions and shapes”. Unofficially, analysts see a deliberate attempt to erase the presence of independence hero Aung San from public life – and with it, the legitimacy of the elected government the junta overthrew.Revered as the country’s founding father, Aung San founded its military, united its diverse ethnic groups and spearheaded the nationalist movement that ultimately wrested independence from British colonial rule.
The statues’ removal now is an attempt to “diminish” Aung San’s legacy, according to James Char, an assistant professor specialising in Asian history and international relations at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
