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Saw Ba U Gyi , first President of
the Karen National Union, and Saw Sankey,
co-founder of the Karen National Defence Organisation, along with a small group
of colleagues including an unknown Caucasian were killed on the 12th
August 1950.
While there is no concrete evidence to suggest that there
was an informer in or around the area where Saw Ba U Gyi, Saw Sankey, the
Caucasian – who became known as ‘Mr. Baker’, and the small party of Karens found
themselves staying that rainy night - the stories still persist. Despite
warnings from a village headman at Tah Kreh village that they should remain
with him until the rains stopped, they pushed on and arrived near Taw Kaw Koe
Village, Kawkareik, not far from Myawaddy and the Thai border town of Mae
Sot.
On their arrival at the small village they were given a small
Bamboo hut to stay in until the rain slackened thus allowing them to more
easily cross a nearby river which at that time was swollen and almost bursting
its banks. While the party slept that night it is believed that a villager, on
recognizing the Karen leader, was able to slip away and inform the nearby
army battalion at Nabusakan.
Early the next morning, August 12th
1950, Burmese army units commanded by a young lieutenant, Sein Lwin (later to
be know as ‘the Butcher of Rangoon’ for the 1962 Massacre at RIT), surrounded
the village and demanded the group’s surrender, although there is some
disagreement as to what happened next it is believe that the group refused and
as such were killed in the fire fight.
Another version told by U
Thaung, a young journalist at the time, says that the request for surrender
they did capitulate to, but, as the Karens tried to escape they were shot in
the act Their bodies were transported by cart to Moulmein. After a
brief display of the body, Saw Ba U Gyi’s corpse was apparently transported
four miles out to sea where the body was thrown overboard thus ensuring there
would be no martyr’s grave for the Karen revolutionary leader.(1)
co-founder of the Karen National Defence Organisation, along with a small group
of colleagues including an unknown Caucasian were killed on the 12th
August 1950.
While there is no concrete evidence to suggest that there
was an informer in or around the area where Saw Ba U Gyi, Saw Sankey, the
Caucasian – who became known as ‘Mr. Baker’, and the small party of Karens found
themselves staying that rainy night - the stories still persist. Despite
warnings from a village headman at Tah Kreh village that they should remain
with him until the rains stopped, they pushed on and arrived near Taw Kaw Koe
Village, Kawkareik, not far from Myawaddy and the Thai border town of Mae
Sot.
On their arrival at the small village they were given a small
Bamboo hut to stay in until the rain slackened thus allowing them to more
easily cross a nearby river which at that time was swollen and almost bursting
its banks. While the party slept that night it is believed that a villager, on
recognizing the Karen leader, was able to slip away and inform the nearby
army battalion at Nabusakan.
Early the next morning, August 12th
1950, Burmese army units commanded by a young lieutenant, Sein Lwin (later to
be know as ‘the Butcher of Rangoon’ for the 1962 Massacre at RIT), surrounded
the village and demanded the group’s surrender, although there is some
disagreement as to what happened next it is believe that the group refused and
as such were killed in the fire fight.
Another version told by U
Thaung, a young journalist at the time, says that the request for surrender
they did capitulate to, but, as the Karens tried to escape they were shot in
the act Their bodies were transported by cart to Moulmein. After a
brief display of the body, Saw Ba U Gyi’s corpse was apparently transported
four miles out to sea where the body was thrown overboard thus ensuring there
would be no martyr’s grave for the Karen revolutionary leader.(1)
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