Political Assassinations and Myanmar’s Destiny

缅媒：政治暗杀与缅甸的命运

作者：Kyaw Zwa Moe          来源：伊洛瓦底江

If General Aung San and his six ministers had not been assassinated on July 19, 1947, what kind of country would Myanmar be today?

如果昂山将军和他的六位部长没有在1947年7月19日被暗杀，今天的缅甸会是什么样的国家？

Or if Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint had succeeded in assassinating dictator General Ne Win in 1976, would Myanmar have been freed from military dictatorship four decades ago?

或者，如果约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）上尉在1976年成功地暗杀了独裁者奈温将军（Ne Win），缅甸会在40年前摆脱军事独裁吗？

Looking back on political assassinations in our country, a tragic pattern emerges: the victims have often been good, decent and responsible leaders who might have guided the country toward a better future. Those who bring destruction are seldom the ones killed.

回顾我国发生的政治暗杀事件，可以看到一种悲惨的模式：受害者往往是善良、体面和负责任的领导人，他们本可以带领国家走向更美好的未来。那些带来破坏的人很少被杀死。

Consider just a few names: Gen. Aung San and his cabinet members; the country’s first foreign minister, U Tin Tut; its first president, Sao Shwe Thaik; Saopha Sao Kya Seng, a Shan prince; Karen national leader Saw Ba U Gyi; and in recent decades, Padoh Mahn Sha, secretary general of Karen National Union (KNU); and legal advisor to the National League for Democracy (NLD) U Ko Ni.

只考虑几个名字：昂山将军和他的内阁成员；该国首任外交部长丁图（U Tin Tut）；首任总统圣瑞泰克；山族王子Saopha Sao Kya Seng；克伦民族领袖索巴乌吉；近几十年来，克伦民族联盟（KNU）秘书长帕多·马恩·沙；全国民主联盟（NLD）法律顾问U Ko Ni。

If only the destructive military leaders had been removed instead of these figures, would our national destiny have changed for the better?

如果只是除掉那些破坏性的军事领导人，而不是除掉这些人，我们国家的命运会变得更好吗？

Quite likely. But this leads to deeper, more difficult questions: Should assassination be used to change a political system? Is it morally defensible? Or even politically effective, for that matter?

很有可能。但这导致了更深刻、更困难的问题：暗杀应该被用来改变政治制度吗？这在道德上站得住脚吗？或者在政治上有效？

Ill omen for independence

独立的凶兆

Before independence was even achieved, Myanmar’s road to nationhood was marred by political murder. The most consequential assassination in the country’s history was committed on July 19, 1947. Gen. Aung San and six cabinet ministers were gunned down, just six months before independence. Gen. Aung San was shot 13 times.

在获得独立之前，缅甸的建国之路就被政治谋杀所破坏。这个国家历史上最重大的一次暗杀发生在1947年7月19日。昂山将军和六名内阁部长在独立前六个月被枪杀。昂山将军中了13枪。

Had Galon U Saw not orchestrated the attack, and had Gen. Aung San’s cabinet continued to lead the country, Myanmar’s history could have unfolded very differently. To build a new nation and to rebuild a war-torn country from scratch, what is most essential is strong and visionary leadership—practiced by firm, decisive and forward-thinking leaders.

如果加隆·苏（Galon U Saw）没有精心策划这次袭击，如果昂山将军的内阁继续领导这个国家，缅甸的历史可能会截然不同。建设一个崭新的国家，从零开始重建一个饱受战争蹂躏的国家，最重要的是坚强、有远见的领导，坚定、果断、有远见的领导人。

However, the country’s first prime minister, U Nu, who found himself leading the country after the July 19 assassinations, was found to be weak in these qualities. Not only was he not a strong, decisive leader, but he was also someone who mixed politics with religion. And—crucially, in such an ethnically diverse country—he ignored the voices of ethnic minorities when implementing federal policies that were supposed to guarantee equality.

然而，这个国家的第一任总理，在7月19日暗杀事件后发现自己领导这个国家的U Nu，被发现在这些品质上很弱。他不仅不是一个强有力的、果断的领导人，而且他还是一个把政治与宗教混为一谈的人。而且至关重要的是，在这样一个种族多元化的国家，他在执行本应保障平等的联邦政策时忽视了少数民族的声音。

His weak leadership contributed to the country’s slide toward military rule. Unfortunately, the first assassinations weren’t the last—they were merely the beginning.

他的软弱领导导致缅甸滑向军事统治。不幸的是，第一次暗杀并不是最后一次，而仅仅是开始。

In independent Myanmar, killings continue

在独立的缅甸，杀戮仍在继续

Even after the country gained its independence in 1948, prominent figures and political leaders continued to be assassinated.

甚至在该国于1948年获得独立后，杰出人物和政治领袖仍继续遭到暗杀。

In September of that year, about nine months after the country’s independence, U Tin Tut, who had earlier served as the first post-independence foreign minister, was killed. He had participated alongside Gen. Aung San in the London negotiations with the British for independence, and was trusted by him. He was killed by a hand grenade while getting into his car after leaving his New Times of Burma newspaper office.

同年9月，也就是缅甸独立约9个月后，曾担任独立后首位外交部长的吴廷图（U Tin Tut）被杀。他曾与昂山将军一起参加了在伦敦与英国的独立谈判，并得到了昂山将军的信任。他在离开《缅甸新时报》报社办公室进入汽车时被一枚手榴弹炸死。

The perpetrator was never identified, though some accounts point indirectly to then-Brigadier Ne Win, who was serving as deputy commander-in-chief of the military at that time.

行凶者的身份从未被确认，不过一些说法间接指向当时担任军队副总司令的奈温准将（brigadier Ne Win）。

In 1950, Karen leader Saw Ba U Gyi, a Cambridge graduate and former minister under British rule, was ambushed and killed by government troops near Kawkareik in Karen State. The operation was reportedly led by Colonel Sein Lwin, one of Ne Win’s henchmen.

1950年，克伦族领导人苏巴乌吉（Saw Ba U Gyi）在克伦邦的考卡雷克（Kawkareik）附近遭到政府军伏击并被杀害。苏巴乌吉毕业于剑桥大学，曾任英国政府的部长。据报道，这次行动是由奈温的亲信吴登温上校领导的。

Ne Win’s 1962 coup unleashed further assassinations. President Sao Shwe Thaik died in Insein Prison, allegedly by lethal injection. Saopha Sao Kya Seng disappeared at a military checkpoint and is believed to have been killed later by Ne Win’s soldiers.

奈温1962年的政变引发了更多的暗杀。总统Sao Shwe Thaik在永盛监狱死亡，据称是被注射致死。Saopha Sao Kya Seng在一个军事检查站失踪，据信后来被奈温的士兵杀害。

Thakin Than Tun, chairman of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), and a veteran of the independence struggle, was assassinated by a government agent in 1968 at the CPB’s headquarters in the Pegu Yoma hills. In 1975, Zau Seng and Zau Tu, brothers and founders of the Kachin Independence Army, were assassinated in an internal conflict.

1968年，缅甸共产党（CPB）总部被一名政府特工暗杀，他是独立斗争的老兵，也是缅甸共产党（CPB）主席。1975年，克钦独立军（Kachin Independence Army）的创始人赵成（Zau Seng）和赵图（Zau Tu）兄弟在内部冲突中被暗杀。

Hoped-for assassination foiled

希望的暗杀被挫败了

In 1976, 36-year-old Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint hatched a bold plan to assassinate dictator Ne Win and his top officers. The plan was to strike during a Resistance Day (later renamed Armed Forces Day) banquet at the Presidential Palace in Yangon. But it was a doomed mission.

1976年，36岁的上尉约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）策划了一个大胆的计划，要暗杀独裁者奈温（Ne Win）和他的高级军官。计划是在仰光总统府举行的抵抗日（后来更名为武装部队日）宴会上进行罢工。但这是一个注定失败的任务。

After the plot was uncovered, Ohn Kyaw Myint sought asylum at the US Embassy in Yangon. Ambassador David Osborn, however, rejected the request and informed military intelligence chief Colonel Tin Oo, according to The New York Times. Protocol required only that he inform the Foreign Ministry, but it is possible the US wanted to avoid damaging relations with the Ne Win regime.

阴谋被揭露后，约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）向美国驻仰光大使馆寻求庇护。然而，据《纽约时报》报道，戴维·奥斯本大使拒绝了这一请求，并通知了军事情报负责人丁乌上校。协议只要求他通知外交部，但美国可能希望避免损害与缅甸政权的关系。

Others accused of involvement in the plot were rounded up, and Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint was eventually executed by hanging.

其他被控参与阴谋的人被围捕，约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）上尉最终被处以绞刑。

The Myanmar people continued to live under Ne Win’s military boot for many years—haunted by what might have been had Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint achieved his goal.

多年来，缅甸人民继续生活在奈温的军靴下——如果约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）上尉实现了他的目标，可能会发生什么呢？

Assassination as political tool

暗杀作为政治工具

Assassination has long been used as a tool to advance political agendas, in Myanmar and around the world.

在缅甸和世界各地，暗杀一直被用作推进政治议程的工具。

Encyclopedia entries on “politics” tend to focus on the activities of governments and officials, and the workings of political systems, but in the real world, killings have been a part of politics in every era and every country. Assassination continues to be used to:

百科全书中关于“政治”的条目往往关注政府和官员的活动，以及政治制度的运作，但在现实世界中，杀戮在每个时代、每个国家都是政治的一部分。暗杀继续被用来：

Remove rivals to gain political power

除掉对手以获得政治权力

Halt political movements

停止政治运动

Silence reformers and revolutionaries

让改革者和革命者保持沉默

Overthrow dictatorships

推翻独裁统治

The use of assassination is not confined to certain countries, or to certain races or religions. In the US, President Abraham Lincoln, who preserved the Union by defeating the Confederacy in the American Civil War; the popular mid-20th-century President John F. Kennedy; and African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were all assassinated. India lost Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Benazir Bhutto was slain by an assassin in Pakistan.

暗杀的使用并不局限于某些国家，或某些种族或宗教。在美国，亚伯拉罕·林肯（Abraham Lincoln）总统在美国内战中击败南方邦联（Confederacy），保住了联邦；20世纪中期受欢迎的约翰·f·肯尼迪总统；以及非裔美国民权领袖马丁·路德·金都被暗杀。印度失去了圣雄甘地、英迪拉甘地和拉吉夫甘地。贝娜齐尔·布托在巴基斯坦被暗杀。

Assassinations have occurred in the East and the West, in countries that are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim, in rich and poor nations—and they continue to occur.

暗杀事件发生在东方和西方，发生在基督教、佛教、印度教和穆斯林国家，发生在富国和穷国，而且还在继续发生。

When we define politics not just in terms of theories but in the light of historical reality, then assassination, sadly, is one of the acts that defines it.

当我们不仅仅从理论的角度来定义政治，而是从历史现实的角度来定义政治时，暗杀，不幸的是，是定义政治的行为之一。

Even in modern times, political assassination remains relevant. In 2003, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi survived an attempt on her life in Depayin. Dozens of her supporters were beaten to death.

即使在现代，政治暗杀仍然具有相关性。2003年，昂山素季在德payin的一次暗杀中幸免于难。她的数十名支持者被殴打致死。

In 2008, Padoh Mahn Sha, secretary general of the KNU, was assassinated at his home in Mae Sot, Thailand. His murder was widely believed to have been orchestrated by Karen splinter groups aligned with the Myanmar military.

2008年，克伦民族联盟秘书长Padoh Mahn Sha在泰国美梭的家中被暗杀。人们普遍认为，他的谋杀是由与缅甸军方结盟的克伦族分支组织精心策划的。

In 2017, U Ko Ni, a constitutional expert and NLD adviser, was assassinated in broad daylight at Yangon Airport. The assassin himself was a hired gunman, but those behind the plot were ex-military officers. The killing sent a chilling message: reformers would not be tolerated.

2017年，宪法专家兼全国民主联盟顾问U Ko Ni在光天化日之下在仰光机场被暗杀。刺客本身是一名雇佣枪手，但幕后策划者是前军官。这次暗杀传递了一个令人不寒而栗的信息：改革者不会被容忍。

After the 2021 coup, a plot to assassinate UN Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun, who remained loyal to anti-junta forces, surfaced in the US. Two Myanmar nationals were arrested, though the military regime denied involvement.

在2021年的政变之后，一场暗杀联合国大使吴觉莫吞的阴谋在美国浮出水面，吴觉莫吞仍然忠于反军政府力量。两名缅甸公民被捕，但缅甸军政府否认参与其中。

Examining some notable assassinations, including some in our country, in light of the points discussed above, we see that:

根据上面讨论的要点，考察一些著名的暗杀事件，包括在我国发生的一些暗杀事件，我们看到：

The assassination of Gen. Aung San and his entire cabinet was motivated by a political grudge and ambition.

暗杀昂山将军和他的整个内阁是出于政治怨恨和野心。

The killing of Saw Ba U Gyi aimed to render the Karen revolution leaderless.

杀害苏巴乌吉的目的是使克伦革命失去领袖。

The assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. aimed to destroy the struggle to end racial discrimination that he was leading.

刺杀民权领袖马丁·路德·金的目的是摧毁他领导的结束种族歧视的斗争。

The attempt to assassinate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi aimed to decapitate Myanmar’s democracy movement.

暗杀昂山素季的企图旨在扼杀缅甸的民主运动。

The assassination of U Ko Ni can also be seen as intended to end constitutional reform efforts and as a warning to deter all supporters of that cause. In other words, by assassinating U Ko Ni, a message was sent to the entire country: “Don’t interfere with the military’s political path.”

暗杀吴柯尼也可以被视为意图结束宪法改革的努力，并警告阻止所有支持这一事业的人。换句话说，通过暗杀吴高尼，向整个国家发出了一条信息：“不要干涉军方的政治道路。”

On the other hand, since the 2021 coup, resistance groups have targeted junta officials and informants. There have even been unconfirmed reports of plots against junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy Soe Win.

另一方面，自2021年政变以来，抵抗组织一直以军政府官员和线人为目标。甚至有未经证实的报导说，有人密谋反对军政府领导人敏昂莱和他的副手索温。

Moral and political reckoning

道德和政治清算

Is assassination ever justifiable? Many attempts were made to kill Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler. Had he been killed in 1939, could World War II have been avoided, saving tens of millions of lives? Would the entire world, including Myanmar, have been spared the devastation of war?

暗杀是正当的吗？纳粹德国领导人阿道夫·希特勒曾多次遭到刺杀。如果他在1939年被杀，第二次世界大战是否可以避免，挽救数千万人的生命？包括缅甸在内的整个世界都能幸免于战争的破坏吗？

In Myanmar, what if Ohn Kyaw Myint had eliminated dictator Ne Win in 1976? Would we have been spared decades of military dictatorship?

在缅甸，如果约翰觉敏（john Kyaw Myint）在1976年消灭了独裁者奈温（Ne Win）会怎样？我们会免于几十年的军事独裁吗？

Today, many Myanmar people wish for the removal of Min Aung Hlaing, who is even worse than his predecessors, by any means. He has crushed democracy and plunged the nation into war. But would his assassination bring lasting change?

今天，许多缅甸人民希望以任何方式将比他的前任更糟糕的敏昂莱赶下台。他摧毁了民主，使国家陷入战争。但刺杀他会带来持久的改变吗？

Again, we need to consider two important points: Is assassination morally justifiable? And more importantly, is it politically effective?

再一次，我们需要考虑两个要点：暗杀在道德上是正当的吗？更重要的是，它在政治上是否有效？

If eliminating someone like Hitler can be justified for the sake of the world and humanity, then by the same logic would it be right to eliminate a dictator who is destroying Myanmar, a country of more than 50 million people?

如果为了世界和人类的利益，消灭希特勒这样的人是合理的，那么按照同样的逻辑，消灭一个正在摧毁缅甸这个拥有5000多万人口的国家的独裁者是否正确？

The real question is not whether removing one man is morally acceptable. It’s whether removing him would dismantle the evil system that spawned him. If one evil general falls, will another simply rise in his place?

真正的问题不是除掉一个人在道德上是否可以接受。而是除掉他是否能摧毁这个孕育了他的邪恶体系。如果一个邪恶的将军倒下了，会不会有另一个接替他的位置？

Assassinations have shaped Myanmar’s past, but they cannot define its future. True liberation must come not just by eliminating tyrants, but by uprooting the system that enables them. Until then, the legacy of political killings will haunt our nation’s destiny.

暗杀塑造了缅甸的过去，但无法定义缅甸的未来。真正的解放不仅要消灭暴君，还要铲除使暴君得以生存的体制。在那之前，政治杀戮的遗留问题将困扰着我们国家的命运。

 Kyaw Zwa Moe Executive Editor of the Irrawaddy 《伊洛瓦底江报》执行主编

作者：Kyaw Zwa Moe          来源：伊洛瓦底江