Is this correct?
A: There were four assassins. Three of them used Tommy guns. The youngest assassin, Yan Gyi Aung, used a Sten gun. After the assassination, the weapons were taken to India and thoroughly examined.
Q: What was discovered?
A: They found that the weapons had come from the British army, and they found out who sold them. Young was arrested. But later, the suppliers were secretly freed.
Q: How did British leaders regard Aung San and other Burmese leaders?
A: Churchill was the war-time prime minister. When U Saw asked for dominion status, Churchill told U Saw to ask him again after the war. But Churchill was defeated in the election and succeeded by Attlee, a socialist. If Churchill had kept power, Burma wouldn’t have gained its independence.
Q: Churchill said something about Aung San after he was assassinated.
A: He said that Aung San, his thirty comrades and the Thakhins were rebels who fought against the British, so why should he contact and help them? Churchill meant they didn’t need to help Burma because it had fought against the British. Lord Mountbatten, however, favored Burma. After the war these issues needed to be debated, and there were debates in the British House of Common about how to handle Burmese affairs. Nothing would have happened if Lord Mountbatten was not there. He helped Burma much. He told Aung San that he must give up his military position if he wanted to be a politician. Then Aung San resigned from the military.
Q: What is your opinion of U Saw?
A: U Saw was very ambitious and selfish. Although he was an uneducated person, he achieved a high position due to his political ambition. Probably some British in the government liked him and used him.
Q: U Saw went to London together with Aung San to make an agreement with Prime Minister Attlee. Was his refusal to sign the agreement due to envy of Aung San or policy disagreements?
A: As you know, an agreement must consist of many points, so one can easily find fault and withdraw. U Saw tried to find fault in the Nu-Attlee agreement and the then the Aung San-Attlee agreement. Thakhin Ba Sein as well. Thakhin Tun Oak accused Aung San of killing a village headman and attempted to have him jailed.
Q: What do you think would have happened in Burma if Aung San and his cabinet ministers had not been assassinated?
A: It would have been much better. He was not a god. He himself said that he was not a god. U Nu was the only person who listened to him when he said that U Kyaw Nyein, Thakhin Than Tun, U Ba Swe and Thakhin Soe needed to be controlled.
Q: Was it possible for Bogyoke Aung San to get along with those men who needed to be controlled or those who opposed him?
A: The military respected him. There were people who admired him. Although our Navy was small, we had many well-trained and well-disciplined men. And did the Air Force. The Air force and Navy supported him. Our men knew all about them. Communists started organizing the
military personnel, but well-disciplined personnel could not be organized. Those personnel supported Aung San. Karen and Kachin Army personnel also supported Aung San.
Q: Do you see any significant differences between Aung San and his daughter, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?
A: His daughter returned to Burma for her ill mother. When her mother died, she decided to lead the people in their struggle for democracy. She resembles her father. She has a good nature and is intelligent as well. People like what she has spoken and done. I say she is very smart and wise.
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