KEEPING ORDER IN BURMA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25243, 23 July 1947, Page 7

KEEPING ORDER IN BURMA

RESPONSIBILITY OF BRITAIN

MORE THAN 300 ARRESTS IN RANGOON AREA

(Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, July 21. Mr Attlee said in the House of Commons that the responsibility for maintaining the internal security of Burma rested with the Governor and the troons available for that purpose. They were under British command and under the Governor’s control.

He added that Burma was not yet a Dominion Government. Therefore, Britain had responsibility for law and order. Every step had been taken to provide for reinforcements if needed, and a request had been made to India for the use of Indian troops if that should prove necessary. So far it had not. Both the British and United States Governments have condemned the murder of the members of the Burmese Executive Council. M? Attlee said in the House of Commons that the brutal outrage in Burma had met with universal condemnation. The underlying causes of the plot were not yet clear. Everything was being done to trace the culprits and fix the responsibility. The British Government’s attitude towards Burma’s aspirations remained unchanged by these shocking events. In Washington the United States Government has officially expressed horror at the “brutal assassination” of the members of the Burmese Executive Council. Armed Patrols in Rangoon. More than 300 persons have been arrested in the Rangoon area since the assassinations of the Burmese Ministers on Saturday. There are no reports of trouble in the country areas, but the tension continues in Rangoon itself. Troops armed with machine-guns patrolled the streets of Rangoon while the police intensified their search for the assassins. A big crowd collected at the prison gates shouting “Tear him to pieces. Lynch him,” when U Saw, a former Premier, was taken to the Rangoon central gaol under a heavy guard. Seventeen leaders of the All-Burma Workers’ Union have sent a letter, signed in blood, to the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League executive committee, pledging themselves ready to lay down their lives to “annihilate” the murderers of Major-General Aung San. The Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League has issued a statement expressing the opinion that the murder plan was not carried out by a single organisation opposing the league, but “by organisations which were amalgamated for murder.” Reuter’s correspondent in Rangoon reports that the opening of the Constituent Assembly’s new session, which was fixed for July 24, has been postponed until July 28 because of the assassination of the Ministers. Colonel Let-Ya, Deputy Inspector-General of the Burmese Army, has been sworn in as Defence Member of the Governor’s Executive Council. He served as deputy - commander -in - chief under Major-General Aung San against the Japanese.