Sao San Tun

Who was Sao San Tun?

Sao San Tun was the hereditary chief of the Shan State of Mongpawng, and Minister of Hill Regions in Myanmar's pre-independence interim government. He was a signatory to the Panglong Agreement that was the basis for the formation of modern Myanmar. On 19 July 1947, San Tun along with other cabinet ministers were shot by gunmen during a cabinet meeting at the Secretariat complex in downtown Yangon. He died the next day on 20 July at noon. The date of the assassination, July 19th, is commemorated each year as the Martyrs' Day in Myanmar.