KHIN NYUNT, former chief of military intelligence in Myanmar, has apologised to the public over some controversial statements that were recorded in an old audio file that recently went viral over the Internet.
The sound file is a record of his lecture during a course 3/93 for military training officers in 1993. The words he used were harsh and rude, but they were not intended to harm those particular people. Instead, he just explained state policies on behalf of the government, and so he requested an apology from those hurt, Khin Nyunt said last week.
Khin Nyunt, who also served as the ninth prime minister, spoke at Karaweik Hotel in Yangon during the promotion of a book that is a compilation of his interviews with Snap Shot Journal’s editor-in-chief Myat Khine.
In the sound clip, Khin Nyunt told the officers that the military had to be strong in the face of the political and military assault from the Communist Party of Burma and the 1988 unrest in which people were killed and beheaded.
“Therefore, the military had to intervene and control the situation,” Khin Nyunt said in the file.
He said, in the file, that it was not “believable” that the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the majority vote and described the manner in which the civilians asked to rule as “dirty”.
“That demand could not be granted. Both the 1947 constitution and 1974 constitution could not be applied either. The 1947 constitution allowed regions to separate after 10 years. So, the country would fall apart and so it needed to draft a new constitution,” he went on.
He also said some leaders in the NLD were ex-military officers who committed “wrong things” in the past. He referred to Aung San Suu Kyi as “the woman” who visited Myanmar just once a year.
“When her mother was ill, the former ministers had to call her back. The time Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Myanmar coincided with the unrest in the country and communists like Thakhin Tin Mya advised her to engage in it.
“Then, the ministers of Burma Socialist Programme Party dissuaded her from getting involved in politics with goodwill. However, Aung San Suu Kyi defied the military and encouraged the rebels, and so she was arrested with 10(B). She could not be accepted as the leader of the country,” he added.
In the book he promoted, Khin Nyunt said, “If I said so, it is I was told to say so”. He did not mention who told him to do so and how. He said the contents of the book are based on true stories, and the book will have historical value. He added that he had to frankly answer the questions in the book as it is related with history and he apologised if it damaged other personal lives.
Former general Khin Nyunt was a deputy military chief when the military took over state duties in 1988.
While Khin Nyunt was military intelligence chief, the number of deaths of prisoners and the number of political prisoners increased. Aung San Suu Kyi was also put under house arrest for many years. In 2013, murder was attempted against Suu Kyi in Dabayin township of Sagaing region, but authorities have so far failed to expose the culprit.
In response to Khin Nyunt’s remarks, Myint Aung, a member of the Former Political Prisoners Group, said, “An apology is not enough. Reviewing what he has done, all his moves were for his power, position and wealth... I am not saying on the basis of hatred. But that must be recorded in
history.