YANGON: Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi paid tribute to her independence hero father on Tuesday at a memorial attended for the first time by the army chief, a rare show of unity in the former junta-run country.

The 71-year-old, now steering Myanmar’s first civilian government in decades, laid a wreath at the mausoleum dedicated to her father and eight others assassinated in 1947 during their struggle to win independence from Britain.

A heavy security presence surrounded the memorial in Yangon, as huge crowds gathered outside the gates to celebrate the fallen leaders. “We came here to pay respect to our late martyrs who sacrified for us. We will never forget the 19th of July. We will also support Mother Suu,” Tun Tun, a 21-year-old university student, said outside the memorial.

Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, never lived to see the independence he fought for but remains a deeply revered figure and a core factor behind his daughter’s enduring popularity.

Suu Kyi, who was barred from commemorating the anniversary during her years as a political prisoner under the former junta, was joined on Tuesday by the country’s still-powerful army chief, Min Aung Hlaing.

It is the first time an army chief has attended the event in years, affirming a new turn in the relationship between the military and the former activist, who was long viewed as their nemesis.

After her party swept landmark elections last November, Suu Kyi now faces the tough task of reversing the widespread poverty and repression that became the hallmarks of junta rule.

The Nobel laureate has already drawn on her father’s haloed legacy as she organises upcoming peace talks with ethnic rebels who have been battling the state for decades.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2016