It has been 67 years since the Mon people made the decision to take up arms in demand for their rights as ethnic peoples in Burma. The fight is still alive today,
as the Mon continues to resist successive military and civilian governments in Rangoon and Naypyidaw.
The rights of the Mon people have been continually compromised by Burma’s ruling regimes. During U Nu’s rule, the Mon people were denied their rights to freely follow Mon Buddhism, to honor and practice Mon literature and culture, and were restricted in their access to education and the exercise of democratic principles.
In efforts to safeguard their independence as an ethnic people following the country’s independence from British colonization in 1948, Mon leaders presented a 7-point plan in demand of their rights, which was flatly rejected by the U Nu government. With their demands and rights repeatedly rejected, the Mon people had no choice but to commence an armed movement.
As Mon leaders grew increasingly disappointed with the U Nu government, they stated, “We [have] demanded our lowest rights or basic rights in a non-violent way, but the government has responded to us badly and ignored our issue”. The armed resistance thus began in min-1948 on the full-moon day of Khadot Soi, and the Mon people pronounced it ‘Mon Revolutionary Day’.
Mon leaders said they had the right to demand 100 percent of their rights – including the return of the old Mon kingdom and identifying the southern part of Burma as their self-ruled State; however, they demanded just 25% of their rights, and even then they were ignored.
The Mon leaders increased their non-violent campaign in early 1948, while demanding their rights like other ethnic peoples, but the government responded with violence; Mon people were killed, Mon leaders were arbitrarily arrested, and Mon villages were burned. As a result, a group of Mon youths, led by Nai Pan Thar, began a massive confiscation of arms and ammunition from within Mon and Karen states in August 1948.
In the well-known ‘Panglong Agreement’, signed by General Aung San on the eve of Burma’s independence, the Burman and ethnic leaders from the Shan, Kachin and Chin frontiers failed to include rights for the ethnic Mon, Karen and Arakanese. In response, the Mon and Karen demanded their rights for self-determination, and the establishment of their own ethnic states. In return, both ethnic peoples faced great violence committed by the U Nu government, and that is when the Mon and Karen leaders decided to establish an armed approach in their fight against the government.
Both the Mon and Karen armed resistance continues to this day, 67 years since it began, and with it the enduring consequences of war and human rights abuses against civilians. The Burmese Army instituted the ‘Four Cuts Campaign’, devastating ethnic communities in efforts to cut the relations between ethnic civilians and ethnic armed groups; ethnic civilians have suffered terrible human rights abuses and thousands have been displaced from their homes.
However, the ethnic armed resistance did not fall apart like its counterpart, the Burma Communist Party (BCP), which collapsed in 1989. Why?
Ethnic people have continued to support their armed resistance in various ways, although they have faced great oppression, because they wish to be liberated from successive Burman-dominated military regimes. Ethnic armed resistance groups are able to sustain many hardships because they gain both moral and financial support from their people around the world. With conviction in their cause and their people behind them, the Burmese Army and successive government regimes could not defeat the ethnic resistance until they agree to ceasefire talks.
Now, people throughout Burma are demanding peace. They have learned great lessons through the country’s prolonged war and armed conflict, and recognize the loss to the country.
For the Mon people, on the 67th Mon Resistance Day, they have endured great loss; many have migrated to neighboring Thailand, and overseas to Western countries; many farmers have lost their lands and livelihoods due to land confiscation; and many families have lost at least one of their loved ones during the war.
Peace is an important and sensitive issue, and all shareholders must handle it carefully. If those fighting for peace fight for the people of the country, and refrain from fighting for personal or group benefits, only then will the people of Burma achieve lasting peace.
