By LAWI WENG & HONG DEIN : The Burmese junta’s Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) in Thanphyuzayart Township, Mon State refused to allow the Mon National Day Committee (MNDC) to put up the Mon National Flag on the billboards commemorating the 64 anniversary of Mon National Day without putting up the Burmese National Flag, explained Mon sources.
Dr. Min Soe Lin, a senior member of the MNDC in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, told The Independent Mon News Agency on Wednesday, “They told our committee members on January 22nd not to put up our flag on the billboard if we do not use their flag.”
“Our committee members have already put up all the billboards in the town, but they did not put up the Mon flag on the billboards because they did not want to put up the Burmese flag too,” he said.
The billboards to commemorate the 64th anniversary of Mon National Day in Thanphyuzayart Township were set up throughout the town on January 23rd without put up any Mon or Burmese flag. The MNDC members did not want to incorporate the Burmese flag, explained sources close to the committee.
This source clarified that this problem has only occured in Thanphyuzayart Township, while the members of MNDC in Mudon and Moulmein Townships have set up the Mon National Day billboards only using the Mon National flag and have experienced no problems.
“I think the authorities in Thanphyuzayart Township want to make trouble,” said Dr.Min Soe Lin.
The 64th anniversary of Mon National Day will be held on February 19th, with the main ceremony in Thanphyuzayart Township where Mon people from all areas of Mon State will gather to celebrate in one place.
The MNDC committee in Moulmein said that the Southeast Military Command [junta] in Moulmein has allowed the billboards to be written in both the Mon and Burmese languages, which is a positive outcome for this year. Last year, the Southeast Military Command did not allow Burmese text on the billboard, explaining that the text would create national unity by mentioning “In Southeast Asia [the area] from Thaton to the Malay peninsula was [originally] included in Suwanabumi [old Mon kingdom]. After the kingdom was occupied, heritage sites were lost. But, pagodas still stand in Thaton Township in Mon State.”
The Burmese authorities have censored the statement on the billboards and leaflets about the anniversary of Mon National Day every year.
There are about 3 million Mon people, living in southern Burma, without the right to learn their own language and maintain their culture due to the control of the Burmese military.
The Mon will have sixteen representatives in the new parliament in Burma, which will form the new government in February. As a result of the election in November, this will be the first time that the Mon people will have government representation.
The Mon fought alongside the Burmese in the struggle for independence from British colonial rule, but they have never achieved autonomy under the Burmese military government.
Afraid it will encourage anti-regime sentiments, Burmese authorities have long discouraged overt displays of Mon nationalism.
The Mon have celebrated Mon National Day for 63 years despite attempts by the military government to eliminate it. The Mon will celebrate Mon National Day on Feb 19 in Moulmein, Mudon, Thanphyuzayart and Ye townships. National Day commemorates the day when the first Mon kingdom, Hongsawadee, was established in 1116 of the Buddhist Era, or 573 CE.
