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Another Cut: the SPDC Campaign to Erase Mon Culture

I. Introduction:

Burma is home to over a hundred ethnic groups and subgroups. While the military government has, quite deliberately, refrained from conducting a thorough or accurate survey of the country’s ethnic make up, it identifies eight “major national ethnic races,” of which there are over one hundred recognized subgroups. Of these groups and subgroups, official census date estimates that nearly seventy percent of the population is ethnic Burman, though this number is thought to be exaggerated in an attempt to bolster the legitimacy of the Burman dominated State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) regime.

Burman dominance was not, however, always the rule; for over a thousand years Mon kings ruled territory that encompassed much of the Southeast Asian mainland. Most of the population in Northern and Central Thailand was Mon until only six or seven hundred years ago, and the Mon remained heavily in the majority throughout central and southern Burma until the 1700s, when they finally lost their kingdom to the Burman king Alaungphaya in 1757. Read more

There will be no free and fair People Referendum

The Mon Forum

In order to officially endorse a new regime-drafted Constitution in Burma, the ruling military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), will soon arrange for a People’s Referendum. But until now, the people in Burma have not seen any copies of the draft constitution. They have are not being given the chance to read the Constitution and discuss it. Even if they had the time, the Burmese Army also does not allow people the freedom of expression to discuss on the issue. Read more

Regime continues its assault on the Mon Cultural Museum in Moulmein

Lawi Weng, HURFOM

The Burmese regime has modified statutes in front of the Mon Cultural Museum in Moulmein to hide their traditional Mon garb. The statues were originally painted to look as if they were wearing red and white Mon national dress but are now painted completely white.

The move comes after the regime changed the name from the “Mon Cultural Museum,” to the “Literature and Cultural Museum of the Burmese Cultural Ministry.” The museum exhibits Mon artifacts including traditional Mon dress, palm-leaf scripts, musical instruments Read more

Burmese soldiers burn plantations to punish suspected rebel supporters

Mi Kyae Goe, IMNA,

On February 22nd Burmese Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 31 burned twenty plantations in Ye township, Southern Mon state. The fire was started after soldiers could not capture Mon rebels thought to be in the area.

The rebels are members of the Monland Restoration Party (MRP), formerly the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party (HRP), which separated itself from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) after the NMSP signed a ceasefire with the regime in 1995. Read more

Mon National Day is celebrated in Burma

Loa Htaw, IMNA,

Ten birds were released in Mudon Township, Mon state, on the 61st annual Mon National Day (MND). The birds were a symbol of peace for everyone in the world, said Mon people who attended the celebration.

“We want every life in the world to have peace,” said Dr. Soe Lin, the chairman of Central Celebrating Committee of the Mon National Day (CCCMND), which was responsible for releasing the birds. Dr. Soe Lin is also secretary of the Mon National Democratic Front and a former political prisoner. He added that the birds represented an especially important symbol of peace for people in Burma right now, pointing to recent assassinations of opposition leaders in Pakistan and the Karen National Union in Karen state, Burma. “We don’t want others in Burma to see a similar fate,” he said. Read more

New travel restrictions announced in Southern Ye

Kaowao:

Every resident of Southern Ye Township must now carry his or her own travel document, an expensive change to previous policy.

Southern Ye Township military commander Kha Ma Ya, Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 31, declared that everyone in Khaw Zar Sub-township must carry the new travel document for his or her own security. The small and simple document costs villagers 1000 Kyat per person, and people caught traveling without the document risk being detained by soldiers. Read more

Tractor-trailer owners forced to “donate” sand to a government golf course

IMNA,

Every tractor-trailer owner in Thanphyuzayart township, Mon state, is being forced to “donate” a tractor load of sand to the Shwe Phyu Tatana golf course, report locals.

The Thanphyuzayart Township Peace and Development Council notified tractor-trailer owners by letter in the first week of January 2008. Read more

Burmese Army forces villagers to relocate

Mi Kyae Goe, IMNA,
The Burmese regime is forcing villagers in Mon state to relocate to land being sold by the regime at high prices.

Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 31, which operates in Kaw-zar sub-township in Southern Mon state, has ordered residents of the Kyone-kanya village to move into an area near to a new road, claiming it will improve the development of the village. Read more

Members of Mon Literature and Culture Association replaced by junta thugs

LAWI WENG, HURFOM,

Authorities in Mon State have replaced members of the Mon Literature and Culture Association (MLCA) with members of the regime backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), according to local sources.

The move paved the way for a seven-month old ban on the MLCA to be lifted in Mon State, said a former member of the group in Ye Township. The lifting of the ban is cause for concern, not celebration, said the former member of the Mon association. Read more