Ye, 31 August
It has been more than 70 years since the armed modern revolution of the Mon was started by a group of Mon youths seeking equality and self-determination with the right to create their own destiny.
The Mon Revolution Day, which was held to pay respect to the martyr leaders who sacrificed their lives and fought in the modern revolution of Mon people, has reached its 76th anniversary on 31 August.
Looking back over the years, the Mon revolutionary forces suggest that it is a key to assess how far the Mon ethnic people’s objectives have been fulfilled.
According to Nai Nagar, a spokesperson for the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF), “except for a few literary and cultural opportunities for the entire Mon community, we have not received any other rights”.
“I believe it is absolutely impossible for us to have the right to self-determination and to shape our own destiny under the rule of military councils that deny us even basic human rights,” he stated.
According to Nai Nagar, the New Mon State Party has developed administrative and judicial systems in areas under their control to the greatest extent possible in accordance with their constitution, but this isn’t applicable to the entire Mon people.
The modern armed revolution of the Mon ethnic group started in late 1948 after the independence of Myanmar, but the Mon People’s Front surrendered to the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League while it was still on its way.
The New Mon State Party was established in July 1958, and in 1970, it resumed the armed revolution as a united front in cooperation with the KNU and the Parliamentary Democratic Party led by former Prime Minister U Nu.
Following that, in 1971, the New Mon State Party formed the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA), an armed force representing the Mon ethnic minority, and in 1995, they agreed to a ceasefire with the junta.
A Mon political analyst expressed his opinion that celebrating the Mon Revolution Day, which has not existed since 1995, is a way to motivate the public, and celebrating Revolution Day without revolution has no meaning and is not practical.
This year’s 76th Mon Revolution Day ceremony is scheduled to be held at Martyrs’ Hill in Win Sein Taw Ya, Mudon Township, Mon State, with the slogan “Racial rights will emerge only through a powerful revolution”.
The New Mon Party, a veteran revolutionary organization of the Mon ethnic group, on the other hand, has always stuck to the idea that the political issues can only be handled with political means and has held six peace talks with the military council.
The Mon Unity Party, a political party representing the Mon people, also allowed two members of the party to become members of the military council and applied for party registration to run the military council’s planned election in order to solve the political problem through parliament.
A Mon citizen who opposes the military dictatorship said, “Discussions with the enemy you are fighting against, even if it is political issue, should not be at all. The revolutionary history of the Mons that we have learned is different from what we are seeing now”.
There are armed forces representing the Mon people among the armed resistance groups that mushroomed as a result of the recent military coup, and they are fighting for the right to define their own destiny along with allied revolutionary forces.
The Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF) spokesperson, Nai Nagar, said that they will continue to fight together with the revolutionary forces to achieve the goals of the Mon people.
He fully believes in the concept that the political problem must be resolved at the political table, but noted that there is no possible reason for political and peace talks with the military council.
New Mon State Party Chairman Nai Hanthar said in a message to mark the 52nd anniversary of the formation of the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA), “we should note the saying, ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and we didn’t get anything when I asked for the rights of the Mon people when there were no Mon forces.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-NMSP