Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA)

June 12, 2003

A Mon man’s opinion statement: SPDC is not sincere on the Mon ceasefire

In a secret opinion statement by a Mon patriotic expresses that there will be no any profit for the Mon people and New Mon State Party (NMSP) in general from current regime SPDC’s implementation of development projects with many thousands million Kyat and the regime also wants to prolong the Mon ceasefire until NMSP loses its commitment for armed struggle for establishment of independent Mon State.

A Mon man, who would not like to identify himself, released this opinion statement by reminding the Mon people about the SPDC’s negative attitude to the whole Mon people and to NMSP’s ceasefire, after he recently met a Brigadier who is Mon from Burmese Army in Rangoon.

The statement was released since late March and IMNA received just recently. It states in its second paragraph that:

“Currently the NMSP has ceasefire with the regime for 8 years already. (NMSP entered for ceasefire with the current regime in mid-1995). Although NMSP has requested for the political talks several times, but the regime have not responded. What the regime want is to prolong the ceasefire period until the NMSP loses their commitments for armed struggle to establish greater autonomy Mon State and gradually loses their strengths. By using dishonest way, the regime tries to destroy the desires of Mon people and NMSP. By dissimulating to NMSP, the regime would take full percentage of profit during ceasefire”, said by the Brigadier about the real attitude of SPDC to the Mon man.

Additionally, in another paragraph, “it is senseless for NMSP to appeal by letters for compensation or others in the cases of land confiscation of land in various parts of Ye Township in Mon State. If you need these lands, you have to fight (by arms). When the regime is building bridges, roads and implementing development projects by spending hundreds of million Kyat, it must not give any profit to Mon people and NMSP. (It means the regime has no desire to offer the Mon State with new roads and bridges to the Mon people and just tries to maintain in power). At the end, I would like to say, if you need independent Mon State, you need to fight”, said by that Brigadier.

He also added, “Now, the regime tries to prolong ceasefire. By offering some houses and lands it pushes NMSP to forget its struggle. When there is no war the Mon people and NMSP can stay peacefully and then forget the struggle. SPDC never thinks for the rights to ethnic nationalities. They ignored for the rights to the Mon people and just have done development projects. The plan is not for the Mons only, but they never consider to offer other ethnic nationalities with greater autonomy. They just planned how to abolish (the identity) of the Mons in long-term period.”

The patriotic Mon man who released the opinion statement went to Rangoon with a special purpose and met the Brigadier on March 10 and consulted with him. Then he noted the words in the conversation during half an hour and re-wrote as opinion statement and distributed a thousand copies among the Mon people.

That Brigadier is a Mon nationality and he was in Burmese Army for 30 years, but he does not forget his identity.