KAO WAO NEWS No. 71
An electronic newsletter for social
justice and freedom in
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READER’S FRONT
NMSP MEMBERS ARRESTED WHILE COLLECTING FUNDS
MON RESETTLEMENT SITES SWELLS TO MORE THAN 5,000 IDP
RICE FIELDS FLOODED OUT BY HEAVY RAINS
MON CANADIAN PITCH IN
SUMMER CLASS FOR MON CANADIAN CHILDREN
SUU KYI ABSENT FROM MARTYR’S DAY CEREMONY
AJAR WAT SINGH PASSES AWAY
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READERS' FRONT
Dear Readers,
We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao
newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to
serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in
Regards,
Editor
[email protected],
[email protected]
__________________________________
On Ajar Wat
Singh passes away
We are sorry to hear this sad new
as Mon people lost one of their patriots. We would like to share the same sorry
with you in this historical moment.
With all best wishes,
Parliamentary Democracy Party (
(Liberated Area)
___________________________________________
I feel deeply sorry about his
passing. He was a great supporter for
Mon national cause and I learned many things from him, especially about the
first Mon politician in post war era Mon Po Cho. We
will miss his positive outlook on Mon politics, his generosity and his warm
feeling for anyone who needed help.
Sunthorn
Sripanngern
Mon Unity League
_____________________________________
Passing away of Ajar Wat Singh is a great lost for all Mon people. He will be remembered for his critical thinking,
opened mind and candidly debate.
Ba Taing (Durae)
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NMSP MEMBERS ARRESTED WHILE COLLECTING FUNDS
(Banyar
Toay:
New Mon State Party members were
arrested and sentenced to seven years imprisonment while touring in the public
and collecting funds for the party.
Eight members led by Nai Ron Nai, of Ye Township, were
accused of holding arms on June 29, the day the NMSP reached a cease-fire
agreement with the junta nine years ago.
According to Nai
Tun Lwin, the cease-fire
party reported to the local Burma Army IB No. 588 about their activities. The
junta agreed to let them collect funds, but later rounded them up and packed
them off to the
A source from the NMSP said their
members were allowed to operate such fund collecting activities in the past, it
is assumed that the reason for arrest this time was the junta’s unhappiness
with the NMSP’s participation at the National
Convention.
“New Mon State Party’s
expectation of solving political crisis on the table is fading away. The military junta is not happy with us while
the Mon delegation proposed a power sharing outline at the Convention; it is the
main reason they postponed the Convention,” Lwin said
as quoted from the Mon delegates.
“The NMSP was active in proposing
some agendas and it became the main group to speak out. As it has in history, the SPDC refuses to
discuss anything to do with power division between States,” a young Mon
politician added. “They can pressure us
in many ways. Our members can always be
charged by many acts such as holding guns, driving without a license and
holding unofficial documents; there is no security for us.”
According to the source, the NMSP
now cannot negotiate for the release of its members with the Military
Intelligence because the MI itself has limited power at the moment.
Another source from
A senior member of the NMSP said
that Gen Khin Nyunt told them to solve the political problems at the National
Convention after they have reached cease-fire agreement in 1995. But their fate
is fading away. He speculated that the
NMSP will also be restricted in doing business in the future because it has
challenged the junta at the NC.
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MON RESETTLEMENT SITES SWELLS TO MORE THAN 5000 IDP
(By Taramon:
Sangkhlaburi
– The number of internally displaced persons in
According to the MRDC, IDPS are
affected by civil war back home and the numbers of IDPs
in the Tavoy Resettlement this year have increased
due the Burma Army’s sweeping raids and army operations. The BA, bent on
maintaining stability in the region and assimilating the Mon people, is
cracking down on the Mon guerrilla group HRP since last December.
A village headman reported that
General Maung Bo, at a meeting, threatens the local people when he first enters
the villages, gesturing his hands and pointing his fingers at the frightened
villagers, “how can the Mon rebels move around and survive without your
support. YOU are rebel sympathizers.”
The general convinced of collaboration then launches his military
operations and razes villages he suspects of supporting rebels when he visits Ye township,
“Some people sneak out from their
villages separately to avoid the SPDC’s (State Peace
and Development Council) eyes, then try to get to Tavoy
Resettlement through the thick, dense jungle,” Nai Doung Htaw, the committee member
said. He added they risk being tortured
or shot dead by the BA if found escaping from their villages.
One family, Htaw
said, sent their young son and daughter, age 12 and 10, one month ahead to the Tavoy Resettlement; the parents will soon follow when it’s
safe to do so to avoid the SPDC.
Human traffickers wait at the
border and lure IDPs to go to neighboring counties,
offering them good employment, like
A recently arrived IDP family
from southern Ye reported, farmers in their village
are banned from going to their farms by the BA, are burdened with paying
illegal taxes, and most often are forced into labor, then discarded like used
waste when they grow exhausted. Houses owned by the families of Mon guerillas
are raided, looted and burned down, with people being beaten, tortured, and
murdered.
Nai Ha,
a social worker of the MRDC who recently visited Ye
area said whole villages are also forced into joining the local militia forces;
most of the refugees are from southern
Not only are IDPs
sitting ducks for snakeheads, but also life in the rural is fraught with a
range of human rights abuse such as rape, torture, killing, portering,
and land confiscation. At present there
are over 5,000 IDPs taking refuge in the Mon
resettlement sites.
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RICE FIELDS FLOODED OUT BY HEAVY RAINS
(Reported by Lavi
from Northern
Surging mountain streams and
flash floods have destroyed rice paddy fields along the boundary of Mon and
“The flash flood destroyed whole
paddy fields. This is an unusual flood
by the end of June,” said a local Mon woman Mi Woot.
In previous years around July and
August this area is normally flooded, but the early unusual flood worries
farmers who are concerned about their crops.
A village headman said local farmers have to wait if for less rain to
grow the crop again.
Most people in the area live by
growing paddy for several years, but many farmers have abandoned their farms to
go to work in
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MON CANADIAN PITCH IN
(Kao Wao:
Mon community in
The meeting was opened in the
afternoon with chanting to Lord Buddha and welcoming messages from the
Last year in August, the MBTC
hosted a fund raising event and raised about $1,500 Cdn for the temple.
According to Treasurer Ms. Anjalii Mon, the
MBTC has about $17,000 raised by the community to build the temple in 2005.
Buddhism flourished within Mon
culture with the majority following the teaching of Theravada Buddhism that
strongly influenced cultural development in their old Kingdoms in lower
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SUMMER CLASS FOR MON CANADIAN CHILDREN
(Kao Wao:
The leaders Nai
Ong Tamah and Nai Su Mon held the opening ceremony on Sunday afternoon
with speeches.
Ms. Pyah
Sorn, Ms. Ai Nondae and Ms.
Layeh Mon were assigned as volunteers to teach Mon
children in two classes for this summer.
“I will try my best to teach the
children how to speak and read our language because the Mon children here don’t
want to speak in our mother tongue and we need to encourage them to preserve
Mon literature and culture,” said Ms. Sorn, a young
girl who taught at the Mon refugee camp in Thailand Burma border before coming
to Canada.
The aim of the MCS is to promote and preserve Mon culture,
literature, and social life, and to assist the
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(Kao Wao:
Burma Forum was convened on July
3rd and 4th, 2004 in
The main objective of this forum
is to establish a stronger and more inclusive consultative process among
Burmese Activist Communities in order to effectively advocate for the issues
facing
“This meeting is just the first
step. We also recognize the urgency and importance of communicating with
broader Burmese Activist Communities who were not present at the forum. We
believe that this forum can be a place where we can share, discuss and develop
different action plans to help restore democracy in
Topics on Economic Sanctions,
Humanitarian Assistance, Assessment of Current Political situation in
A former student leader Ko Aung Myint Kyi said the event
was very fruitful with participation of younger generation from all parts in
The forum will be held every year
and it was agreed that the participants will become member of the Coordinating
Committee and a Coordinator was selected to carry out the operational
activities of the forum.
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SUU KYI ABSENT FROM MARTYR’S DAY CEREMONY
(Cited from AP:
It was the second year that Suu Kyi missed the ceremony at Aung San's mausoleum,
the only official event that the junta has allowed her to attend and the only
time her picture has appeared in the state media.
The government reviles Suu Kyi, but her father is officially considered a hero
for his struggle for independence for
A political rival gunned down Aung San and eight other Cabinet ministers on
The ruling junta apparently didn't ask Suu Kyi to send a representative to this
year's ceremony, as it did last year, when she also was under detention.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party hadn't
received any word from her on the matter, said party spokesman U Lwin. The party was set to hold a private ceremony at its
headquarters on Monday, he said.
Monday's ceremony at the mausoleum was attended by diplomats and relatives of
the other eight who were slain with Aung San. The culture minister, Maj. Gen.
Kyi Aung, represented the government.
A representative of Suu Kyi's estranged elder
brother,
Martyr's Day was an important event in
The junta called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over power after the NLD
won in a landslide. Suu Kyi has since spent long periods in detention or house
arrest.
She was arrested again in May 2003 following a deadly clash between her
supporters and a pro-government mob.
Since 1996, official newspapers have abandoned an earlier tradition of
publishing commemorative Martyr's Day biographical sketches of Aung San along
with photos of slain leaders and articles extolling them.
On Monday, all newspapers which are owned or controlled by the government were
full of news and pictures of Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt's
recent visit to
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AJAR WAT SINGH PASSES AWAY
(Kao-Wao,
Revered senior monk Ajar Uttama passed away on
Rev. Dhamma
Deana from
Ajar Wat
Singh, known as Talagon ShweDaw,
closely worked with United Mon Association leader Mon Pho
Cho and politicians for several years. He was involved in politics since his youth.
As a young monk he co-founded Hoi Ta-Ga Way Soi (Mon Young Monks Union) in
In exile, the revered monk
actively supervised various activities for education, social and national
affairs; he was appointed as Vice President of the Mon Red Cross Association
and Advisor for overseas students and monks organizations.
“I feel deeply sorry about his
passing. He was a great supporter for
our cause and I learned many things from him, especially about the first Mon
politician in post war era Mon Po Cho. We will miss
his positive outlook on Mon politics, his generosity and his warm feeling for
anyone who needed help.” said Sunthorn Sripanngern of the Mon Unity League.
The 72 year old abbot was born on
The author of “Mon people and
Buddhism” and fluent in Mon, Thai, Burmese, English and Pali
languages; he enjoyed reading, collecting books and received “Phra Khru Plat” title of Thailand
and B.A. degree from the Colombo University of Sri Lanka.
The funeral service and cremation
for the abbot will be held from July 19 to 29 in
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