Narinjara News


Two Burmese language Rangoon newspapers to be published from Sittwe

Dhaka, 2^nd September 03: The opening ceremony of a sub-printing house that will print Rangoon-based Myanma Alin and Kyemon dailies was held in Sittway (Akyab), Rakhine State, on 26 August morning, aimed at stepping up the junta’s information campaign, a source in the administration said.

Chairman of Rakhine State Peace and Development Council Commander of Western Command   Maj-Gen. Maung Oo and Deputy Minister for Information Brig-Gen Aung Thein formally opened the signboard of the sub-printing house.

The commander in his speech said that local people in Rakhine State had to wait for flights to read dailies, but now, they can read current news like readers in Yangon and Mandalay on the same day.  With this the people of Rakhine can contribute towards the development of economic, social, education and health sectors of rural people, he noted.

Rakhine State has a population of five million people while there is not a single locally published newspaper in the state.  The two newspapers that will now be reprinted online are Rangoon newspapers known to be the mouthpieces of the Burmese junta.

Since the notorious Ne Win regime took over state power in 1962, the people of Rakhine State have been left without a newspaper of their own.  The earliest daily published from Sittwe in 1853, was named as the Akyab Commercial News, which later changed into the Arakan News and was published in English language. During the British colonial period such English language newspapers as the Arakan Advocate, the Arakan Echo, the Arakan Times, the Daily Advertiser, and the Friend of Arakan were published.  The Rakhine language dailies included the Rakhine Razwang Athung Thadangza (1929), Rakhine Taing Thadangza (1949), the Lan Hman (1949) and the Rakhaing Athan (1955) were the newspapers published before the Burmese military came to power through a bloodless coup in 1962.

Since then all kinds of publications regarding Rakhine State and its people and their languages and culture as well as political developments have been censored heavily by the successive military juntas that have been running the country under the pretense of socialism, military dictatorship, etc, a retired judge told our correspondent.  #