POLICE STABS MEMBER OF NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE ( Kao-Wao ) February 25, 2003

Kao Wao Newsletter

POLICE STABS MEMBER OF NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE

(Kao-Wao, February 25, 2003)

Three policemen stabbed organizers of the Mon National Day Celebration Committee in the late evening after a ceremony held in Karen State.

The Burmese policemen after the Mon National Day Celebration attacked and injured Nai A-Ron and Nai Min Naung on February 17, which took place at EinDu village, Pha Ann Township in Karen State.

The event management group charged the policemen for wrongdoing. During the clash, an unknown person fired a gun and hit a policeman, Soe Min Aung, suffered a stomach injury from the bullet.

“The dispute began when the police insulted at the event saying that they >didn’t want to watch a Mon National dance because they didn’t understand it,” said a witness. The policemen argued with the organizers and a fight broke out, he added.

The pro Rangoon, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) sponsored a Drama Show for the event at EinDu village where Mon people live in Karen State. The DKBA Battalion No. 999 was responsible for security during the event as >well as funding some money for the celebration.

The security officer, soldiers from DKBA, denied the accusation that they >opened fire into the crowd as the policemen had claimed.

Policemen Soe Ming Aung and his team held an emergency meeting with members of Mon National Day Celebration Committee led by Nai Bee Yar soon after the clash. Nai Bee Yar said, “it happened after those policemen abused our Mon Nationality”, a local source said. The two injured men and policeman were brought to the hospital for treatment but only the policeman remains in the hospital.

Mon National Day is widely celebrated in the Mon communities to foster the Mon national spirit and commemorate the founding of the last Mon Kingdom over a thousand years ago in lower Burma.