“The period of ceasefire is gone.” General Secretary of New Mon State Party (NMSP) quoted an SPDC general as saying and wrote in his article in Mon which was recently posted in the KaoWao website, under his pen name of “Bop Dai”. “The Burmese military regime, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), doesn’t have a spirit of brotherhood or spirit based on equal rights of all ethnic peoples, but it just wants to colonize the ethnic non-Burman peoples in the post-independence era.”

“The Mon and Karen peoples first rose up into an armed struggle in the wake of Burma’s independence from the British in 1948, revolting against the Burman domination or Burman ethnocentric rule. Later on, many other ethnic non-Burman groups, such as Wa, Kokang, Karenni, Shan, Palaung etc joined the revolution and the civil war has grown up and dragged on until today,” he added.

Equal rights among all ethnic nationalities, including the Burman, must be recognized in order to solve the age-old political problems in the country. That is why the ethnic non-Burman leaders, of both armed and nonviolent groups, have long been requesting and suggesting the Burman leaders to create a Burman state, whether it be big or small in size, in their dreams of building a genuine federal union.

The current situation in Burma sets back any progress towards a timely democratic change. SPDC has been forcing the ethnic non-Burman ceasefire groups to transform their respective armies into “Border Guard Forces,” which will be put under the direct command of Burmese Army. The trend is not in the right way. More than 50 years of the civil war has taught us of bitter experiences. All ethnic non-Burman groups on one side and SPDC on one side, the age-old civil war has made Burma one of the world’s least developed countries. Neither side can crush or eliminate each other with military might.

People in Mon State are now in fear of the civil war resuming after 15 years of the NMSP-SPDC ceasefire agreement. Some Mon people have already fled to the Mon refugee camps in the area of NMSP. Many are in fear of being conscripted as front-line portering labour by the Burmese/SPDC Army.

An infestation of mosquitoes during the start of the raining season is an increased cause of malaria to those people who have recently arrived at the Mon refugee camps. As they have no safe place to stay, some of them, especially pregnant women and young children, have already caught disease. They are now facing mounting trouble and suffering. Bad water and poor sanitation are also causes for disease. The southern part of Mon State or NMSP- controlled area is one of the worst malaria-infested areas in the country.

Recently arrived Mon Refugees at Halockanee Camp. 5.May, 2010

The Mon leaders of both NMSP and the urban-based nonviolent Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), are frustrated with SPDC’s lose- lose approach. They want to solve the country’s problems peacefully rather than by fighting. They are still asking SPDC for a genuine tripartise dialogue as demanded by the peoples of Burma and recommended by the United Nations. NMSP with its armed wing of Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) must return to the jungle for guerrilla warfare again without any option. NMSP does want to maintain the present ceasefire which at least gives its local Mon people a respite from experiencing war crimes and most serious types of human rights violations committed by members of the Burmese SPDC Army.

SPDC, like former British colonial power, wants to colonize the ethnic non-Burman territories by denying their right to self determination and freedom since the country’s independence.

The speeches made by Mon leaders on the 253rd anniversary of the Fallen Day of the last sovereign Mon kingdom of Hongsavatoi on May 5 this year show that the Mon people still have fresh memories of their independent homeland being invaded and occupied by the Burman people under the leadership of King Alaungphaya or Aung Zeya in 1757. The Burman king, Alaungphaya or Aung Zeya, was the most cruel and blood-thirsty. He cold-bloodedly exterminated tens of thousands of innocent, non-combatant Mon men, women, children and more than 3,000 Mon Buddhist monks in most cruel methods, including trampling by elephants and burning to death in several stockade-inferno holocausts, tantamount to hell. The Burman king’s genocidal atrocities and brutalities are unforgivable and unforgettable to the Mon people. But SPDC and the Burman people in general still respect Alaungphypa or Aung Zeya like their God. Hundreds of thousands of the then Mon populace fled into Siam (Thailand) for refuge.

The Mon priest, Ven. Akhworh, who was the most famous Mon writer of his time and who experienced the atrocities inflicted upon the Mon people by the Burman king, stated: “His Majesty Aung Zeya was of a very fierce and cruel disposition, and made no account at all of life. He put to death many monks, and their iron almsbowls and silk robes were taken away, and the homespun robes were made into foot mats. Of some they made pillows, of some they made belts, and of some they made sails. The monk robes were scattered all over land and water.” (Translated from Mon by Mr. Halliday)

Most rural Mon people only speak Mon as their mother tongue. They must speak Burmese (Burman) when they are questioned by Burmese SPDC soldiers who always regard them as supporters of Mon soldiers. If they cannot speak or understand Burmese, the rural Mon people are in trouble: The Burmese SPDC soldiers may beat or swear at them. The Burmese (Burman) language is the only official language in Burma. But most rural Mon people do not want to speak Burmese, as their Burmese is limited and with a strong Mon accent. They do not even want to speak to a Burmese correspondent from British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) who comes to interview them. As they fear the Burmese SPDC soldiers, they hate to speak Burmese. They only want to speak to local Mon reporters who interview them in Mon. “As a Mon journalist you can interview them in Mon but not in Burmese. If you communicate them in Burmese, they will refuse to talk to you” said a Mon journalist.

Most rural Mon people, young and old, learn Burmese from Burmese entertainment programs such as videos, movies and songs. The ethnic Burman and non-Burman civilian people can be friends if they do not talk about politics. If talking about politics, they always tend to argue and quarrel with each other.

The ethnic non-Burman peoples have already suffered too much for too long under the chronic ethnocentric Burman rule. Therefore, not only SPDC but all the Burman people must change their political stance towards the ethnic non-Burman peoples. To be loved and trusted by the non-Burman peoples, the Burmans must show their sincerity and spirit of brotherhood towards the non-Burman peoples, who still see them as their colonizers.

Ethnic non-Burman leaders showed their sincerity towards the Burman students who fled from the country after the Burmese military seized state power under the name of State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and violently cracked down on the unarmed pro-democracy demonstartors in 1988. The ethnic leaders warmly welcomed those Burman students and suggested and assisted them to form a Burman revolutionary political body. However, until now Burman pro-democracy leaders have not tried to draft a Burman State Constitution, whereas the ethnic non-Burman groups have drafted their respective State Constitutions. Burman democratic opposition leaders should also regard this political process as important.

For the first time in Burma’s history, ethnic non-Burman leaders and Burman representatives elected in the 1990 general election reached an agreement on establishment of a Future Federal Union of Burma. This historical agreement was signed on Burma-Thailand border at Manerplaw in the early 1990s, henceforth known as the Manerplaw Agreement.

In preparation for the future Federal Union of Burma, a Mon State Constitution has been drafted. Not only NMSP and MNDF leaders but the representatives from more than 20 civil Mon groups participated in the drafting of the Mon State Constitution in a Mon National Conference sponsored by NMSP. For the first time since Burma’s independence from the British in 1948, the ethnic non-Burman groups have prepared their own States Constitutions, as opposed to the military-dominated Constitution of Myanmar (Burma) written by SPDC.

The successive Burmese military governments, including SPDC, used the notorious tactic of “Four Cuts” in their ambitious attempt to annihilate the ethnic non-Burman armed opposition groups in the past – namely cutting money, food, recruits, and information. But as the “Four Cuts” military campaign was not successful, SLORC/SPDC offered a ceasefire deal to the ethnic non-Burman armed groups during the 1990-1995 period. Over 15 ethnic armed groups have entered into separate ceasefire agreements with SLORC/SPDC over the last two decades.

A Mon scholar in the United States conducted a survey on the opinions of Mon people regarding the levels of sovereignty for future Monland. Most of the Mon people surveyed say that they want an independent Monland rather than a Mon State within the future federal union. Most Mon people do not believe any Burman/Burmese political leaders because the Mon history has taught them very much. The Mon has the longest history with the Burman. The so-called First Burman Empire established by the Burman King Anawratha, the so-called Second Burman Empire established by the Burman King Burinaung, and the so-called Third Burman Empire established by the Burman King Alaungphaya or Aung Zeya were all established by sheer force of arms and at the cost of the independent Mon kingdoms. The Mon people experienced and suffered unprecedented genocidal atrocities and bloodbath at the time of King Alaungphaya or Aung Zeya in 1757. The post-independence Burman leaders in power have all denied the right of self-determination to not only the Mon people but all other ethnic non-Burman peoples.

If civilian Karen people living in the jungle or war zone shout “Payaw! Payaw!” meaning “Burmese! Burmese!,” that means that Burmese soldiers are coming to destroy their village and they must be on full alert to run away. Likewise, if rural Mon people shout “Bamear! Bamear!” meaning “Burmese! Burmese!”, that means the Burmese troops are coming and all the men in the village must prepare themselves for running away to escape being conscripted as “porters” by Burmese SPDC troops.

As NMSP rejected SPDC’s offer of the “Border Guard Force” in the recent weeks, those Mon people living in the refugee camps in the NMSP-administered area have now again remembered their past memories of “Bamear! Bamear!” when the Burmese SLORC/SPDC troops burned down the Mon refugee camp of Halockhanee situated on the Burma-Thailand border in 1994 before the NMSP-SPDC ceasefire agreement. They have these kinds of experiences and nightmares for several decades before. There is a saying: “Burmese soldiers beat you three times before and three times after asking you a question.”

One educated Shan woman told me recently that her Shan people have suffered more than other ethnic non-Burman peoples under SPDC rule. I told her that my Mon people do not think so. We, the Mon people, have suffered more and longer than other ethnic peoples under Burman rule because the Mon people also suffered the genocide committed by King Alaungphaya in 1757.

Afterwards the Burmese military seized power and SLORC/SPDC forced into office in 1988, many educated Burman activists arrived at the Burma border areas and worked together with the ethnic non-Burman armed groups for democracy and racial equality in Burma. After some time of working together with the ethnic non-Burman leaders, the educated Burman activists realized their political aspirations and have sympathized with their common struggle for self-determination and freedom. The ethnic non-Burman armed groups have only been fighting for a democratic Federal Union of Burma. They are not separatists who want to secede from the Union and who want to disintegrate the Union as propagandized by the successive Burman-dominanted military dictatorships in Burma.
 
Democracy is aspired by all the Burman and non-Burman opposition forces. But experience has shown that democracy alone is not enough. Only the establishment of a genuine Federal Union, which guarantees the equal rights of all ethnic peoples, including the Burman, will end the age-old civil war and will bring peace, prosperity and tranquility in the country.

Now, there is a strong possibility that the civil war will resume on a full scale after two decades of ceasefire between the warring parties, as SPDC has forced the ethnic non-Burman ceasefire groups to put their respective armies under the command of the Burmese Army, that is totally unacceptable to them. There is no more hope that the age-old crises facing the country will be resolved peacefully through dialogue in the near future.