February 20, 2005

Among the present inhabitants of Burma, the Mon people are the oldest. The Mon people settled in Burma and some parts of the Thailand in as early as 2500 B.C. They established their own sovereign kingdoms and enjoyed freedom and prosperity for so many centuries. Mon civilization was among the most distinctive and influential in precolonial Southeast Asia. Significant aspects of the language, art and architecture, political and legal arrangements, and above all the religion of the great Burman and Thai civilizations were derived from the earlier Mon society, which acted as a vector in the transmission of Theravada Buddhism and Indianized political culture to the region. For more than a thousand years, neighboring societies have been deeply influenced by Mon cultural religions and political concepts. This gives the Mon a special place in the history of Southeast Asia.

Our last sovereign kingdom, known as Hongsawaddy or Pegu, was established on the 1st waning day of the 11th month of the Buddhist era 1116 (572 A.D). This auspicious day of establishing the kingdom of Hongsawaddy was unanimously chosen by our Mon ancestors 58 years ago to be our "national day." We, the Mon people everywhere, gather together and celebrate the our national every with an aim to show our separate ethnic identity different from that of the Burman (Burmese), and to strengthen unity among ourselves in our century-long struggle against the Burman rule and Burmanization of our identity.

Our last sovereign kingdom of Hongsawaddy, which covered the whole of today's Lower Burma, was invaded and annexed by the Burman in 1757. Since the fall of our last sovereign kingdom of Hongsawaddy, we, the Mon have become a people without a country and subsequently been reduced to a minority race in Burma. Naturally, restoration of our lost Mon nation is our highest and ultimate political goal. Today, we the Mon are in the same boat as other Fourth World peoples who are not represented in the United Nations. While we do not forget our lost sovereign nation, we wholeheartly welcome and support establishment of a genuine democratic Federal Union of Burma, were all ethnic nationalities, including the present majority race, the Burman (who preferably call themselves "Burmese" or "Myanmar"), enjoy racial equality and the right of self-determination.

The present Burman-dominated military dictatorship, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has oppressed and abused the people of Burma in various ways. It has flagrantly violated all the basic human rights of the people. The ethnic-non Burman peoples of the country have lost their right of self-determination under chronic ethnocentric Burman rule. To free Burma from the yoke of the military dictatorship and the ethnocentric Burman rule is the common political struggle of all the people and peoples of Burma today.

On this occasion of our Mon National Day, we demand the ruling of Burmese military regime (SPDC) to stop immediately all human rights violations and to solve the prevailing political crises in the country by immediately negotiating with the Burman and non-Burman democratic opposition parties. We also appeal to the United Nations and the international community to put concerted and increased pressure on SPDC so that it will speed up the process of democratic transition in Burma.

Central Committee

Monland Restoration Council (MRC) (USA).