Five members of the Mon National Day (MND) Committee were detained by Burmese authorities in Koo Mine village, southern part of Ye Township in Mon State, after an ethnic Karen was killed after destroying the Mon National Flag raised to celebrate Mon National Day.

Speaking to The Independent Mon News Agency on Thursday by phone, a MND committee member from Ye Township said, “Five members have been detained while the authorities are investigating the crime.”

Saw Ai Wa, an ethnic Karen migrant worker working in Koo Mine village is originally from Paung Township in Mon State. He is 45 years old and was beaten by Mon youths who had the role of providing security for the Mon National Day celebrations in Koo Mine village. He was beaten after he tore apart 6 Mon National flags while drunk.

“He died on February 18th while the Burmese authorities attempted to send him to a public hospital in Ye. The five committee members were arrested on February 20th, a day after Mon National Day ceremonies concluded,” said a source from the MND committee.

Soe Lin, a senior member of the Mon National Day Committee in Moulmein, said, “We do not know yet what to do. We need to talk to the authorities who are prosecuting the crime on how to solve it.”

IMNA has not been able to verify the names of the five youths who beat Saw Ai Wa.

Mon people celebrated the 64th Mon National Day on February 19th in Moulmein, Mudon, Thanphyuzayart and Ye Townships. The main celebrations took place in Thanphyuzayart in which Mon people from many different townships came to celebrate altogether.

There are over 2 million Mon people living in the southern part of Burma. Mon National Day commemorates the fist Mon Kingdom, Hongsawatoi, which was established in 1116 of the Buddhist Era, or 573 CE.