The Burmese regime has modified statutes in front of the Mon Cultural Museum in Moulmein to hide their traditional Mon dress. Originally, the statues were painted to look as if they were wearing red and white Mon national dress; they are now painted completely white.

The move comes after the regime changed the name from the “ Mon Cultural Museum ,” to the “Literature and Cultural Museum of the Burmese Cultural Ministry.” The museum exhibits Mon artifacts including traditional Mon dress, palm-leaf scripts, musical instruments and furniture.

Mon manuscripts written on palm-leaves are stored on the first floor, which has now been closed to the public. The texts are vital to people researching Mon history and literature, and Mon historians worry they will be destroyed by the regime, said a monk in Moulmein .

The monk, who visited the museum to view one of the most famous texts, “A Brief Account of Mon Kings,” written by a well-known monk in 1745, could not find it in its usual place. “At first I couldn’t find it and thought it was stolen,” he said. “Then I asked a museum official and he said it had been moved to the first floor.”

Historians and local residents do not feel that the recent changes at the museum are coincidental or benign actions by the regime. Many feel that the actions are part of an ongoing attempt by the regime to erase Mon history and culture, a goal the regime has been striving towards for decades.

According to Mon political analysts, the regime fears a strong and unified Mon culture will encourage the group to seek independence, as the group did in 1948. Mon language studies have been banned in regime schools, Mon libraries forcibly closed and communities targeted for repression.