The Burmese ruling junta is preventing participants from joining the cerebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Kachin Revolution Day (or Rawt Malan Poi in Kachin) in Burma’s northern Kachin State, which falls on February 5, said participants...
The Burmese ruling junta is preventing participants from joining the cerebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Kachin Revolution Day (or Rawt Malan Poi in Kachin) in Burma’s northern Kachin State, which falls on February 5, said participants.
The three-day golden jubilee celebration called “Sinpraw Wundan Manau Poi” was inaugurated with hundreds of participants thronging the site today in Mai Ja Yang, the Eastern Regional Headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed-wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Manmaw, or Bhamo district in Kachin State.
Participants keen on attending the celebrations were stopped at the Burmese military gate in Loije, four miles from the KIO’s Mai Ja Yang as of February 1. This is also the main entrance for participants from Manmaw district.
The Loije Burmese military gate is being manned by the Burmese Army’s Infantry Battalion No. 236 under the Military Operation Command-21 based in Manmaw, said sources in Loije.
Most Manmaw participants have to enter Mai Ja Yang from the China-Burma border because they are not authorized to cross the gate, said participants who were stopped at the gate.
Meanwhile, many Kachin students from Bhamo University cannot join the celebrations because their graduation is slated on the same day as the Kachin Revolution Day. Students are accusing the Burmese regime of scheduling the graduation deliberately on the same day as the Kachin Revolution Day to prevent students’ from participating in the celebrations, according to Kachin university students.
Participants from Kachin’s capital Myitkyina and Northern Shan State avoided being stopped by Burmese soldiers because they entered the celebration site from the Chinese side of the border, said participants.
Earlier, Kachin people were distraught because the junta controlled the Kachin cultural Manau festival marking the 63rd anniversary of Kachin State celebrated in Myitkyina from January 7 to 11.
This is the second time that the Kachin cultural Manau dance festival marking the Kachin Revolution Day is being held in Mai Ja Yang. The first Manau festival known as "Wunli Manau" was held in KIO’s Eastern Regional HQ in 2000.
After the 14-year old ceasefire between the KIO and the Burmese junta was called off in August last year, the junta has restricted people travelling to KIO controlled areas in both Kachin State and Northern Shan State.
