In a Karen State Day message to the Karen people Burmese President U Htin Kyaw said that he looks forward to a thriving Karen State where factories and mills operate in the near future.
In the message, delivered on the 61st Karen State Day on 7 November, U Htin Kyaw said: “It is quite heartening to look forward to the Karen State being busy with factories and mills instead of hearing the sounds of gunfire. I am delighted to hear the good news that preparations are being made to hold the Karen-State-level political dialogues very soon.”
In the message he also said that Karen State has had slow growth and that the future of successive generations had been lost to armed conflicts, but now that the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) are cooperating in the peace process Karen State residents can enjoy the fruits of peace with new development opportunities.
Daw Nan Say Awar, a former Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) representative from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, said to KIC News: “One cannot claim that a state has become developed just because there is a rise in the number of factories and mills in that state. [The Burmese Government] should work on the issues of democracy, peace, justice, and conflict first. We can only work for development when we have peace.”
In his message U Htin Kyaw also spoke of the importance of political dialogue.
He said: “It is especially important for all indigenous people to be on a level playing field [when they participate] in building up the Republic of the Union of Myanmar into a peaceful, developed, democratic federal union. We firmly believe that through political dialogue, which tries to find peaceful solutions to the political problems of the union via discussions and negotiations, we can lay down the basic principles of the democratic federal union that we aspire to.”
Karen State Day celebrates when the Burmese president signed the Constitutional Amendment Act that officially recognised Karen State on 7 November 1951. It is celebrated every year on 7 November.
The 61st Karen State Day ceremony was held in Hpa-An from 7 to 11 November. There were over 30 booths and 200 shops, including a Karen National Union (KNU) peace booth and booths run by the Karen Traditional Literature and Culture Association, the Karen Women's Empowerment Group, the Japanese Nippon Foundation, and local non-governmental organisations.
There were also traditional Karen zat thabin (all-night outdoor theatre performances) a Karen don dancing competition, a traditional fashion competition, traditional boxing, a physical fitness competition, boat races and cycling races.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
