The 70th Kayin (Karen) National Day ceremonies will be held in the Ayeyarwaddy and Yangon regions and the Mon State on February 11, according to the officials from respective organizing committees.
According to the initial report received by KIC News, the regional-level ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Kayin National Day will be held at Ko Thar Phyu Hall in Pathein-Myaungmya Seminary in Pathein and the township-level ceremonies will be held in Myaungmya, Kyaunggon, Kangyidaunt, and Panthanaw townships in the Ayeyarwaddy Region.
“The Ayeyarwaddy Regional-Level Kayin National Day [ceremony] will be held in Pathein. We have instructed each township [to send] two representatives to attend it. We have also invited the new Ayeyarwaddy Region Chief Minister and the former chief minister. We’re not sure whether the Kayin Affairs Minister will attend it since she has to attend the Union Day [ceremony] in Naypyidaw. We will hold the Kayin National Day ceremony for Panthanaw Township in Latpangon Village. Nyaungdon Township will also participate [in the ceremony],” said Mahn Win Maung, secretary of Pantanaw Karen Literature and Culture Committee.
The 70th Kayin National Day ceremony for Myaungmya Township will be held at Madauk Chaung Village at 9 am on February 11. Public talks, cultural exhibitions and bookshop booths will be opened since February 9, the organizing committee member Mahn Tun Lin told KIC News on February 7.
The organizers told KIC News that Yangon-based Kayin youths will lead the 70th Kayin National Day ceremony at Hpa-si Hall in St. Peter & St. Paul’s Church in Insein Township, Yangon on Sunday (February 11) morning.
Saw Kyaw Moe from the Ethnic Peoples’ Affairs Committee of the Mon State Hluttaw said the Kayin National Day ceremony for the Mon State’s Thaton Township will be held at Thuwunna Hall in Thaton at 9 am on February 11.
“We will mark the 70th anniversary of the Kayin National Day with the aims to uplift the national spirit of our Kayin people, safeguard the national prestige and integrity, and work for the perpetuity of national solidarity. We want to invite our national brethren and Kayin nationals to attend our ceremony,” he explained.
The 70th annivesary of the Kayin National Day will be also celebrated at respective places, in Kayin State.
A total of 454,100 Kayin people from across the country protested to demand equal rights and self-determination on February 11, 1948 after Myanmar regained her independence.
During the Kawthoolei National Congress held in Hpa-pun on November 23-24, 1953, the Delta No 1 District’s chair Mahn Kyaw Aye submitted a proposal to designate February 11 as the Kayin National Day since the entire Kayin people showed their patriotism, unity, and national spirit on that day. The proposal was approved without any objections so February 11 has been officially designated as the Kayin National Day.
The previous 69th Kayin National Day ceremonies were held in the Ayeyarwaddy and Yangon regions and the Mon State last year. The Karen National Union (KNU) also held the ceremonies in respective areas under its control.
