On February 11st, 2013, North KTTC (Karen Teacher Training College) participated in Karen Nation Day Celebrations, which took place in Ei Htu Hta Camp for IDPs (Internally Displaced People).

Saw Th’Dah Mei who is currently a student at KTTC and is the representative from Maguey Tavoy District, shared his own feelings when he said, “As I have begun to explore my Karen Identity I have seen celebrations, but none as well organized as this one. Everyone participated enthusiastically and they marched with voices as strong as any time in the last 65 years. These Karen Nation Day ceremonies should happen in all the towns where Karen people live so they can know that they are all belong together. These ceremonies should not only happen in the KNU (Karen Nation Union) controlled areas,” he added.

The ceremony began with all the participants marching around the camp and shouting loudly the four mottos written for Karen Nation Day 65 years ago ‘Give us Karen State at once’, ‘Give the Burman one Kyat and the Karen one Kyat’, ‘We do not want communal strife’ and ‘We do not want civil war’. They also shouted that all the Burmese troops and the camp which are based in KNU Control areas should be withdrawn.

Saw Th’Dah Mei Said, “The last call that all the Burmese troops and their camps which are based in KNU control areas should be withdrawn from the area should be negotiated the next time the KNU and Burmese government meet. The peace and development process in our area is not really meaningful while the government troops remain in KNU control areas. Fifty members from KTTC North including teachers and students, and 2350 members from the communities’ leaders and the villagers participated in the Karen Nation Day ceremony. According to the KNU record, Karen Nation Day started on February 11st, 1948 when all the Karen from both the North and the South participated in demonstrations in Rangoon.