KNDO Commanding Officer, Brigadier General Saw Nerdah Mya’s Address on 71st Anniversary of KNDO Day

Karen National Defense Organization General Headquarters Kawthoolei | July 16, 2018

Dear all Leaders, Comrades and Citizens, – Today is the 71st anniversary of the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO). Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to God for kindly permitting us to live and for blessing our Karen nation. I would like also to express my gratitude to every one of our elders, leaders and comrade colleagues, who have been devoting their lives and working for the country and the nation.

The KNDO Day is a day very important for our Karen people. The KNDO was founded on the 16th of July 1947. The vision and objectives of the KNDO are to defend and protect our Karen nation from oppression and all kinds of difficulties that may befall it. In accordance with our anticipations and objectives, let us stand up resolutely for the freedom of our nation.

As we are revolutionaries working for our nation, we have precise aims, objectives and visions to be fulfilled. The aspirations of our nation and its demands are:

(1) Give Karen State Right Away!

(2) Prove Equality between Karen and Burman Immediately!

(3) We Don’t Want Civil War!

(4) We Don’t Want Ethnical Strife!

Though our revolutionary resistance is taking long, as our revolutionary struggle is still in existence, others can still call us a people. As we still have not disappeared, every one of us in our own corner must cooperate and support one another and work with unity so that our organization and resistance will remain solid and firm. If we do not relent, our revolutionary resistance will never become weak. I really believe that as other peoples have their own free states, the Karen people will surely have their own free State one day, and there is no reason for us to doubt that. For our nation to achieve victory, the missions we have to perform are:

(1) Joining hands and working together with organizations with aims, objectives and visions as we do;

(2) Mobilizing the assets that we have, as necessary; For example, organize our people living at home, abroad and in the border areas for them to become a driving force for our revolutionary resistance;

(3) Preparing our youths for the future;

(4) Starting to live life in simulation of the life of the peoples, who have their own free states; Develop self-respect before expecting others to show respect to you. As we are a nation, we cannot let ourselves to be slaves. If we have the mindset of slaves, we can never achieve victory.

Dear all Leaders, Comrades and Citizens,

In closing, I would like to say — let us mobilize our strengths together with unity once more, until we achieve freedom for our nation.

To Victory!

Officer Commanding The General Headquarters of KNDO (Brigadier General Saw Nerdah Mya)