Shan National Day was established on February 7th, 1947.

The meaning of Shan National Day:

· The day our national leaders became united.

· The day we unified to establish a democratic country.

· The day we became united ethnicities to become the Shan State .

· The day the Shan State Council was established.

· The day our national flag was designed.

· The day we aim for freedom and equality.

A timeline of the history of Shan State and Shan National Day:

· The Shan nation was an indigenous people living in harmony in Shan State .

· Shan State was established by the Shan prince and existed for many centuries.

· January 1887 - the British invaded into Shan State .

· 1890 - the British Government designated the Shan State to become a colony.

· September 1939 - World War II had broken out.

· October 1942 - the Japanese army invaded into Shan State .

· August 1945 - Japanese troops had retreated from Shan State . The British troops then reoccupied Shan State .

· October 1945 – many Shan princes met each other at the funeral of one of the prince’s wives, Nang Fha Muang Pon, they discussed how to build up a nation. They made an agreement in the Muang Kung town ship.

The Agreement of Muang Kung Conference:

1. To establish the council of Shan princes
2. To set up a meeting in March 1946 in Panglong
3. To invite the leaders of other ethnicities, the Kachin and Chin

· March 1946 - Shan, Kachin and Chin made an agreement from the Panglong meeting.

The Panglong Agreement:

1.To all meet again in Panglong in 1947.

2.To start up the Supreme Council of the United Hill.

3.The Supreme Council to consist of six members of each representative.

· 3rd February 1947 – the Shan prince agreed to set up the ‘Shan State Council’ at the Panglong meeting.

· 4th February 1947 – the Shan prince sent a message to the British government saying the ‘Shan State Council’ had been formed.

· 15th February 1947 – ‘Shan State Council’ declared all members are equal.

· 5th-6th February 1947 – the Shan prince and Kachin leaders stage a meeting. The Chin delegation arrived on the night of the 6th February and welcomed into the meeting. There were seven princes and seven people’s representatives in the ‘Shan State Council’ at the meeting.

The Shan State Council Meeting:

1. The national flag was designed with three colours – yellow, green and red, with a white moon in the middle. This symbolises Buddhism, the land, the people and the spirit of the Shan people respectively.
2. ‘Khure dai khure racha’ was designated as the national anthem.

· 7th February 1947 – the Shan leader and Shan prince agreed to participate for developing the country.

The 7th of February is a day of significance to the Shan people. It is a day we salute our national flag and give thanks and remembrance to all our leaders past and present.  It is a day that goes down in history as ‘Shan National Day’.

The history of the Shan State in the past 60 years:

· Many Shan leaders have suffered, they have been tortured and captured as political prisoners and killed by the Burmese dictatorship.

· The Shan people have been forced to relocate from their homeland and forced as slaves. Their villages have been burnt, their women raped and tortured, they have suffered many human rights abuses by the Burmese army. The Shan people have no time to work for themselves and their family there freedom has been taken from them.

· The Shan people have lost their businesses, hence their economy. The Shan State ’s environment, thus our livelihood, has been destroyed by the Burmese dictatorship.

· The Shan leaders have always tried to use peace as a strategy to solve our problem. When the Shan leaders try to talk with the Burmese dictatorship, through peace talks and treaties the Burmese army return with guns. Instead of talking they try to oppress us. The Shan people and ethnic minorities were given no choice. Since May 21st 1958, many of these minorities in Burma decided they had to protect themselves by retaliating against the Burmese army with guns, creating the Resistance.

· The Federal Union of Burma was destroyed by General Newin’s military junta in 1962. This Federal Union was broken, never to return again. The military junta has continued its power of oppression. The Shan people and ethnic minorities land in Burma has been taken away from them, they continue to be repressed and tortured by the junta to the present day.

· If this political problem in Burma is to continue our culture and people will be destroyed. We need the help of our international neighbours to come to our land, see the problems we face and protect our people. The UN and other international organisations must be educated to understand our plight. Sanctions are not enough; more must be done to save our land and the people in Burma .

Thank you

Colonel Yawdserk

Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS

A message from the Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State:

Today, the 7th of February 2007, is the 60 year anniversary of Shan National Day.

I want the people, military and monks in Shan State to come together in unity and love each other. If our unity is not strong our nation will be destroyed by our enemy.

If our nation is destroyed we will become slaves to the Burmese government.

Our aim for freedom will not be achieved.

If the Shan people flee from our country, if they do not return home, if they are not unified, then we have no support for the Shan State and we will lose our hopes, our goals, our culture and our humanity.

Some of the Shan people who are working in Thailand call on other Shan people to come and work, only to be employed illegally. They lie and take our money; they are not to be trusted. On this they must be stopped.

If they do not stop what they are doing we must punish them under the RCSS policy.

The Shan people have been forced to relocate and forced to work as slaves by the Burmese army. In the past we have suffered more and more. We have suffered atrocious human rights abuse and violations.

If we do not have power we cannot defend our country and we will lose our freedom.

If we lose our freedom we will have lost everything.

We have to be careful to know our self.

I would we like to invite all Shan people to come to join our politics and military to create unity, it is then that we can drive the enemy away from our land.

The people in Shan State do not want to be slaves, but they will suffer and remain as slaves unless they look to themselves to find strength within, strength to fight for our homeland and regain our power.

First, I want the Shan State people to have a right of self determination.

Second, Shan people and other ethnic nationals should have progress and peace.

Once this has happened we will have achieved our goal.

I want to send my message to the Shan people on Shan National Day, 60 year Anniversary, in the year 2007.

We have KNPP, Kachin, Lahu , Pa O, and other ethnicities here today to celebrate.

May we all be united to gain our freedom and peace.

Thank you.

Colonel Yawdserk

Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).