Arakan National Day celebration nixed for third straight year

By DMG 17 May 2021

DMG Newsroom
17 May 2021, Sittwe

Arakan National Day, which falls on May 26, 2021, will not be celebrated in the Arakan State capital once again this year, according to the event organising committee.

Arakan National Day will not be commemorated due to the current political situation, regional instability, the coronavirus pandemic and financial difficulties, said U Soe Naing, secretary of the event organising committee in Sittwe Township.

“Sittwe Township will not host a commemoration this year because of ongoing conflict and the COVID-19 outbreak. Another factor is that the situation in the country is not peaceful and Arakan National Day is a public event,” he explained.

The Arakan National Conference designated Arakan National Day at a conference in Kyaukphyu in 2014, to be marked annually on the 1^st waning of Kason, when the sacred Maha Muni Buddha Image is said to have been cast.

The event is intended to illustrate unity among Arakanese people, and U Tun Aung Sein said it was a loss for the state that Arakan National Day could not be held this year, on what would have been its eighth anniversary.

“The Arakanese people have existed since before Arakan National Day. Now, with the advent of Arakan National Day, the inability to celebrate for various reasons is traumatic for the Arakanese people,” he added. 

U Soe Naing noted that although Arakan National Day was celebrated five consecutive years from 2014-2018, it has not been possible to celebrate the event the past three years due to regional instability.