Kantarawaddy Times
The author of ‘Karenni National History’, Khon Mar Koban, a Karenni political figure, said that funds are needed to publish and distribute the book. It is to be distributed free of charge to Karenni refugees and revolutionary organizations fighting against the military council.
“The manuscript has been written, and the drafts have been edited. Now it is ready to be sent to the printer,” he said. “But there is one difficulty, and that is money.”
Ten thousand copies are to be published, of which three thousand are intended for war refugees. He said that two thousand copies will be distributed free of charge to the armed defense groups in Karenni. The remaining 5,000 will be available for other purposes.
The printing costs 30 Thai baht per copy (over 2,400 Myanmar kyats), so the total cost will be 300,000 baht (around 242,000 Myanmar Kyats) for ten thousand copies.
Khun Mar Koban said that the book was published for the purpose of keeping the spirit of the Karenni people alive. “We aim to be united in order to establish our Karenni nation, so that the national spirit survives. That’s our direction, the purpose for writing the book,” Khon Mar Koban said.
The Karenni national history book runs to more than 100 pages and covers the origin of the Karenni nation; the mixture of ethnic groups; historical boundaries and divisions; the economic makeup; efforts to reunify Karenni land; and national symbols. There are nine chapters including the conclusion.
Khon Mar Koban has written and published 6 previous books about Karenni politics, and is still working on others.
