An anti-referendum graffiti campaign began in the heart of Mon State
during the New Year Water Festival Songkran, and has since spread
throughout Mon State.

According to a graffiti campaigner from southern Burma, they used red and
white paint to cover pro-SPDC billboards positioned along the main roads,
either rewriting their message altogether or simply writing the word ‘No’
over the SPDC’s ‘Yes’.  They also sprayed walls, roads and bus stops with
their powerful message.

“Beginning in the early hours of April 14th, we sprayed our message in
public places as well as places of worship and at selected viewpoints
along the mountain road, where we used white paint across the seats.  The
authorities repainted our white colored seats with red paint by about at
9′ clock,” a campaign leader told Kaowao.

The Burmese junta had been broadcasting their ‘Vote Yes’ campaign daily
across official media outlets including television and newspaper.
Opposition groups on the other hand have been less successful in
transmitting their message, and have faced multiple arrests; this week
alone, purely on suspicion of campaigning against the constitutional
referendum, over two dozen activists including a famous singer were
detained indefinitely.

This graffiti campaign led by youths from Mon state successfully
demonstrated opposition to the referendum, and reached a wide audience by
using the many SPDC ‘Vote Yes’ billboards placed along the main road
connecting Moulmein with many other towns.

“We mainly targeted signs from Moulmein to Kyait Mayaw, and Kyait Khami
where there were many points of heavy traffic during the water festival.
We erased and sprayed the SPDC ‘Yes’ signs in many places. Our first
priority is to tell the people to vote “No”. Our second priority is to
destroy or deface the SPDC ‘Yes’ billboards,” said a campaigner.

Authorities outside Sattoi village, Mudon township noticed their signs at
the entrance to the village had been defaced. With no one to blame, they
forced the village headmen to erase the graffiti and clean the signs.

Having reported seeing graffiti in public places and on bridge signboards
along the road from Moulmein to Kaw Bain village on the final day of
Songkran festivities, a Moulmein University student told Kaowao the ‘Vote
No’ campaign was not confined to graffiti.  During the water festival,
many youths wore new t-shirts with ‘N’ and ‘X’ emblazoned across the front
and back.  These shirts were an original design, and were worn by people
from inside and outside of Burma. Although all students were checked and
some interrogated, no significant action was taken against those wearing
the t-shirts.

He said, “If they (checkpoint authorities) found anyone wearing t-shirts
with the ‘X’ and ‘N’ design, they questioned them, but the design of the
t-shirt is not definitely anti-referendum, or directly in response to
their ‘Yes’ shirts.  It is an original one, that’s why they couldn’t take
any action. For example, they allowed me to pass through, even though I
wore a t-shirt with a big red ‘X’ inside a circle on it!”

Although the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) is still
pushing it’s ‘Yes’ campaign, demanding approval of the constitution in the
upcoming May 10th referendum, so too are the activists who began their
‘No’ campaign during the Songkran Water Festival, who have vowed to
continue their uphill battle.