The ethnic Mon community has been permitted by authorities to publicly celebrate their national day for the first time in 15 years in Myanmar.
The minority group, who number up to eight million of the country's nearly 60 million people, assembled across the country, including in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, on Wednesday to mark the ancient founding of Hanthawady, the last Mon kingdom.
The development appeared to be a part of a wave of political and social reforms in the country, as the government moves to engage with the numerous ethnic minority groups that had faced oppression by Myanmar's former military leadership.
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay reports from Yangon.
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