The Hindu : International : Sein Win denied visa to attend pro-democracy conference

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 15, 2004

International

International

Sein Win denied visa to attend pro-democracy conference

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, OCT. 14. The Government has denied a visa to Sein Win, "Prime Minister" of the National Coalition "Government" of the Union of Burma (Myanmar), to attend a three-day international convention for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, which begins here on Friday.

Addressing a press conference today, the former Defence Minister, George Fernandes, one of the organisers of the conference, said there was not much change in the situation in Burma between the time he had organised a conference in 1996 and now.

Mr. Fernandes faced a barrage of questions about his silence on restoring democracy in Myanmar when he was in Government. Mr. Fernandes said that as Defence Minister he had a job to do, but as a citizen he was entitled to his views.

Denying that the timing of the conference was in any way linked to the October 25 visit of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Chairman, Senior General Than Shwe, Mr. Fernandes said this meeting had been planned months in advance.

Message

Dr. Sein Wein, in a message to the convention, was polite, but direct in his concerns about India's role and relationship with Myanmar. "Even though I cannot be there to meet you all personally for various reasons, I am confident that my message will be taken seriously both for the sake of my country, Burma, and also for India."

"India, the world's largest democracy, has regrettably been a disappointment these past several years. Today, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1993 winner of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, remains under house arrest after she and members of her party — the National League for Democracy — were brutally attacked by military-sponsored thugs in 2003. India's response on that occasion was a complete letdown for the Burmese people," his message said.

Dr. Sein Win, who was denied a visa to visit New Delhi, maintained that India's multi-faceted policy should not be restricted to business dealings and short-term military cooperation with the Burmese generals and it should include engagement with the Burmese people and their chosen representatives of the democracy movement on moral grounds.

"We do not ask India to be a country unilaterally championing the cause of democracy in Burma but are only appealing to you to join the other democracies in bringing about a U.N.-facilitated peaceful change in our country," he stressed.

"We are hopeful that India will become the type of neighbour that we would like it to be. We want India to look at the long-term future of Indo-Burma relations and live up to its reputation as the world's largest democracy and promote democracy in Burma as well.

"We want it to be objective and persuasive when it needs to be dealing with Burma. We want it to be part of an international drive, a multilateral effort to bring about national reconciliation and democracy in Burma. We are eagerly looking forward to India taking such moves in the near future," the message added.

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