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Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

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Fernandes for collective pressure for Suu Kyi's release

By Our Staff Reporter

Samata Party leaders George Fernandes and Jaya Jaitly confer during the second International Convention for the Restoration of Democracy in Myanmar in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI

NEW DELHI, OCT. 15. As India gets ready to roll out the red carpet for Myanmar's Head of the State, Than Shwe, the former Defence Minister, George Fernandes, today called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and restoration of democracy in Myanmar.

Speaking at the Second International Convention for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, being held after a gap of eight years, Mr. Fernandes predicted dire consequences for the South-East Asian region unless India and her neighbours "come together to restore democracy in Myanmar."

Adverse report

He highlighted the inadequacies of the present regime, pointing out that the Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Index indicated that Myanmar had dropped from 127 to 132 in two years.

"Obviously the Prime Minister, Khin Nyunt, is not aware of the state of the economy and provides figures that are not open to scrutiny," he said, quoting facts from the International Crisis Group's latest report on Aid to Border Areas in Myanmar.

Speaking on the need for the international community to come together as one on the issue, the co-chairperson of Political Defiance for Burma, Kim Sangwoo, from Korea said: "Unless we work together, we will not be so effective.

The Black Friday event and the ongoing hardline attitude of the military junta has, to an extent, enabled the international community to come together." According to Mr. Sangwoo, the pressure would also come from within the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "Myanmar would be the chair of ASEAN in 2006 and that will put pressure on other member countries. It would be a disgrace to have such a country represent them as a chair," he said.

Sein Win upset

The Convention also saw a message by one of the leaders of the democracy movement and a close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi, Sein Win, who expressed disappointment at India's role in the past few years.

"The region, regrettably, has become a comfort zone for the Burmese generals. It has become a protective zone for the Burmese General to take refuge whenever the international community steps up pressure because of the atrocities committed by the Burmese military against its own people. We, naturally, look to these neighbouring countries to change their Burma policies. India, the world's largest democracy, has regrettably been a disappointment these past several years," the message read.

The sentiment was the same among some members at the Convention.

"Instead of moving forward, India seems to be heading the conservative way as far as the situation in Myanmar is concerned. This Government actually told us to postpone the seminar else it would put off Gen. Than Shwe's visit.

``This is when we wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs about a month ago. They could have told us then. But by doing this, what is the message that India is sending about its commitment to democracy," said the president of ICRDB, Jaya Jaitly.

An activist of Women's League of Burma, Thin Thin Aung, said: "The Indian Government does not want Gen. Than Shwe to get annoyed. But this convention was planned much before the visit and the MEA knew about it. About five of our leaders, including Burma's exiled Prime Minister, Sein Win, have not been able to come because of difficulties in getting the visa."

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