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To: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 14:09:38 +0000
Subject: news
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Organization: Forum for Democracy and Human Rights
SUPPORT FOR SUU KYI
THE HINDU ( Editorial ) Dec.5, 1995
The time may have arrived for India to come out in open
support of the movement for democracy headed by Ms.
Aung San Suu Kyi in neighbouring Myanmar, placing its
own cherished national values of freedom and
human rights above whatever little gains may be had
by continued contact with the regime in Yangon. By
rejecting the legitimate demands of the Suu Kyi-led
National Democratic League and expelling it from the
convention called to draft a constitution of convenience,
the regime has shut the door to national reconciliation
and forfeited the trust reposed in it by the
international community. There was relief and
even optimism when the junta released Ms. Suu Kyi,
the Nobel Prize and Nehru Award winner, from six years
of house arrest in early July. The optimism was of
course tempered by the realization that the released
come on the eve of a summit of the Association
of South East Asian Nations whose riches the military
regime is eager to partake of. Through its latest act,
the junta stands exposed for what it is: a ruthless
machine that brooks no opposition and which has now
given up even the pretenses of moving the country
towards civilian rule. The so-called national
convention, dominated by representatives hand-picked
by the military, has just one task: to prepare a
constitution that will prepetuate the junta's hold on
power.
It must now be quite clear to all those apologists
of the regime that it released Ms. Suu Kyi not because it
was committed to political change and reconciliation but to
entice foreign capital, particularly from countries in the
neighbourhood which have perfected their own version of
democracy and, flush with finance, have been looking around
for safe investment destinations. Their policy of
"constructive engagement" was based on the doubtful
premise that quite pressure combined with interaction would
loosen the junta's hold. Japan and some members of ASEAN
launched on a process of calibrated political and economic
incentives soon after Ms. Suu Kyi's release. But the soft
approach, meant also to induce Myanmar to come out of the
embrace of China, is a shambles and the policy of carrot
without stick has emboldened the regime to issue threats to
its opponents. A hermetically sealed country which has just
has a taste of freedom now faces the threat of being pushed
back into darkness.
THE choice before the international community is
clear: it must ensure that the regime is not allowed to
get away with impunity. The junta must be told that the
world will accept nothing short of complete political
freedom for Ms. Suu Kyi and her democracy campaigners -
under the rules framed by the junta's underlings, she is
to be barred from participating in the nation's political
life on the ground of her marriage to a foreigner. Examples
abound of international inaction and ineptitude in the face
of the type of challenge posed by the military men in
Myanmar and Nigeria. But there have also been successful
demonstrations of the world community's determination to
reinstate democracy, such as the effort in Haiti. Ms.
Suu Kyi has displayed exemplary courage and has just
declared that she and her supporters are prepared to face
the consequences of their action. Myanmar is certainly a
test case. Giving the Neru Award for International
Understanding to are representative of Ms. Suu Kyi in
New Delhi a fortnight ago, the President, Dr. S. D. Sharma,
declared that "supporting democracy elsewhere is part of
affirming one's own democratic credentials." India can
redeem this pledge to the Myanmar leader, whom the
Vice- President described as a "symbol of challenge to
injustice", by launching an international campaign for
the return of democracy to her country.
***** END TEXT *******