Burma news in Indian paper

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"West Behind Suu Kyi's Mission"
By Apratim Mukarji
The Hindustan Times
27 October 1998

New Delhi, Oct. 26: Myanmar's military junta has accused the Aung San Suu
Kyi-led Opposition of being funded by western countries.

Once again the name of George Soros, accused earlier of bringing about the
downfall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia, is being uttered. The junta
has also threatened indirectly that the Opposition-led movement may be
suppressed ruthlessly.

"It is imperative now to protect the people now and eliminated the
dangerous and destructive elements in our society," it has declared.

Speaking on behalf of the Opposition, Dr. Tint Swe told the Hindustan Times
today, "No foreign country influence the National League for Democracy
(NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The NLD is trying to restore democracy in
Burma."

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has elleged that since 1992
various Burmese Opposition groups has received around $ 4.7 million from
two western organizations, the Nation Endowment for Democracy based in the
US and the Interanational Centre for Democratic Development of Canada. 

Addressing a press conference earlier this month in Yangon (Rangoon), the
junta said that while this figure only showed the donations from two
organizations, "there are bound to be other large donations which are not
aware of." 

While it elleged that the Opposition is trying to lead the country to chaos
by deliberately seeking the confrontation, the NLD says that it has taken
to a peaceful "Gandhian" protest movement. After all its effort to persuade
the junta to honour the peoples' verdict in the 1990 parliamentry elections
failed.

Dr. Tint Swe said, "the NLD had written repeatedly to the junta to honour
the verdict and allow elected parliament to be convened. But all its
efforts have been ignored." 

The Junta reaction clearly betrays its growing enxiety at the steady
progress being made combined Opposition in seeking the convening of elected
parliament.

With more than half of the 485 members of parliamment backing the committe
set up to represent "Peoples' Parliament" and its first demand that all the
laws and regulations promulgated by the junta are illegal since these are
enacted by elected parliament and should, therefore, be scrapped, the
military dictatorship is apparently on defensive.

While the elected parliament was never allowed to meet, 26 of the 485
members have since died of natual causes.

Indian observers of the Myanmarese (the name given by the junta is not
recoganized by the Opposition which continues to call the country Burma as
do the majority of other countries, though not India) scene believe that
growing intensity of the junta's attack on the Opposition displays more
than anything else its nervousness.

Burma Info.
New Delhi.