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Correction of spelling: From Mizzim



Dear Readers,

We are so sorry that there was a mistake in typing in our following
report.
Please read "pollution" instead of "population".

Thanking you,

Mizzima News Group
________________
India's solidarity with Burmese democratic movement

New Delhi, March 31, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)

The participants of a two-day seminar on the democratic movement in
Burma, which ended this
evening in New Delhi, have expressed their support to the on-going talks
between Burmese
opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military junta. They also
decided to step up their
campaign for the restoration of democracy in this neighboring country of
India. A seminar on "Peace,
nonviolence and democracy in Burma: Voices from India" was held at India
International Centre in
New Delhi from 30th to 31st March.

Speaking at the seminar, a Raja Sabha (Upper House) Member of Parliament
and senior journalist
Mr. Kuldip Nayar criticized the current policy of Indian government
toward the military junta there.
"I feel very strongly when I find our foreign minister talking to the
leader of military junta coming to
here. In fact he had polluted our Rashtri Bhawan (President's
Residence)", he said at the first day of
seminar yesterday.

During the two-day deliberations, other Indian participants echoed this
view. Well-known Gandhian
Ms. Nirmala Deshpandey, expressing her solidarity to the people of
Burma, said: " For us, the
struggle in Burma is the struggle of India as well. Because democracy is
like that. If you want the
population-free country, you cannot have one population-free country.
You have to have population ?free
the whole world".

Prof. Ashis Nandy, who is a senior fellow of the Center for the Study of
Developing Societies
(CSDS) in Delhi said that the history has shown that large democratic
countries like democracy but
they do not like democracy in their neighbors. They may support
democracy if it were a distant
country but not in neighbors because democratic regimes are notoriously
difficult to manage.

In his message to the seminar, prime minister of the exiled Burmese
government, National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma expressed that the Burmese democratic
movement has not been
able to achieve the support and sympathy as much they had hoped for from
India.

"I cannot help but notice India stepping up its trade and economic
relations with Burma. This move,
from the perspective of Indian interests, has been hailed as "correct"
by many Indian journalists. In
our view, economics should not be the only justification for pursuing
self-interest, especially if the
result is a prolongation of the suffering of the Burmese people", said
Dr. Sein Win in his message.

Expressing his support to the talks in Rangoon, the well-known peace
activist and Founder of
International Network of Engaged Buddhists Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa from
Thailand cautioned the
Burmese democrats the negative and positive elements of the "democracy"
we know today. Giving
examples of so-called democratic countries both in the West and East, he
asked the Burmese
participants to be clear on what kind of democracy they want in Burma.

The other speakers included Mr. Lian H. Sakhong who is the Secretary of
United Nationalities
League for Democracy (UNLD), Dr. Tint Swe, Member of Parliament from
Burma, Dr. Zaw Win
Aung from the Federation of Trade Unions, Burma and Ko Myat Thu, a
Burmese exile in India.