Ms.AUNG SAN SUU KYI : DRAVIDA PERAVAI EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY : 2010

DEMOCRACIES FAIL TO 

RESCUE 

DEMOCRACY IN MYNMAR

Nobel Peace Laureate cannot thrive on laurels alone. Nobel Prize is just a veil to hide the failure of world’s democracies to come to the rescue of democracy in Myanmar. Aung san Suu kyi and 1400 men who stood by democracy are under detention in Myanmar for 5307 days as on 8 th May of 2010. Aung San Suu Kyi is serving her third term in house arrest, and let us not forget that she is the democratically elected people’s leader of Myanmar. The cunning ways conceived by military rulers had brought the political party headed by her, National League for Democracy to close down. It is saddest day for democracy. It is a international shame, the cross of which had to be borne by all leading democracies including our India. Indians remain helpless spectators while 50,000 Tamils are killed in a state sponsored genocide in neighbouring Sriklanka. We say the Tamils stood for terrorism. But in Myanmar, the NLD stood by democracy and we don’t even raise our voice against suppression of democracy. The so called war against terrorism will also expose that world nation’s failed to nurture democracy to end dictatorships. Let me quote the criticism of the Burma’s Government in Exile .

Dr Tint Swe, a member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma -- formed by elected representatives from Burma after the elections of 1990 -- describes the situation of his country on the eve of the verdict in the trial against Aung San Suu Kyi, with an eye on the elections in 2010.

The military is prepared for the next phases, which is to legalize their grip on power by holding a new election in 2010. Ethnic groups are subjected to tremendous pressure to be transformed into border guards. This process is being done by hook or by crook.We then need to add a few more important facts about my country. Burma has become a nuclear power while the population's living conditions are extremely poor. The country is selling natural gas to Thailand and China while people have to cut wood from trees to cook. According to 2005 UNDP survey one third of the population live below the poverty line. Inflation is adding to the economic burden, with the price of rice, for example, up by 30 percent over the past year alone. But the regime is rich enough to construct a series of secret underground tunnels reportedly built with North Korean help.

There are clear differences between the positions of the Indian government and the movement for democracy in Burma. One of them is the controversial roadmap of the regime. The roadmap was unilaterally withdrawn and abandoned by the military in 2003 just after Suu Kyi was ambushed and put under house arrest for the third time. The National Assembly was reduced to a façade. The constitution was entirely flawed. Neither a civilian nor a woman can become the president. The referendum was a huge scam and as will be the elections of 2010.

I want all countries to stop selling arms to Burmese regime because arms are meant for killing pro-democracy activists and ethnic peoples. I want India to refrain from defending the regime at the international forums; at the United Nations, at the International Labor Organization, and at the UN Commission on Human Rights.

In 2007 while thousands of monks were protesting, India was only country which sent a cabinet minister to sign a memorandum with the regime. And earlier, India fully supported that roadmap as expressed by Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on March 9, 2006 during his visit to Burma. Moreover, India sent a cabinet minister to the funeral of Burmese Prime Minister who was known for his bloody hand in crackdowns on pro-democracy activists

The constructive engagement approach championed by the Southeast Asian bloc (ASEAN) proved ineffective. At the same time western sanctions were eased for humanitarian reason. But those same people did not criticize the military regime which deliberately blocked international aid during devastating cyclone Nargis when 140,000 died. The blame game does not help poor people of Burma. Now the new American administration is reviewing its Burma policy. My question why not India!

Dravida Peravai condemns the attitude of USA and Western nations that support kingdoms and dictatorships in Middle East just to get oil. All principles are sent to catacombs, while commercial and vested interests, prevail. India totally forgets it has a neighbour called Myanmar, and where its geopolitical interests are on every day basis butchered to help China gain access to Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.

Dravida Peravai warns the world against the conscience of nations kept under pause while military rule eliminates last traces of democracy in their soil. If world really wants terrorists to undergo heart change, then world’s agenda should be to democratize the world, removing military dictatorships to the archives of the past.

Dravida Peravai salutes Ms.AUNG SAN SUU KYI and stands by NationaL League for Democracy. Dravida Peravai expresses solidarity with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. We urge India which had shown the door to a National Security Adviser who had neither the mental equilibrium nor the moral foundations to understand the plight of Eelam Tamils, to come forward to evolve policies for Saving Democracy in Myanmar and support the peaceful struggle for democracy led by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.

N.Nandhivarman

General Secretary Dravida Peravai

8.5.2010