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Friday, November 14, 2008

[mukto-mona] Suspend Burma from BIMSTEC

 

SAN-Feature Service

SOUTH ASIAN NEWS-FEATURE SERVICE

November 14,2008

 

Suspend Burma from BIMSTEC

 

Nava Thakuria

 

SAN-Feature Service : The BIMSTEC leadership was exposed to

inherent anger of the pro-democracy activists in India, when they urged

 to review the membership of Burma (Myanmar) in the prestigious forum.

During the 2nd BIMSTEC summit held in New Delhi, the advocacy groups even demanded the suspension of the Burmese military junta until peace, justice, human

rights and democracy is restored in Burma (Myanmar). Moreover, the

activists for democracy urged the forum to put pressure on the

military rulers of Burma for immediate release of all political

prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

In a memorandum submitted to the members and leaders of BIMSTEC (Bay

of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic

Cooperation) on November 13, the Burma Centre Delhi has expressed

anger that the forum largely ignored the issue of gross human rights

violations by the military regime of Burma known as the State Peace

and Development Council (SPDC). It revealed that the Senior General

Than Shwe led SPDC has been identified as one of the worst human

rights violator in the world.

 

The 2nd BIMSTEC summit, which was hosted by India, was attended by the

Burmese prime minister General Thein Sein, Thailand prime minister

Somchal Wangsawat, Nepal prime minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal, Bhutan

prime minister Jigmi V. Thinley, Sri Lankan president Mahindra

Rajapaksa, Bangladesh care taker government head Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed

and the Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh. 

 

The first BIMSTEC Summit took place in the Thai capital, Bangkok in

July 2004.

 

Addressed to the Chairman of  BIMSTEC, Pranab Mukherjee, who is the

foreign minister of India, the memorandum highlighted the after

affects of the tropical cyclone Nargis that devastated Burma few

months back. It claimed that the Burma's military regime had converted

'a natural disaster to man-made tragedy by refusing the entry of

international aid' for the millions of Burmese cyclone victims.

Nargis struck on southern Burma in last May killing nearly 85, 000

people and wounding over 20, 000. The United Nations estimates that it

affected 2.4 million people. At the same time, over 3,00,000 water

buffaloes and cows died in Irrawaddy delta and Yangon localities. But

the response to the disaster by its own rulers was simply shocking.

First, the rulers couldn't provide immediate relief to the victims and

secondly, they tried to prevent (and restrict) the international aid

for their very own people, who were in desperate need of food,

medicine and shelter.

 

The memorandum, the copy of which was sent to the Embassies of

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Srilanka and Thailand in New Delhi,

reiterated that the BIMSTEC was formed with the aims and purposes of

creating an enabling environment for rapid economic development,

poverty alleviation and counter-terrorism and accelerate social

progress in the region, and the forum emerges as a positive symbol

toward regional stability of peace and development.

 

It asserted that 'while the BIMSTEC official level meeting started on

November 11 in New Delhi, the SPDC had sentenced 14 leading Burmese

democracy activists' there. Those activists participated in the

Saffron movement during September/October 2007 in Burma for which they

have been sent to jails up to 65 years of imprisonment. This is an

undeniable prove that SPDC ignored the basic human rights called by

United Nations and International community, it said.

 

"We strongly believe that under the banner of regional cooperation for

development of economic and social sectors prior to promotion of

peace, human rights and democracy in the region is lack of any moral

or ethical considerations which could even lead from bad to worst for

instance in the case of Burma, where it has become a routine that

innocent people are torture, arrested and killed. People were killed

when they asked their wages for labours or when they try to exercise

freedom of speech and movement etc…," added in the memorandum, which

was forwarded by Dr. Alana Golmei, the coordinator of Burma Centre

Delhi.

 

Speaking to this writer, Dr. Golmei also informed that they had

appealed New Delhi to take initiatives for appropriate actions against

the Burmese junta. Being the largest democracy in the globe, India

should play an important role in restoring democracy in its

neighboring country and also releasing the Nobel laureate, Suu Kyi as

early as possible, Dr. Golmei concluded.--SAN-Feature Service


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