Burmese to celebrate Suu Kyi’s birthday

--------------------
Nava Thakuria
--------------------
The Burmese communities living in different parts of the world are celebrating the birthday of pro-democracy icon, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi tomorrow spreading the message that the great lady continues to be a symbol of freedom and democracy for people in Burma.

It will be a part of the coordinated demonstrations against the military controlled election in Burma. Earlier the exile Burmese activists observed the Global Day of Action on May 27 in different parts of the world. They termed the proposed general election (probably on October 10 next) by the military regime of Burma as military’s election and continued their call for a genuine people’s election there.

The Ten Alliances of Burma’s movement for democracy and ethnic rights has prepared to observe the 65th birthday on June 17 with various programmes including the screening of films about the people of Burma’s opposition to the junta promoted election in the Bangkok based Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.

The last election in Burma on May 27, 1990 resulted in an overwhelming victory for the pro-democracy opposition parties, but the military junta did not hand over power to the elected representatives. The Burmese exile groups demonstrated their resentment against the imposed military election in Burma organizing rallies primarily in front of Burmese Embassy, United Nations building and other public places on the day to draw the attention of the international community.

The Global Day of Action under the Global Campaign Against Burma’s 2010 military election was initiated by Ten Alliances of Burma’s democracy and ethnic rights movement representing broad-based and multi-ethnic cooperation of political and civil society organizations from inside and outside Burma. The initiative, which has been endorsed by over 150 organizations in the world, is aimed to raise voices against the plight of Burmese people including the monks.

The ten alliances including National Council of the Union of Burma, Democratic Alliance of Burma, National Democratic Front, National League for Democracy-Liberated Area, Members of Parliamentary Union, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, Forum for Democracy in Burma, Women’s League of Burma, Students and Youth Congress of Burma and Nationalities Youth Forum inspired demonstrations against the Burmese junta in various cities of the world.

The protest rallies held during the last week of May in Tokyo (Japan), Taipei (Taiwan), Seoul (South Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Melbourne (Australia), Paris (France), Geneva (Switzerland), Stockholm (Sweden), San Francisco (USA) etc specifically targeted the ruling junta named State Peace and Development Council for its anti-people policy and practices.

Meanwhile, thousands of the Burmese community living in exile had signed postcards and that way voted in favour of Suu Kyi and a democratic federal union of Burma. The signed postcards even call on the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to denounce the forthcoming 2010 elections in Burma and reject the results unless the Burmese regime changes its repressive actions.

The Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and her party NLD with many other opposition parties have already expressed their strong resentment against the election and also the 2008 Constitution. These parties would not join the polls as a mark of protest against the flawed electoral laws.

Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, Tint Swe of NLD (now de-registered) also added, “The people of Burma put their choices bravely twenty years ago, but their mandates were bulldozed by the junta. We reaffirm our conviction that the people of Burma deserve the freedom to choose their future for themselves.”

Condemning the military dictatorship of Burma as well as flawed its election laws, the senior Burmese political leader demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners. He also asked for a genuine political dialogue with opposition and ethnic groups of Burma before the election.

“We, the exile Burmese in India or anywhere in the globe are actually calling on international governments to denounce the proposed Burmese election and reject the results under this situation. The Chinese and Indian governments with the member-countries under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are being urged primarily, as those nations have maximum influences on the junta,” said Pu Kim, a Burmese political activist based in New Delhi.

Even the ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan admitted in an interview that the Burma election might not be perfect. But the soft spoken gentleman and former Thai foreign minister argued that it would be the beginning of an initiative emphasizing on a genuine national reconciliation and finally would lead for a real democracy in Burma.