India, Myanmar car rally skirts history, Aung San Suu Kyi –Ed Lane

AFP: 05 December, 2006

New Delhi: The armies of India and Myanmar pushed aside talk of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday as they launched a three-week car rally to Yangon -- in sports utility vehicles from sponsor General Motors.

The event, to honour World War II dead from both sides, was flagged off at India Gate, the British colonial-era war memorial in the centre of New Delhi that was built to honour Indian soldiers who died fighting for Britain.

A spokesman for General Motors said the world's largest car company "does not conduct business in Myanmar" and added that the company "does not provide any money to the Myanmar army, connected to the rally or otherwise".

GM Asia-Pacific spokesman Rob Leggat said the event was only aimed at honouring "the 1,800 Indian army soldiers who died in Burma during World War II".

But the GM sponsorship was obvious on Tuesday as Myanmar's chief of general staff, General Thura Shwe Mann, watched six GM vehicles driven by Indian and Myanmarese soldiers wearing GM-emblazoned caps head eastwards.

Myanmar has been under US economic sanctions over its human rights record and because a succession of military leaders have held power since elections in 1990 won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy were nullified.

Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She has repeatedly been placed under house arrest and occasionally freed under international pressure. In 2003, she was arrested again and remains locked in her home.

Leggat said in an email that GM adhered to the sanctions.

And Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who was attending the launch of the rally, asked reporters not to "make this a controversial day" when a question came up about the fate of one of the world's most prominent dissidents.

Much of Indian and Burmese history during World War II was also ignored as the rally literature did not include any mention of rebel fighters from both sides.

Aung San Suu Kyi's father and major Burmese independence leader Aung San was originally a supporter of the Japanese against the British, but switched sides and joined the allies as Tokyo's fortunes waned.

He was assassinated after the war by suspected military rivals and the current military rulers have abolished or renamed memorials to him.

In addition, the two sides made no mention of the Indian National Army soldiers who were armed and trained by the Japanese to fight British allied forces under the command of Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose was also allied with Aung San.

The Bose-led army, whose soldiers faced prosecution by the British after the war as deserters, was later honoured after the country gained independence in 1947.

A spokesman for the Indian military at the event said he could not comment on why GM was selected as a sponsor and said the lack of a mention of Bose, a hero to many in his home state of what is now West Bengal, was not a decision by the military.

"You'll have to ask GM (General Motors)," he said about the sponsorship, adding that in regard to Bose "the military is apolitical".

Indian army chief Singh, meanwhile, praised the "cooperation between the armies of the two countries". He thanked GM, as well as Indian firms JK tyres and sports utility vehicle firm Mahindra and Mahindra, for providing equipment.

India has sought help from Myanmar to battle separatist insurgencies in its northeast as rebels use bases in the neighbouring country to launch attacks on security forces. More than 50,000 people have died in various insurgencies in the seven states of the region since independence.

The 1,633 kilometre (1,015 mile) porous border region is also a key smuggling route for gemstones and narcotics from the Golden Triangle region of Laos, China and Myanmar.