Indian legislators to mark Suu Kyi’s birthday

Aung Lwin Oo
Irrawaddy: 18 June, 2006

New Delhi: Indian parliamentarians and pro-democracy activists planned to mark the 61st birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi at a ceremony in New Delhi on Monday.

Politicians from the ruling Congress Party, the opposition BJP and left-wing parties were invited to attend the event, organized by Burmese exiled activists based in New Delhi. Indian members of parliament Nirmala Deshpande and Sharad Joshi were among those expected to attend, Ramgeet Verma of the exiled National League for Democracy - Liberated Area told The Irrawaddy.

More than 30 legislators have signed a petition calling on the UN to intervene for Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest.

“We request the UN Security Council to take such action that she be released on her 61st birthday on June 19,” read the letter, addressing to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Prominent lawmakers, including former defense minister George Fernandes, Nirmala Deshpande and Sharad Joshi, were among those who signed the letter.

About 50 Burmese activists staged an anti-regime protest near the Indian parliament on Saturday, calling for the release of Suu Kyi. During a three-day regional defense meeting in Singapore earlier this month, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said his government will not be involved in any attempt to install democracy in Burma.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue forum, attended by defense and military chiefs from 23 mainly Asian nations, Mukherjee said: “Our basic principle is to live in peaceful coexistence and we do not believe in exporting ideologies… It is not only a question of Myanmar [Burma], but in many other countries, there are different types of governments.”