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Seeking support



Seeking Support
Spotlight (1 May, 1998: Nepal)
By Deepak Khanal in Chitwan
 
"The visit of a group Burmese pro-democratic movement activists highlights
the plight of the Burmese people"
 
After the Bhutanese refugees, this time it is some Burmese who visited
Nepal seeking support for their democratic movement. At a time when
Nepalese intellectuals and government officials failed to repatriate the
Bhutanese refugees with the democratic regimes, none expect long term
support for the Burmese in Nepal.
 
Whatever the consequences may be, a group of pro-democracy activists have
come to Nepal on a mission to seek Nepal's support for the Burmese
democratic movement.
 
After the military take over, the Burmese pro-democracy activists fled
living on the Indian Burma and Thai Burma borders. The visiting members
identified themselves as members of the National League for Democracy
(NLD) led by Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
 
After gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Burma was ruled by the
one party Burmese Socialist Program Party from 1962 to 1988. The Burmese
military ruler denied the transfer of power to the NLD which won 82 per
cent of the parliamentary seats in the elections held in 1990 under the
leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
 
Defying the people's mandate, the military junta arrested many of the
elected MPs and thousands of pro-democracy activists. The struggle for
democracy in Burma needs international support, because all activities of
the legal political parties are rigorously prohibited inside Burma. "More
then 3,000 political prisoners are still behind bars," said a statement
issued by the visiting group.
 
Justifying the need for international support for the Burmese democratic
movement, the group urged Nepal to fully support their struggle. They
argued that Nepal had launched similar struggle for democracy less than
ten years ago, thus, Nepal should support them.
 
Speaking to the Spotlight correspondent, a democratic activist of Burma,
presently in Nepal, said that in Burma the people's right of freedom has
been taken away by the military government. The political parties there
are not allowed to exercise their rights and the people are deprived of
their of expression, assembly and publication, and elected representatives
are continuously arrested. And at present more than 3,000 political
prisoners are behind bars.
 
Asked whether the Burmese government has been positive about democracy
these days, the activists replied, "Not long ago, the government changed
its name, but there has been no change in terms of its policies, motives
and activities."
 
The Burmese government rules the country, without people's mandate as they
have the army at their disposal. "They impose military laws and the people
are deprived of taking part in political process."
 
Speaking to me in details, the activist painted a very dismal picture and
said "the only solution to the problem in Burma is democracy. Democracy is
designed to represent the people, not rule over them, and it is also
designed to protect the people's human rights, something which is now
desperately lacking in Burma. This belief is inspiring me and others to
fight for democracy."
 
The activist belongs to the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party
led by Aung San Suu Kyi. "But it is not the only party fighting for
democracy in Burma. We had a number of allies, but all of them were
expelled. With the leadership of the NLD, a parallel coalition government
has been formed in exile with some other ethnic parties," he said.
 
"In spite of the fact that some of the ethnic parties were compelled to
give up their arms, they are still morally in favor of democracy," the
activist said. "I hope that those allies who were compelled to surrender
will also support the movement for Burma's democracy in future."
 
"The Burmese people love democracy. This was proven in the results of the
1990 election. The people continue to show their trustration with the
military regime in different ways. The Burmese people never supported the
military regime and conducted a number activities and movement within
Burma," the activist said.