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Mizzima: Burma democracy activists



Burma democracy activists seek support from India and America

March 18, 2000
Mizzima News Group

Over two hundred Burma democracy activists along with their Indian
supporters staged a peaceful demonstration in New Delhi today urging
India and the United States to actively intervene in Burma where the
ruling military junta continues to refuse to relinquish the power. The
demonstrators, holding posters and banners, held the rally at Jantar
Mantar in New Delhi this morning.

The U.S President Bill Clinton is visiting South Asia from March 19 to
26 and during the visit, he will be meeting with Indian leaders to hold
bilateral and multilateral issues.

"Pressure is the only language the ruling military regime in Burma
understands. Therefore, we request the two world's largest democracies
to continue sanctions against the junta in Burma," said Dr. Tint Swe at
the demonstration, which lasted for an hour.

Dr. Tint Swe, an elected Member of Parliament from National League for
Democracy  party (NLD) has been in exile in India for ten years. In the
general elections held in 1990, his party, which is led by Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, got the landslide victory but the military
refused to hand over power to the elected parliamentarians.
"The pro-democracy activists of Burma invites the attention of the
leaders of world's two largest democracies to the plight of democracy in
Burma. The role of international community is crucial as to the time and
its peaceful nature. Being one of the foremost leaders of the
international community, the President Clinton can conveniently talk
with the leaders of the host countries who are Burma's neighbors about
the urgency to nudge its military rulers to accelerate the political
process of peaceful transition to Rule of Law in Burma," said Mr. B.K
Sen, an advocate from India.

In the memorandum submitted to American President Bill Clinton and
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Burma democracy
activists appealed the two leaders to discuss the issue of democracy
vis-à-vis dictatorship in the region. "We hope that democratization in
the region would be in the prioritized agenda in the summit," noted the
memorandum.