Protestors demonstrated outside Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s first engagement of the day in the Capital, leading to a shut out of the media at a subsequent interaction, activists from Myanmar said on Friday.
The second interaction held under a media blackout saw about 1,000 Myanmar exiles acknowledging the contributions from “Uncle of Burma,” the ailing George Fernandes and his former party colleague Jaya Jaitley, among others, to the cause of democracy in their country. The activists acknowledged Mr. Fernandes’ support to their cause even when he became Union Minister in a government whose policy was to support the military-led government in Myanmar. The socialist leader is critically ill and activists said Ms. Suu Kyi had not factored in a visit to his place.
The day began with civil society activists protesting outside the gate of the Lady Sri Ram College just before Ms. Suu Kyi was to arrive. Protesting against her “unwillingness to recognise and acknowledge Rohingyas’ plight,” the activists were briefly detained by the police at the Greater Kailash police station.
“Ms. Suu Kyi has disappointed many by her continuous silence and ambivalent attitude towards a section of her compatriots known as ‘Rohingyas.’ The political position of Suu Kyi, the daughter of respected General Aung San who stood for democracy, peace and minority rights in Burma, is highly condemnable in all respects,” said the statement from the protesting groups, including the Association for Protection of Civil Rights and the Democratic Students' Union.
The activists alleged that Ms. Suu Kyi had discredited the struggle of Rohingya by reducing it to a “law and order” issue. “We appeal to Ms. Suu Kyi to come out of her cocoon and take a stand on the Rohingya issue. Her fight for democracy will remain incomplete as long as such a large number of persecuted people live within her own country.”
“Its complete hypocrisy that Aung San Suu Kyi doesn't stand by the victims of the ethnic cleansing in Burma, but wants India to stand by her cause,” the statement concluded.
With Ms. Suu Kyi gaining freedom and getting elected to Parliament, “we shouldn’t jump to optimistic conclusions,” highly placed sources observed. “They have a very difficult path ahead to reach the high level of democracy they are aspiring for.”
