Mahatma Gandhi showed the world the role that peaceful protest can play in bringing about change for the better. The people of Burma simply ask for the same opportunity; an opportunity that is currently denied them by a military with access to such vast resources, enabling it to suppress the demands of the people who are armed with nothing but their empty stomachs. This open letter asks the Indian government to consider the role its economic relations with Burma’s generals play in denying the people of Burma an opportunity to bring about change.
Mr. Shri Pranab Mukherjee
External Affairs Minister
Ministry of External Affairs
Government of India
Fax: 91 11 230 19545
91 11 230 16857
Open Letter
2 October 2007
Your Excellency,
You will be well aware of the brutal manner in which the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in Myanmar has recently responded to demonstrators who have been doing no more than peacefully expressing their desire for a government which serves their needs and interests. We pay tribute to the courage and determination of the peoples of Myanmar, and stand alongside them as they struggle to bring about a better future.
We feel that India has a particularly important role to play in ensuring that the events in Myanmar turn out in favour of the interests of the people rather than the interests of a small group of military generals.
In this regard, we note with concern India’s lack of action based on the argument that states should not interfere in the internal affairs of other sovereign nation states. If this argument enables 15 military men to rule a country in their interests, while violating the human rights of the 53 million people who make up the country, then this is surely a difficult position to defend.
Furthermore, it is quite clear that India is already interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar. In order for the military generals to be able to build up an army capable of systematically oppressing the will of the people of Myanmar for nearly 50 years requires access to immense resources. India’s economic relations with Myanmar have played a significant part in providing the generals with such resources, thus determining the fate of the peoples’ desire for change.
Mahatma Gandhi showed the world the role that peaceful protest can play in bringing about change for the better. The people of Myanmar simply ask for the same opportunity; an opportunity that is denied them by a military with access to such vast resources, enabling it to ignore the demands of the people who are armed with nothing but their empty stomachs.
We recognise that India has significant economic interests within Myanmar, particularly in terms of access to its vast natural resources such as oil and gas. However, we urge India to place these considerations of self-interest to one side, and instead focus on the interests of the Myanmar people.
The protests in Myanmar simply represent the desire of the people to change things for the better. There is an abundance of reliable evidence available which shows how the military government engages in widespread and systematic human rights violations, including summary executions, forced labour practices, forced displacement, sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers. The military’s campaigns in ethnic areas, involving the targeting of civilians, have displaced over a million people. FORUM-ASIA therefore urges India to acknowledge the role it has to play in determining the fate of the people of Myanmar and their struggle for change.
In this regard, FORUM-ASIA would urge India to take the following steps:
- To make clear to the generals in Myanmar that economic relations will be threatened unless they engage in peaceful negotiations with demonstrators and pro-democracy leaders and initiate a process of genuine reform based on these negotiations;
- To stop the supply of all arms and other equipment and assistance from India which could be used by the military to suppress peaceful demonstrations in Myanmar;
- As a member of the Human Rights Council, to support a resolution which allows for a high level fact finding mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and independent experts to be sent to Myanmar, to make concrete recommendations based on the findings of this mission, and to set up a monitoring team to supervise the implementation of these recommendations.
Yours sincerely
Anselmo Lee
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Executive Director
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Tel : +66-81-868-9178 (mobile) / Fax : +66 (0)2 391 8764
[email protected]
Cc:
-Indian Embassy in Myanmar, No. 545-547, Merchant Street, Yangon, Myanmar,
Fax: 00-95-1-254086
-Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York
-Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in Geneva
