India's premier football club, East Bengal has said it will hold a friendship tournament for the first time, with a Burmese football team, in a show of solidarity with the Burmese people, who are struggling against military dictatorship at home.
The Bengali-Burmese Friendship Football match will be played between Kingfisher's East Bengal Football Club, representing the people of Bengal and the Mizzima football team, representing the Burmese people, on April 26, the organizers said.
Somitra Lahiri, Public Relations Officer of West Bengal Sports Department, which is co-organizing the soccer match said, "The purpose of organizing this events is to expose to the people of Bengal about the dictatorship in Burma and for the release of the 34 Burmese victims who are currently detained in Presidency jail in Kolkata."
The soccer match is aimed at drawing the attention to the case of the 34 Burmese rebels, who were arrested in 1998 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and who are currently languishing in the Presidency jail in Kolkata, added Lahiri.
The 34 Burmese rebels, who are mostly from Arakan and Karen ethnic groups of Burma, were arrested in early 1998 in the Nicobar Island by Indian security forces. The rebels were accused of gun-running but were kept in Port Blair with out a fair trial.
However, on appeals by Indian Human rights activists, the Supreme Court of India ordered the rebels to be transferred to Kolkata in October 2006, and issued an order to conduct a day-to-day trial.
Lahiri said the soccer match is aimed at highlighting the situation of the Burmese rebels as well as promote awareness of the political situation in Burma, which has been ruled by military dictators since 1962.
Swarup Das, coach of the U-19 of the Kingfisher's East Bengal team said, the match will provide them their first chance to witness the Burmese people's soccer talents and that a few senior players from the Kingfisher's team will join them.
"We will play against the Burmese team on Saturday," said Das, adding that the match will be an exciting experience as his team had never played against a Burmese soccer team.
The Burmese team, which comprises Burmese journalists, students and activists, said the soccer match will be their first against an Indian team and will provide a chance to build a relationship with Indians.
Besides playing against the Kingfisher's East Bengal team, the Burmese soccer team will also play a friendly match with Jadavpur University students on April 27, added Lahiri.
The soccer match, which will be held at the East Bengal ground, will be inaugurated by West Bengal's Left front Chairman Biman Bose and will be graced by Ministers Subhas Chakraborty, Dr. Ashim Kr. Dasgupta, Kshiti Goswami, Pratim Chatterjee, Nandagopal Bhattacharya and Naren Dey.
