The main Opposition parties in India have ganged up against the ruling government over its silence regarding the forthcoming elections in Burma and said that though India can only give vent to its opinion it ought to make its stand clear.
Brinda Karat, Politbureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) told Mizzima that “The Indian government should state its stand clearly (on Burma's electoral laws)."
"We would like to demand the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. If she is detained what will the world think of the junta,” said Brinda Karat who is also a MP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) India’s main opposition party, told Mizzima that democracy does not prohibit any one from contesting the elections.
"After all in a democracy, people are the decision makers and they will decide who is the best for the country,” said Prakash Javadekar, spokesperson of the BJP.
The Indian government has refrained from making an official statement on the electoral laws in Burma. Its Foreign Ministry has not responded to Mizzima's repeated calls for comment.
New electoral laws announced by the Burmese military government last week bans anyone convicted by a court from being a member of a party or to contest the 2010 election. It also makes it mandatory for political parties to expel imprisoned members if it wants to register as a party.
There are over 2100 political prisoners serving lengthy prison sentences for their political beliefs and activities. They include leaders of the 1988 student-led democracy movement, Members of Parliament elected in the 1990 elections, Buddhist monks who participated in the 2007 protests as well as the country's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
Meanwhile, about 200 Burmese activists in India today staged a protest rally in the capital New Delhi denouncing the military junta's electoral laws.
Sharad Joshi, a MP said that “Unless Suu Kyi is allowed to participate the electoral laws would have no credibility and not be counted as free and fair”.
Speaking at the rally, Joshi who is also Convener of the Indian Parliamentarians' Forum for Democracy in Burma, said that his organization of Indian MPs has urged the government of India to put pressure on the Burmese junta to start a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and hold free and fair elections.
In a statement issued today by the Forum, Indian MPs have urged the Indian government to work with the Secretary General of the United Nations calling for unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and for the national reconciliation in Burma.
Burmese activists in India today urged the UN Security Council members to constitute a UN Commission for inquiry for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Burmese military in Burma.
