Even as pro-democracy activists and sympathizers worldwide observed her 65th birthday on June 19, a group of Indian Parliamentarians demanded the immediate release of Burmese democracy icon and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Indian Parliamentarian’s Forum for Democracy in Burma (IPFDB) urged the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and also countries friendly  to the Burmese junta to take pragmatic action for the release of Suu Kyi and over 2,000 political prisoners in Burma.

The Parliamentarian’s Forum has sent letter to the Heads of States and Governments of Australia, European Union, UK, France, Norway, Russia, US, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China and India, strongly urging them to keep on pressurizing the military rulers of Burma to engage Suu Kyi in the process of democratization.

The junta has planned a general election reportedly on October 10 this year, where Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy cannot contest. The Forum has appealed to the leaders not to endorse and recognize the 2010 election results if the constitution announced in 2008 is not amended and if political prisoners are not released before the polls.

“The letter also recommended to the UN to investigate the news of nuclear and missile technology and take strong action to ensure that these programmes are put under the supervision of IAEA. The IPFDB also appealed to the UN Security Council to pass a binding resolution on Burma in accordance with the united Nations General Assembly resolutions on gross human rights violations in Burma to exercise the Responsibility to protect (R2p) policy against the authorities of Burma/Myanmar and to refer the military leaders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity they committed on the Burmese peoples for decades,” informed a source closed to the Forum.

Meanwhile, Burmese in exile living in India and their supporters celebrated Suu Kyi’s birthday in New Delhi with various programmes including the cutting of a birthday cake, singing songs with showcasing Burmese art and food and also screening video films on Suu Kyi. A number of Indian Parliamentarians, diplomats, political leaders, civil society activists, journalists and other sympathizers attended the programme and expressed their solidarity to the democracy movement of Burma.