Media Consultation Meeting on Burma Polls

The Burma Centre Delhi and the Journalists’ Forum, Assam have jointly organized a consultation meeting on the proposed general election in Burma (Myanmar) with a focus on its probable implication in Northeast India. The meeting to be held in Guwahati Press Club on January 30 (Saturday) will start at 10:30 am. Mentionable that, the military rulers of Burma have recently reaffirmed a general election this year by October. The last election held in Burma during 1990 was won by the National League for Democracy (392 out of 492 parliament seats), but the regime ignored the results and refused to handover the power till today. Instead, more repressive methods were practiced to crack down on the NLD leaders & workers in particular and the democratic movement as a whole.

Dr Tint Swe, a senior political activist of Burma (also a minister of Burmese government in exile), M. Kim and Dr. Alana Golmei of Burma Centre Delhi will attend the programme as resource persons and analyze about the Burma constitution (formulated by the military junta in 2008), the proposed 2010 polls and Burmese peoples’ aspiration and struggle with the probable responses from the Northeast.

Since the last election in 1990, the Burmese pro-democracy activists have been imprisoned, intimidated, tortured and put to death for demanding justice, peace, human rights and a democratic government. At present, there are more than 2100 Political prisoners, many of them have been given jail terms for several years and some even up to 106 years without trial and proper legal procedures.

Many Burmese groups have shown their interest on the proposed election in Burma, but some people believe that the forthcoming election will only make the Burmese military regime into permanent dictatorship unless provisions of Constitution (2008) are reviewed and amended with proper conciliation.