New Delhi, Oct 23 : More than 20 thousand Christians in over 100 Churches in the Churachandpur district and elsewhere in the north eastern state of Manipur, launched a prayer campiagn for freedom and democracy in Myanmar on October 21st expressing solidarity with the political prisoners and the democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The campaign, organised by the Myanmar Christians Fellowships (MCF) comprising Burmese Christians in exile, the campaign will include mass prayers every Sunday for Burma.
“The aim of this campaign is to pray for peace, restoration of democracy and for the release of all political prisoners in Burma," Ko Lay, General Secretary of the MCF said. He added the campaign also prayed for “the Burmese military generals so that they change their mind and abandon their evil ways”.
Meanwhile Babloo Loitongban, Director of ‘Human Rights Alert’, in Imphal (Manipur), revealed to AsiaNews that “Three Burmese nationals from the Western side of Burma have been detained after the crisis in Burma by the Indian authorities and they are in custody. We are trying to also give some legal aid to them; we are also moving court to have them treated as refugees, as we are doing with other Burmese mainly students. Many union leaders from Myanmar have taken refuge in Imphal and we are also helping them”. “In western Myanmar, which borders Manipur there were some attempts to protest against the military junta, but we were informed the number of protestors were rather few, this is largely due to the fact that in the border areas like the ‘Tamu town’ which is predominantly a ‘Traders town’ and the people there earn a livelihood by trading with Manipur and the rest of India, so the protest was not very strong. ”.
The group which organised a protest march in Imphal and a public encounter in Churachanpur district in solidarity with the people of Burma, “is very disappointed by the soft response of the Indian Government to this situation of democratic uprising in Burma” and believes that New Delhi is far too concerned with access to the nations energetic resources. “India –he continues– is respected in South East Asia, its is because of the values that India has stood for in the past, now if India wants to surrender these Values and become merely trade–oriented, I seriously foresee that even trade would loose in the long run. A relationship between neighbours based on Moral values is extremely important if India wants to maintain its respectability in South Asia and the international community at large. Economy and trade relationships should never take precedence over Human rights and Moral Principles”. “Manipur and Burma share not only a long border but also long history. Manipur history is very much tied with the Burmese history and we firmly believe that not only for Manipur, but for the entire North-East, an open and democratic society in Burma would serve to empower and develop –politically socially as well as economically the entire North East region”. “International pressure is important but much more crucial is the response by the neighbours- big neighbours like India China and Thailand is what is going to make a major difference in how Burmese military responds”, such as allowing access to the UN Observer and establishing dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Asian News
www.zogam.com
The campaign, organised by the Myanmar Christians Fellowships (MCF) comprising Burmese Christians in exile, the campaign will include mass prayers every Sunday for Burma.
“The aim of this campaign is to pray for peace, restoration of democracy and for the release of all political prisoners in Burma," Ko Lay, General Secretary of the MCF said. He added the campaign also prayed for “the Burmese military generals so that they change their mind and abandon their evil ways”.
Meanwhile Babloo Loitongban, Director of ‘Human Rights Alert’, in Imphal (Manipur), revealed to AsiaNews that “Three Burmese nationals from the Western side of Burma have been detained after the crisis in Burma by the Indian authorities and they are in custody. We are trying to also give some legal aid to them; we are also moving court to have them treated as refugees, as we are doing with other Burmese mainly students. Many union leaders from Myanmar have taken refuge in Imphal and we are also helping them”. “In western Myanmar, which borders Manipur there were some attempts to protest against the military junta, but we were informed the number of protestors were rather few, this is largely due to the fact that in the border areas like the ‘Tamu town’ which is predominantly a ‘Traders town’ and the people there earn a livelihood by trading with Manipur and the rest of India, so the protest was not very strong. ”.
The group which organised a protest march in Imphal and a public encounter in Churachanpur district in solidarity with the people of Burma, “is very disappointed by the soft response of the Indian Government to this situation of democratic uprising in Burma” and believes that New Delhi is far too concerned with access to the nations energetic resources. “India –he continues– is respected in South East Asia, its is because of the values that India has stood for in the past, now if India wants to surrender these Values and become merely trade–oriented, I seriously foresee that even trade would loose in the long run. A relationship between neighbours based on Moral values is extremely important if India wants to maintain its respectability in South Asia and the international community at large. Economy and trade relationships should never take precedence over Human rights and Moral Principles”. “Manipur and Burma share not only a long border but also long history. Manipur history is very much tied with the Burmese history and we firmly believe that not only for Manipur, but for the entire North-East, an open and democratic society in Burma would serve to empower and develop –politically socially as well as economically the entire North East region”. “International pressure is important but much more crucial is the response by the neighbours- big neighbours like India China and Thailand is what is going to make a major difference in how Burmese military responds”, such as allowing access to the UN Observer and establishing dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Asian News
www.zogam.com
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