• Burmese
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

India Must Break its ‘Silence’ on Myanmar Coup to Avoid Global Embarrassment

Jayanta Kalita by Jayanta Kalita
March 16, 2021
in Burma
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
People carry away a man wounded after security forces opened fire on anti-regime protesters in Mandalay on February 20./ The Irrawaddy

People carry away a man wounded after security forces opened fire on anti-regime protesters in Mandalay on February 20./ The Irrawaddy

9.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

India’s ambivalence towards condemning the military coup in Myanmar raises several questions, including the most fundamental one pertaining to democracy. The Southeast Asian nation is witnessing widespread protests and a nationwide civil disobedience campaign, with more than 190 people killed and over 2,100 arrested since the Feb. 1 coup.

The military regime is also continuing its crackdown on the media, arresting journalists and raiding newspaper and magazine offices. Even The Irrawaddy, one of the country’s most respected publications, has not been spared with the junta accusing it of “disregarding” the military while reporting the anti-coup protests.

Media workers are being targeted under Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s penal code, which criminalizes the circulation of information that could cause government employees or soldiers to mutiny.

RelatedPosts

No Content Available

At least 38 journalists had been arrested as of March 12, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, with 19 still being detained.

India’s position raises suspicions

A Reuters report on March 9 highlighting India’s purported role in changing a UN draft resolution triggered a massive backlash on social media. The news agency reported that the UN Security Council (UNSC) had failed to agree on a statement that would have condemned the military coup in Myanmar.

It said India, along with China, Russia and Vietnam “all suggested amendments late on Tuesday (March 9) to a British draft…including removal of the reference to a coup and the threat to consider further action”.

The Indian embassy in Myanmar rejected the report, calling it “mischievous and biased”, but the damage had already been done. Social media users took exception to India’s role with Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, describing the four countries cited in the Reuters report as “villains” who had stopped the UNSC from issuing a much more forceful statement.

India has been careful not to make any direct reference to the military coup or to condemn it in its statements since Feb. 1. Earlier this month, India’s permanent envoy to the UN said, “India has direct stakes in the maintenance of peace and stability in Myanmar, given the fact that we share long land and maritime borders…

“We are deeply concerned and saddened by the loss of lives in Yangon and other cities of Myanmar. We have urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint. We call on the Myanmar leadership to work together to resolve their differences in a peaceful and constructive manner.

Northeast India facing influx of refugees from Myanmar

Meanwhile, India’s federal government has asked the north-eastern states to stop the “influx” of Myanmar nationals, following reports of more than 100 people fleeing to the region. Four NE states — Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – together share a 1,600-km land border with Myanmar.

Media reports suggest as many as 116 Myanmar nationals crossed the Tiau River and reached Farkawn Village in Mizoram through a stretch where border guards, the Assam Rifles, were not present. It is believed several of them were police and fire services personnel who had fled because the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military), were hunting them after they refused to obey orders.

In a communique to the chief secretaries of north-eastern states, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said that “it has been reported that an illegal influx from Myanmar has started… instructions were issued to sensitize all law enforcement and intelligence agencies for taking prompt steps in identifying the illegal migrants and initiate the deportation processes expeditiously and, without delay”.

It also stressed that “State Governments and UT (Union Territory) Administrations have no powers to grant ‘refugee’ status to any foreigner and that India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol”.

India faced a similar surge of refugees from Myanmar in 1988 after a violent crackdown on pro-democracy supporters. Thousands of people fled to neighbouring countries fearing persecution by the then junta. An estimated 360,000 Myanmar nationals were living in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India in 1991-92, according to a 1992 study carried out by the International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva-based human rights organisation.

A large number of the people who took shelter in India were from Chin state. They are largely concentrated in Mizoram with some living in New Delhi, India’s capital. The India office of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees reported that some 3,300 Chin people were among the 21,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar.

How India changed its position

New Delhi seems to have made a complete U-turn from the position it took during the 1988 uprising. Then, India was the first country neighboring Myanmar to criticise the military regime. The Indian embassy in Yangon actively supported the pro-democracy student activists and many fled to India after the 1988 uprising was put down by the Tatmadaw.

Between 1988 and 1990 India openly supported the pro-democracy forces and called for “complete disengagement” with the ruling military junta in Myanmar, according to the UK-based Burma Campaign. India even conferred the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who had emerged as the leader of the pro-democracy movement.

Subsequently, India demanded that the junta recognize the 1990 parliamentary election results where the National League for Democracy party won 392 out of 492 contested seats. However, New Delhi changed its policy in 1993 and forged closer relations with the junta for fear of the growing Chinese influence in Myanmar.

Perhaps it’s time that India, as the largest democracy in the world, called a spade a spade. New Delhi may have its strategic interest in mind for not denouncing the Feb. 1 coup, but its prolonged silence on the state of affairs in Myanmar may be seen as giving overt support to a dictatorial regime. India’s reputation is at stake and the country runs the risk of the international community placing India in the same league as authoritarian regimes such as North Korea and China.

(Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in New Delhi. He writes on issues relating to India’s northeast and its immediate neighborhood. The views expressed are his own.)

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Anti-Regime Protest Death Toll Reaches 191

Myanmar Regime Seizes Bank Accounts of Soros’ Open Society Foundation

Your Thoughts …
Tags: India’s silence on Myanmar’s coup
Jayanta Kalita

Jayanta Kalita

Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in New Delhi. He writes on issues relating to India’s northeast and its immediate neighborhood. The views expressed are his own.

Similar Picks:

No Content Available
Load More
Next Post
An anti-regime protester lies wounded in hospital after a violent crackdown by security forces in Mandalay on Feb.28./ The Irrawaddy

UN Chief Calls Intl’ Community to Help End Military Repression in Myanmar

Myanmar’s security forces. / The Irrawaddy

Under Martial Law, Myanmar Military Commanders Empowered to Issue Death Penalty

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

2 days ago
1.5k
China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

1 day ago
1.4k

Most Read

  • Timeline: Key Events in the Life of Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

    Updated Timeline: Key Events in the Life of Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Attacks to Reclaim KIA’s Jade and Rare Earth Strongholds

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.