Protests staged in Britain and Japan

DVB ( July 07,2003 )

Its is reported that pro-democracy Burmese activists in Britain gathered in London and staged a peaceful protest in front of the Burmese embassy to mark the 41st anniversary of the Burmese students’ activities.

The chairwoman of Women of Burma [UK] Dr Khin Win Nwe explained to the DVB the reasons behind the protest as follows:

Dr Khin Win Nwe : The descendant of the military government of General Ne Win, [the SPDC] has killed many innocent and peaceful students. It is also the day that they blew up the student union building [in Rangoon] which was the symbol of the students’ freedom. The current regime has not only killed the students, but women, monks, old people and innocent civilians were systematically killed in cold blood at recent Dipeyin incident. We believe that as long as the military government keeps on ruling Burma, there will be more massacres like this. Therefore, the people of Burma has no patience to tolerate the lawless actions of the junta. We came to the Burmese embassy to protest and show to the world that the people of Burma are suffering.

After the protest in front of the Burmese embassy, the protesters went to the Singaporean, Malaysian and Japanese embassies and handed in letters to respective governments urging them to keep on pressurising the Burmese military junta.

In Japan, Burmese activists have been staging protests continuously in front of the Burmese embassy in Tokyo since the Dipeyin incident and today they also commemorated the 7th of July event. Ko Htin Aung reports:

Ko Htin Aung : During the protest, the protesters saluted all the students who were killed on the 7th of July 1962 and read statements issued by NLD [Liberated Area, Japan] and Burmese League for Democracy. The statements describe the inhumane and brutal deeds of consecutive military governments from the time of its hold on power in 1962 to the latest Dipeyin incident.