India, which sent to Myanmar 1.5 million COVID-19 doses, must ensure democracy gets a shot too
Myanmar’s fragile Government was overthrown in a recent coup d’état by the military, plunging democracy there into gloom and despondency. The coup might not surprise popular Governments across the globe as the erstwhile Burma’s stint with democracy began only in 2011 after almost five decades of military rule. More so, after the world witnessed the Capitol Hill attack and the Red Fort siege, when the two great democratic champions were put to shame by their own peoples, it may not be taken aback by what happened in Burma where, even after the restoration of quasi-democracy, the military generals called the shots and remained the main adjudicator of the nation’s politics. They are back in the saddle to rule the roost with full military might. In the wee hours of Monday, the military seized control over power and arrested civilian leaders, including Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, the Cabinet Ministers, Opposition leaders, writers and human rights activists. The military generals were irked after the landslide victory of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in the November elections. Suu Kyi has been the country’s de facto civilian leader since taking office in 2015. The military, which has declared a year-long national emergency, had accused that the elections were fraudulent with rampant irregularities in the voting process.
In what can be termed a futile deterrent to the military rulers, who are least concerned about upholding democratic values, US President Joe Biden has threatened to re-impose sanctions and called for a “concerted international response” pressuring the military leaders to abdicate power. India, too, has expressed “deep concerns” over the developments and is “monitoring the situation” closely. However, India needs to tread cautiously as Myanmar’s military leadership may join hands with Beijing for support in the UN Security Council which is likely to take up resolutions calling for the restoration of democracy in the coming days. The coming together of Beijing and Naypyitaw will be a setback for India’s attempts for democracy in Myanmar and peace in the region. It will also erode India’s influence in the area which it had managed to gain all these years. However, China has expressed the hope that the political leaders and the military regime would uphold stability and resolve their differences as per the Constitution. Meanwhile, India, which has supplied 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Myanmar, must make all-out efforts to give a ‘shot’ of democracy in Myanmar’s arm.