National

Burmese dissident worried

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI March 13. He's now 33 years old. Back in November 1990, Soe Myint and a friend ``hijacked'' a plane using soap cases and brought it from Bangkok to Calcutta, as it was known then.

Speaking to presspersons at the Indian Women's Press Corps today, Soe Myint, now editor of Mizzima News, a news agency which maintains an active website on Burmese (Myanmar) news and analyses, comes across as articulate and informed.

For nearly 12 years after the ``non-violent hijacking'' of the Thai Airways aircraft, Soe Myint lived and worked in New Delhi, part of the time being spent at the residence of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes. Since April 2002, when he was re-arrested in the hijacking case, Soe Myint is a worried man.

The Burmese dissident, who has no qualms in admitting what he did and is ready to face punishment, is looking for reasons about why he has been arrested for an old case. The trial begins in Kolkata on April 3 and there is every possibility that he may be sentenced to life imprisonment for the ``political act'' of bringing attention to the cause of democracy in neighbouring Myanmar (Burma).

Though arrested after addressing a press conference at the Calcutta airport along with his friend (who now lives abroad and is not named in the chargesheet), Soe Myint believed for many years that the case against him was dead. Released on bail three months after the hijacking, Soe Myint met the then West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, at the Writers' Building. The West Bengal Government called upon the Centre to withdraw the case. So, why has the case suddenly come to life? ``We were desperate to focus international attention on the Burmese cause,'' he stated, adding that the Government of India was ``very active in supporting the pro-democracy movement'' at the time.

Soe Myint feels that his journalistic activities may have caused the active pursuit of the hijacking case. ``I was arrested a week after the then External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, visited Burma.'' India-Myanmar relations — since the time he landed in India — have been on the upswing and New Delhi does not want to do anything that might jeopardise its relations with the military Government, he points out.

He stressed that he had interviewed the vice-chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Maung Aye, and the Myanmar Foreign Minister, U Win Aung, when they visited the capital. He is clear that Burma has to move towards reconciliation in a spirit of compromise and is optimistic about the prospects of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the military Government working together. To a barrage of questions from curious presspersons, Soe Myint said unambiguously: ``I am proud of what I did. I did it for a political cause.'' In any case, he claimed it was not a ``hijacking'' but a drama. None of his co-passengers filed a complaint in the case.

Many of them were sympathetic to their cause. One Japanese passenger on board even explained to some other passengers in Japanese what the hijacking was all about. He's asked what Mr. Fernandes thinks about the Burmese cause today. ``He (the Defence Minister) came to my book release recently,'' Soe Myint said. ``Personally, he still supports the pro-democracy movement.''

Mr. Fernandes has promised to speak to the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, about the case, but Soe Myint is waiting to see what happens next. Will he be sentenced to life imprisonment for a clearly political act? Or will he be allowed to live with his Burmese wife and carry out journalistic activities in India?

Soe Myint, who was studying international relations in Yangon and was preparing for a career in the foreign service, speaks almost as if the case involves somebody else and not him.

But, still, a withdrawal of the charges against him would be welcome as he prepares to leave for Kolkata for the trial.

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