In a first of its kind, several organizations from Arunachal and Assam on Saturday organized a historic protest against imposition of military rule and brutal crackdown on civilians in neighbouring Myanmar. Many of the participants were communities who have members on the other side of the border. There are tribes like Singpho, Tangsa, Yobin, Tai Khamti, etc, who have fellow tribesmen, including immediate family members, living in Myanmar. The protest is timely and hopefully it will send out a strong message to the government of Myanmar as well as India.
Despite the imposition of military rule after the dismissal of the duly elected government in Myanmar, the government of India has relatively kept silent. India aims to be a torchbearer of democracy, but is keeping mum when people in its immediate backyard are fighting hard to save democracy. India has much to lose from the military dictatorship in Myanmar. The Burmese military for long had close ties with Communist Party of India. Further, if the military is preoccupied in crushing pro-democracy protests, it will pave the way for insurgency groups operating in Myanmar to regroup and this will seriously affect peace in the Northeast region of India. There is a possibility that China might extend support to these anti-India groups through the Myanmarese military. The people of NE region should organize more such protests against military takeover in Myanmar in order to put pressure on the government of India to intervene.