Burma's government in exile condemns Mumbai attack -MIZZIMA

http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/1381-burmas-government-in-exile-condemns-mumbai-attack.html

by Mungpi
Friday, 28 November 2008 21:21


New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese government in exile – National Coalition Government of Union of Burma – on Thursday strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed over 100 people and injured over 200, calling it 'cowardice and a foolish' act.

Dr. Tint Swe, Minister of the Prime Minister office of the NCGUB, who is based in New Delhi, said "We condemn any act of terrorism, no matter who the perpetrators are. And if the attacks are carried out for political motives it is cowardice and a foolish act."


On Wednesday evening terrorists carried out at least 10 separate attacks on India's commercial hub of Mumbai killing at least 100 including 14 police and injuring more than 200 people.

The terrorists, armed with AK 47, grenades and low intensity bombs stormed Mumbai's busiest and most opulent sites including the century old railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST), the former Victoria Terminus, Hotel Taj Palace and The Trident hotel, both of which had guests including foreign tourists.

According to reports, the terrorists, who began attacking since Wednesday night, continue to be holed up at with least 30 hostages in the Trident Hotel on Thursday and have left nearly 2000 guests stranded in the Taj hotel.

While the terrorist group did not make any demands, an Islamic group 'Deccan Mujahideen' a group that was previously unheard of claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to reports. A similarly named 'Indian Mujahideen' had earlier claimed responsibility for several blasts across the country including the 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad in July that claimed 56 lives.

Till the time of filing the story, at least five to seven terrorists are still holed up in the Taj hotel and bomb blasts were also heard from inside the Hotel, while terrorists were said to have held at least 30 hostages in the Trident hotel, according to an Indian TV Channel NDTV.

In the course of a gun battle, up to 14 police including Maharashtra state's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were killed, reports said. The police in turn killed at least five terrorists during the shootout.

Dr. Tint Swe said India like several other countries has its own sets of problems and conflicts but resorting to violence and conducting terrorist attacks are unacceptable.

"It is understandable that groups have diverse ideologies and countries have their own conflicts. But resorting to violence is unacceptable," said Dr. Tint Swe, extending his deep concern and solidarity towards the victims of the attacks.

While condemning the attacks, Dr. Tint Swe said terrorism seems to be spreading fast within the region and that governments including India should handle it with utmost importance.

"If we look at the past few months or even a year, we can see that there have been several blasts across India. Similarly, there were also blasts occurring in India's neighbouring country Burma and in several other south and southeast Asian countries," Dr. Tint Swe said.

"Looking at this, we can say terrorist attacks are becoming a trend these days, and that governments needs to resolve them with utmost importance," he added.

Similar to India, which has witnessed several bomb attacks in the past one year, Burma also witnessed increasing bomb blasts in the past year with perpetrators targeting mainly the former capital city of Rangoon.

The latest blast in Rangoon took place on October 19 at a house in Rangoon's suburban township of Shwepyithar, killing a man, whom the military government said was the perpetrator himself. In September alone, at least four blasts occurred in Rangoon, injuring at least seven people.

But, the military government, which has maintained a tight rule over the country since 1962, are quick at pointing a finger at opposition groups, including members of detained Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party – the National League for Democracy (NLD), and border-based ethnic armed rebel groups who are fighting for self-determination, each time a blast occurs.

Dr. Tint Swe, while condemning the terrorist attacks, praised India's freedom of press, which has enabled citizens to keep abreast of the latest situation on the ground.

"Unlike Burma, India's freedom of press has allowed the media to cover the full extent of the event unfolding. But in Burma, since the media has been blacked out, information related the blasts seems to be out of reach to the people," he added.