To,
Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon'ble Prime Minister
India

We would like to remind you that the popular uprising for Democracy in Burma against military Junta needs urgent support from India.

India, despite having heavily invested in Burma and while claiming to be a democracy, has been extremely slow in taking a stand on the ongoing repression by the Burmese military junta on its people. Buddhist monks, common people, students and others have been fearlessly defying the Burmese military government since August 19, 2007. These protests began after the junta imposed a huge increase in the price of fuel on August 15, 2007 without notice or justification, which resulted in making life impossible for the Burmese people who took to the streets. The military regime had already arrested more than 200 activists. Night curfew has been declared since 25 September 2007 in two cities and there is enough evidence of the brutal killing of hundreds of protestors, journalists (including international ones like the Japanese Kenji Nagai who was shot dead) and the paralyzing of food supplies and day-to-day life in Burma.

There is increasing pressure on the Burmese military junta by the international community. India , however, has been remarkably pusillanimous on the situation. This is in part to do with India 's selfish and strategic interest in Burmese oil, symbolized by Petroleum minister Mr. Murli Deora's recent visit to Burma on 23 September 2007, to make a 150 million dollar investment in Burma's oil and gas sector while Burma is burning. From supporting imprisoned and harassed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the 1990s, India, hungry for oil, has shifted allegiances to now maintain perfectly friendly relations with Burma's military regime.

It is unacceptable that India, claiming to be the region's if not the world's largest democracy is not taking a stand on what is the clear and terrifying repression of ordinary, peaceful and democratic protestors. This sets a very bad precedent. We strongly petition the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and the Indian government to publicly and unequivocally denounce the current repressive genocide in Burma .

We demand that:

* India immediately denounce the violence on peaceful protestors in Burma
* India join the rest of the international community in condemning the violence of the Burmese military junta
* India stops its sale and supply of military hardware to the Burmese junta
* investment in the gas and all projects be ceased until there is a democratically elected government in Burma
* immediate release of all the Political Prisoners in Burma including Daw Aung San Su Kyi
* unconditional support for a genuine reconciliation and commencement of Tripartite Dialogue (as called by UN General Assembly, 1994)

We hold India responsible for not taking this stand up to now and therefore also being the cause of so much bloodshed and urge the Indian government to redress this.

We stand alongside the people of Burma and will not cease to protest until the Indian government takes the necessary action.