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Journalism of Courage
If Jyoti Basu and George Bush say democratic yearnings in Burma must receive a boost and the Manmohan Singh government8217;s position appears to be not radically different from the Hu Jintao regime8217;s, there8217;s more to it than the curious couplings domestic and international politics produce. It is no one8217;s case that Burma represents an easy diplomatic/realpolitik choice. Also, unabashedly moral political positions are often informed by the lack of immediate tangible interests on the part of the advocate. So experience-wary foreign policy watchers may well say that America8217;s and CPM8217;s strong advocacy of a democratic change in Burma is thanks to the fact that neither Washington nor Goapalan Bhawan has an immediate strategic stake.
But, and this is the factor that New Delhi must never underestimate, given the very different domestic political arrangements in India and China, the former doesn8217;t have and shouldn8217;t accord itself blaseacute; flexibility when assessing dictator versus democracy battles elsewhere. Burma8217;s gas reserves, its importance vis-a-vis troubles in India8217;s North-East, its location as a gateway to South-East Asia, all this and more are valid considerations. But the basic fact that should inform New Delhi8217;s views should be the same that is informing Bush8217;s and Basu8217;s: those on Burma8217;s streets are demanding basic rights from those in Burma8217;s palaces. Therefore, it is discomfiting that India should appear as not taking a line very different from China8217;s.
