High 14 oC - Low 7 oC

Suu Kyi defiant in ‘Burma’ row

San Suu Kyi

YANGON - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday brushed off orders from Myanmar’s government to stop calling the country “Burma”, a name widely used by democracy campaigners to defy the former junta. The old regime changed the country’s official name some two decades ago to Myanmar, saying “Burma” was a relic from British colonial rule and implied the diverse land belonged only to the Burman ethnic majority. The country’s election commission castigated Suu Kyi last week for repeatedly using the term during recent overseas trips, accusing her and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) of flouting the constitution. But a defiant Suu Kyi told reporters in Yangon that she would call the country whatever she liked. “In a democratic nation, things should be done after viewing the desire of the people,” she said, adding the army had renamed the country without consultation. “Freedom of speech... and the right to speak one’s mind freely doesn’t insult anyone. This is also about democratic principles and policy. “So I assume that I can use whatever I want to use as I believe in democracy.”

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Follow Us

To stay updated with latest news please follow us on


"dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami"
Arif Nizami (Editor)
4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore
Ph: +92 42 36375963-5 Fax: 042-36298302
Ph: +92 51 2287273 Islamabad, Ph: +92 21 35381208-9 Karachi
Email: [email protected]
ADVERTISE  |  CAREERS  |  PRIVACY POLICY  |  CONTACT US

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,
redistributed or derived from. Unless otherwise stated,
all content is copyrighted © 2011 Nawa Media.
Technical feedback? [email protected]