Congress welcomes Suu Kyi’s release

NEW DELHI - The Congress Sunday welcomed the release of pro-democracy Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was Saturday freed from house arrest after a long spell of imprisonment.

“The Indian National Congress (INC) welcomes the release of pro-democracy Myanmar leader Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi after long imprisonment. The Congress recalls her struggle for democratic rights and acknowledges her as a symbol of resistance, freedom and human rights, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement.

He said the party fondly remembers Suu Kyi’s stay in India with her mother in her formative years and also her father, General Aung San’s immense contribution in building a new Burma, as Myanmar was then called.

Suu Kyi, 65, was released Saturday evening after completing her latest 18-month sentence, which was added to a previous six-year sentence. She has spent 15 of the past 20 years under house arrest.