Canada revokes Suu Kyi's honorary citizenship
Ottawa, Oct 3 : Canada has formally stripped Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship over her inaction on military violence against the countrys Rohingya Muslims.
Canadian Senators on Tuesday unanimously passed a measure revoking her citizenship and declaring the treatment of Rohingyas by Myanmar's government to be a genocide. The same actions were unanimously approved last week by the House of Commons, CBC News reported.
The honour was bestowed on Suu Kyi in 2007 for her pro-democracy campaign in Myanmar, where she spent 15 years under house arrest under the former military government. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991
Now, she has become the first person to have her honorary Canadian citizenship revoked.
The votes were prompted in part by a UN investigation that in August called for six top generals in Myanmar to be tried on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. It also found that Suu Kyi had failed in her duty to protect her own citizens.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017, when Myanmar's Buddhist-majority security forces began a violent campaign in Rakhine state that included executions, gang rape and the burning of hundreds of villages. About 10,000 people have been killed, the UN said.
The UN fact-finding mission condemned Suu Kyi for failing to use her power or moral authority to stem or prevent the genocide and fulfil her responsibility to protect the civilian population.
Instead, civilian authorities spread false narratives, allowed hate speech to flourish and blocked independent investigations, the report said.
"Stripping her of her honorary citizenship may not make a tangible difference to her, but it sends an important symbolic message," said Senator Ratna Omidvar, who introduced the motion in the Canadian chamber.
"She has been complicit in stripping the citizenship and the security of thousands of Rohingya, which has led to their flight, their murder, their rapes and their current deplorable situation."
Omidvar also cited the imprisonment of two Reuters journalists who were reporting on the atrocities. Suu Kyi has defended the judge's verdict and sentence in that case.
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Seven killed after being run over by truck in Gujarat's Surendranagar
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Surendranagar (PTI): Seven persons were killed and some others suffered injuries after being run over by a speeding truck on a roadside in Gujarat's Surendranagar district in the wee hours of Monday, police said.
The incident occurred on the Lakhtar-Viramgam highway at around 1.30 am when a group of pilgrims was walking from Rajkot to Bahucharaji as part of a procession to offer prayers at a temple, Lakhtar police inspector Yogesh Patel said.
A recklessly driven truck ran over the devotees on the outskirts of Bhaskarpara village in Lakhtar taluka of the district. Six pilgrims and the driver of a dumper parked on the roadside were killed, he said, adding that the deceased included four women.
The number of persons injured was not yet clear, the official said.
"The pilgrims were walking when they met with the accident. They had set out on foot to offer prayers at a temple in Bahucharaji when they were hit by a truck coming at full speed from behind," he said.
The truck driver fled the spot and efforts were underway to nab him, the official added.
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