Jamia Milia to confer doctorate on Aung San Suu Kyi

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Recognising her over two-decade fight for democracy in Myanmar, Delhi's Jamia Milia Islamia will confer an honorary doctorate degree on her very soon.

This was announced by Jamia Milia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung at a seminar on "Myanmar: Bridging South and Southeast Asia" organised by the university's Academy of International Studies along with Yangon-based think-tank Tampadipa Insitute here.

"We at Jamia Milia Islamia want to hold a special convention for conferring an honorary doctorate on Aung San Suu Kyi," Jung said during his welcome address at the seminar.

"Once we get to meet Suu Kyi, we will convey to her our intent to confer her the doctorate. If she accepts and and finds time to visit us here, we will hold the special convocation to confer her the doctorate," he said.

Jung also noted that he wanted Jamia Milia Islamia to become a repository of knowledge and information on Myanmar in the near future so that it became the reference point for all scholars wanting to study the neighbouring country.

He also noted that this was the third such Myanmar-related event that his university is organising since November 2010, when Myanmar held its first democratic elections in two decades.

In that election, the Union Solidarity and Development Party of erstwhile military rulers won nearly 80 per cent of the seats to Myanmar parliament and Thein Sein formed the government as the country's civilian president in March 2011.

Thein Sein has visited India, in his first state visit here, in October 2011 when the bilateral ties of the two nations got a boost.

Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy did not participate in the November 2010 elections.

But after the civilian government took over and talks between her and the president, her party has now registered itself with the election commission and decided to contest the parliamentary bye-polls to be held on April 1.