Myanmar refugees in India protest against coup

About 300 refugees from a Christian minority community from Myanmar on Wednesday held a protest in New Delhi against last month's military takeover in their country and demanded the immediate release of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The demonstration by members of the ethnic Chin minority was held at Jantar Mantar, the Indian capital's main area for protests close to Parliament.

The protesters held placards with slogans including "restore democracy in Burma" and "no more killing in Myanmar" as they burned a coffin with photographs of Myanmar's coup leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, accusing him of supporting the military rulers. They also stomped their feet on the Chinese national flag.

During the demonstration, the protesters also called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pressure Myanmar's military rulers to restore democracy in the country.

Like the Rohingya, the Chin also are a persecuted minority group in Myanmar, living in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar after five decades of military rule.

It came the day a newly elected Parliament was supposed to take office.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party would have been installed for a second five-year term, but instead she was detained along with President Win Myint and other senior officials.