LSR students hail Suu Kyi's much-awaited victory

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Amid cheers, enthusiasm and hope, students of New Delhi's Lady Shri Ram college Monday hailed alumna and Myanmarese leader Aung San Suu Kyi's landmark victory in the country's by-polls, stating that it was a "much-awaited moment in the long journey of the country towards democracy".

"It is such an incredible joy to know that someone who passed out from my academic institution has been putting her life on the line for so many years to give the downtrodden a voice," Moonmoon Ghosh, former student of LSR, told IANS.

"She is a visionary, an icon. I just hope this victory goes a long way in bringing about changes in Myanmar's government," an ecstatic Ghosh added.

The 66-year-old Suu Kyi Sunday scored a momentous victory following a decades-long fight for democracy by winning a parliamentary by-poll for a seat in Myanmar's lower house. Chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, she won 75 percent of the ballot in Kawhmu Township constituency near Yangon.

This is not the first time that LSR students have voiced their strong sentiments for the Myanmarese leader. Nearly two years back, when Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November 2010, the students had come out in support of the leader.

Released in November 2010, Suu Kyi was allowed to crisscross the country to rally support for the NLD for Sunday's polls.

Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest on numerous occasions since she began her political career, totalling 15 of the past 21 years.

"We, as women and students, have been following her political journey for long. And now that she has won the by-polls, we are hopeful it will script a new political journey for Myanmar," said Sharmishtha Sengupta, a student of Political Science from the college located in south Delhi.

Suu Kyi passed out from the college in 1964 with a degree in Political Science. The students of LSR have been actively involved in marches and protests for her release.

"For all that she has gone through and done for the people of Myanmar, I would call it a well-deserved victory. It is a day democracy will always remember," Praneta Siddhartha posted on social networking site, Facebook.

Suu Kyi had won by a landslide the last time Myanmar held elections in 1990, but the junta ignored the results and placed her under house arrest.