Call it faith, call it belief, call it determination. For me, it sums up an inspiring story of someone who stood by what she believed in and has been a lamp of hope for not just her Country but people around the world. That is what Aung San Suu Kyi and her life means to the people of Myanmar, Burma and to a large part of the world who have followed her journey.
Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 80% (392 of 492) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1990 until her release on the 13th of November 2010.
Aung San Suu Kyi was the recipient of the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the Government of India.
Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to take care of her ailing mother. By coincidence, in the same year, the long-time leader of the Socialist ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down, leading to mass demonstrations for democracy on 8 August 1988 (8-8-88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government. However in September, a new military junta took power. Later the same month, the National League for Democracy (NLD) was formed, with Suu Kyi as general secretary.
Influenced by both Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and by more specifically Buddhist concepts, Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization. She was instrumental in the founding of the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988, and was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989. She was offered freedom if she left the country, but she refused.
One of her most famous speeches is the "Freedom From Fear" speech, which begins: "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
She has also always voiced how she believes fear spurs many world leaders to lose sight of their purpose. "Government leaders are amazing", she once said. "So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want”.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, has used her first speech since being released from house arrest to challenge the authorities that imprisoned her for much of the past two decades. She said in her speech and I quote, “Democracy is freedom of speech. Please do not give up hope” There is no reason to lose heart”.
I bow to your intellect and your wisdom that has had you lead the life you have Ma’am and I wish you a wonderful journey ahead as you pave way for a new Myanmar and Burma that is built on the plinth of hope, faith and democracy as its true bastion. I am with you in your journey Ms. Suu Kyi as I believe many others are as well.
