Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma's First Lady of Freedom

A new picture by Time Magazine

I had been following up her story for several years now and decided that it deserves some attention on this blog. For those unaware of her story or that of her country:'s Burma, also known as Myanmar, her name is written Aung San Suu Kyi but properly pronounced as Oun Saan Su Chee; she is also widely called "Mother" or Daw Aung San Suu Kyi which means "Aunt" Aung San Suu Kyi.

So who is she and what's her story? I was reminded (and re-inspired) by TIME magazine's cover and article about her. The title of this post is the title of a very detailed and well written piece on Time.com by Hannah Beech. I would highly recommend reading the article; give it proper time and consideration to really appreciate it. To read the article click here.

One of Mother's most iconic images

Admittedly I'm not fully aware of Burmese daily life or the broad range of movements in Burmese politics, so all I can provide is what I know from following the story over the years and the sources I can provide to give you a deeper insight.

For simplicity, I'll refer to her as "Mother"  for the remainder of this post. Mother was almost forced onto the political scene in her life. She was the daughter of Aung San, a Burmese General, Nationalist, who is widely credited with freeing the country from British Rule. Aung San is widely admired because of his role in Burmese independence; six days before the country was truly independent, Aung San was killed (Mother was only 2 years old). For more on her father, here is his Wikipedia page.

Mother's early education was in a English school in Burma but soon moved to India with her mother to attend college (her mother became a prominent ambassador to Nepal and India). She continued her higher education in a college in Oxford and worked for the UN for 3 years in NY before marrying her husband. Mother returned to Burma to attend to her ailing wife years later and would soon be part of the pro-democracy movement. Her husband Aris, became terminally ill but was denied a visa into Burma to see his wife despite international pressure. From her flight to Burma, the pair would never meet again in person as he died in a distant hospital and Mother refused to leave the country for fear that she wouldn't be allowed back in.

A speech in front of a massive crowd of her supporters

Upon her return to Burma, the leading General of the Burmese government had decided to step down. Short after, began was was called the 8888 Uprising in 1988 which were massive protests calling for a democratic government. Mother soon found herself talking to a crowd of half a million protesters demanding fairness in government. From here, her political leadership began. The uprising was soon suppressed and a new junta military government took form.

2 years later in 1990, the junta dictatorship allowed the first national elections. In them, the National League for Democracy, or NLD, won 59% of the votes. The NLD was Mother's political party and movement for freedom. The results were nullified and the military refused to give up control. She has already had several attacks on her life since then. Over the years, the junta has constantly placed Mother under house arrest. Here is a short list, of this list, she has spent an estimated 15 of the past 21 years under the arrest. 

Periods under detention

• 20 July 1989: Placed under house arrest in Rangoon under martial law that allows for detention without charge or trial for three years.^[45]
• 10 July 1995: Released from house arrest.^[11]
• 23 September 2000: Placed under house arrest.^[34]
• 6 May 2002: Released after 19 months.^[34]
• 30 May 2003: Arrested following the Depayin massacre, she was held in secret detention for more than three months before being returned to house arrest.^[57]
• 25 May 2007: House arrest extended by one year despite a direct appeal from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to General Than Shwe.^[58]
• 24 October 2007: Reached 12 years under house arrest, solidarity protests held at 12 cities around the world.^[59]
• 27 May 2008: House arrest extended for another year, which is illegal under both international law and Burma's own law.^[60]
• 11 August 2009: House arrest extended for 18 more months because of "violation" arising from the May 2009 trespass incident.
• 13 November 2010: Released from house arrest.^[61]

In 2007, Buddhist monks led national protests in light of higher gas prices but soon the movement turned fro human rights and a fight against government abuses. Mother shortly showed up at the gate of the complex she had been kept under house arrest for sometime greeting and showing support to the monks in their struggle.

A brief show of support over her house gates

In 2009, some idiot named John Yettaw, former U.S. Army man swam across the lake onto Mother's property because of what he called a "divine message to warn her of an impeding attack." For the violation, Mother was sent to Insein Prison (a prison for political enemies of the state) and could have faced up to 5 years of confinement. The idiot was saved by negotiator Senator Jim Web. Mrs. Suu Kyi was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment and hard labor, but the decision was commuted by the junta to 18 months extension of house arrest.

In 2010, the Burmese government set up a rigged election which allowed Mother to temporarily leave her house arrest to organize her party (though she, herself, wasn't allowed to run) as a constitutional amendment banned it. the NLD refused to partake in the election and the junta retained power.

On November 13 2010, as promised the military junta released Mother from her house arrest. Since then, this democratic leader has worked quietly amongst her people to make their lives better. Her constant declaration of nonviolent resistance has garnered international support and accolade. Over the years, through her years of confinement and relative freedom this icon of freedom has won the Congressional Gold Medal (US), Nobel Peace Prize (1991), Prize for Freedom, Honorary Canadian citizenship (one of only 3) as well as numerous awards for peace, human rights, and nonviolence. 

Pictures like these are said to be secretly held as support by most of the Burmese

She has garnered international calls for freedom

Dozens of Nobel Peace Prize winners have showed their support for her struggle as well as resolutions from more than 80 nations in the UN and beyond declaring their support for her efforts.

For a more in-depth look at her life, see her Wikipedia page here. Aung San Suu Kyi has become more than just a symbol of freedom. Her stance in our world has matched those of Gandhi, Dr. King, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Susan B. Anthony. I was tempted to place it next to an international icon of peace: Nelson Mendela, but he has a violent side to his movement.

You can find more pictures of her and the movement in Time's slide show.

I can't properly word how highly regarded she is, so I will end this as the Committee explains their decision to award her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. 

...Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression...

...In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means."

—Oslo, 14 October 1991

An older Time magazine cover of her return

 See the story of capturing her essence for journalists in Burma here.