Amazing Burmese Democracy Female Activist

Recently I’ve been finding myself more interested than generally in people who are outstanding for some reason, especially women. And the interesting thing about them is that all of them seem to search for honesty, not fearing too much change, exposure or other people’s judgment.

As I’m going to Asia in September, I’ve started to look for such examples there. And just found the most amazing one: a pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma (now officially called Myanmar), one of the closest military dictatorships in the whole world.

“Aung San Suu Kyi is the Nobel Prize-winning peace activist who is being detained by the military dictatorship of Myanmar. She is the daughter of Burmese General Aung San, a popular hero for helping to establish national independence (1948). Aung San was assassinated in July of 1947, and two year-old Suu Kyi left Burma and lived and studied in India and the United Kingdom. In 1988 she returned to Burma at a time of political upheaval and ended up leading the National League for Democracy (NLD) in opposition to the ruling military regime. Inspired by the non-violent practices of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., she became a national hero and an international celebrity. She was placed under house arrest in 1989, but the NLD still convincingly won popular elections in 1990. The military junta refused to give up power and held Aung San under house arrest until 1995 (she won the Nobel Prize for peace in 1991). She was detained again from September 2000 until May 2002, during which time the NLD was having secret negotiations with the junta in an effort to break the political deadlock. In May 2003 she was again detained, taken into "protective custody" as confrontations between the NLD and government supporters increased. Despite diplomatic pressure and international pleas for her release, she continues to be held in Myanmar; in May of 2006 the ruling military junta announced an extension of her house arrest for an indefinite period.”

In such cases we perceive:
- How important it seems to be for leaders to leave their countries for a little while, in order to enlarge their perspective and consolidate their strength to fight against injustice at home;
- How little international recognitions and treaties can value at some situations, in the sense that a Nobel Prize Peace activist can be kept detained from spreading the word about peace in her own country.