Series Woman of Courage: Reflection 1 : Aung San Suu Kyi

"Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as `grace under pressure’ – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure . . . It is not easy for a people conditioned by the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilised man."

- Aung San Suu Kyi  in the collection of her writings "Freedom from fear"

While attending the Commission on Status of Women (CSW 2010) at the UN in New York on 2nd March, 2010 I was at the "International Tribunal on crimes against women in Burma". It was an International Tribunal jointly undertaken by "The Nobel Women's Initiative" www.nobelwomensinitiative.org and "The Women's League of Burma" www.womenofburma.org focused on crimes against women in Burma. The tribunal was presided by Nobel laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams, accompanied by two leading Human Rights experts Vitit Muntarbhorn and Heisoo Shin. 

It captured the searing live testimonies of 12 women who have faced hardships, torture, rape, hunger under the repressive Burmese Regime headed by General Than Shwe. I sat in the audience deeply struck by the courage of these women survivors who shared their pain, fear and horror with such deep honesty and also shared their hope, dreams and wishes to change Burma. Each testimony began with the haunting words, "It is my witness..not something told to me but it is my witness...". I then clearly understood that this is their national experience ever since the uprising of 1988 and the general election of 1990 which lead to a landslide win by the National League of Democracy(NLD) headed by Aung San Su Kyi. The army ignored this winning verdict of the people and imprisoned and tortured those who lead the 1988 uprising and members of NLD. For 40 years now Burmese people have lived their lives under the fear and favor of the military regime. The oppressive regime has carried on with impunity a campaign of violence and fear. Ethnic populations have had to vacate their homes as the regime plunders Burma of it's natural resources. I heard stories of rape, sexual violence & sexual torture, political imprisonment, forced displacement and forced labour. 

I heard the victims say that the cycle of violence has become so common that it seems normal. Yet each one of these women knows that THIS is not normal. It is not normal to be constantly on the run in one's own country. It is not normal to have no safety, security, no legal status. It is not normal to live under the spectre of rape, death and starvation. It is not normal to see your homes burned and family members shot. It is not normal to have to flee from labor camps never to have the opportunity to see your children again. And so bravely they amplify the cries for justice, peace, resolution and equality. They are not just survivors but strong advocates for a peaceful Burma. Each one of them echoed the words of their beloved Ang San Su Kyi "If you're free, you have a chance and responsibility to help the people who are not free."

I experienced firsthand the powerful appeal of a person of conscience - the appeal captured in the image of a Martin Luther King articulating the dream, or of a Nelson Mandela walking to freedom from 27 years in prison on Robben Island or of the image of solitary figure of Gandhi leading a nation to freedom. All of us have seen the images of Daw as Aung San Su Kyi is called by her people, a fragile looking woman of steel, a woman of conscience. She is the only Nobel Laureate who is imprisoned and has been under house arrest for the last 19 years and counting. I understood why her fight is heroic and her personal sacrifice so deep. She cannot let down her people who emulate her sense of heroic struggle and sacrifice. She is the beacon of hope for each one of them as together they wait for a better future, a better country.

I wondered along with everyone else hearing the words of these women as to how will this "better future & better country" be achieved for the Burmese people? We hear of the expected parliamentary elections later this year, an attempt by the military junta to gain legitimacy of an electoral mandate. Analysts expect military to continue to dominate all areas of Burmese life - government, bureaucracy and economy. The dice is being loaded to achieve what it calls "disciplined flourishing democracy" - Military generals shedding ranks and uniforms to don civilian clothes and registrations of political parties by these "new civilians". NLD the party headed by Aung San Su Kyi was dissolved at 12.10 am on 7th May 2010 as an act of defiance in protest against the undemocratic elections ahead. NLD was automatically disqualified as it refused to register itself as a political party in the upcoming elections.

I am hopeful that the upcoming elections, however undemocratic, will be a beginning for some sort of accountability at the local level in Burma. The international community - The UN, ASEAN and China, because of their inherent limitations and contradictions have all not been able to put enough pressure on the military regime to change. So where will the solutions emerge. I strongly feel that civil society & women have to take up the cause of these women. As a build up to the election ahead, we need to send strong signals of support to the struggle of these woman and exert moral pressure on the junta to change. History shows many a times that might does not always prevail and truth prevails. The world needs to respond to their appeal for hope but also to restore our faith in the goodness of humanity. There are moments that make us suspend our disbelief and reaffirm that humans can change - moments like the pulling down of the Berlin Wall, release of Nelson Mandela, election of Barrack Obama. I wish to experience just such a transcendent moment in Asia where we see Daw Aung San Su Kyi walk and live in freedom and bring resolution and peace in the lives of the suffering Burmese Women and men.

For the courage she shows in face of such unremitting sense of hopelessness Aung San Su Kyi has my vote for a woman of courage and conscience.