Dear Editor,
The news that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest by the Burmese military has come as a relief to all those who cherish the ideals of freedom and democracy. Ms Suu Kyi spent 15 of the past 21 years in confinement, but like Nelson Mandela, she refused to trade freedom from confinement for that of abandoning the cause of freedom and democracy. Hers was truly a case of a woman for whom no sacrifice was considered too great for what she believed in.
Immediately upon her release, she signalled her intention to continue the struggle for a free and democratic Burma, now Myanmar. She underlined the centrality of politics very profoundly when she said to her cheering supporters: “If you are not political, politics will come after you.” She urged her countrymen to become more involved and active in the political processes and to stand up for what is right.
The Burmese authorities must be made to feel the heat of the entire global community and to release the hundreds of political prisoners. The freedom of Ms Suu Kyi is testimony to the fact that the military junta is not unmindful of the mounting pressure to democratize the country even though it successfully staged a farcical election which in effect allowed for the status quo to continue.
The situation in Burma today is not dissimilar to what obtained under the period of PNC dictatorial rule when the PPP was denied the opportunity to exercise political power due to massively rigged elections. But as the late Dr Cheddi Jagan was never tired of telling his supporters: “History and time is on our side.” The same is true of the Burmese people who are today languishing under the yoke of undemocratic and repressive rule.
As for Aung San Suu Kyi, she continues to be that symbol of hope for the people of Burma. Like all great men and women of history, she did not display any sign of bitterness against those who wronged her and offered an olive branch to the military. Shades of Nelson Mandela and our own Cheddi Jagan!
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
