The military junta of Myanmar has extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by one year, reports say.
The pro-democracy leader’s latest detention period was due to expire on Sunday. The move does not come as a surprise. Under Myanmar’s law, Suu Kyi’s house arrest expires after 12 months and it has to be extended to ensure her detention. Suu Kyi has spent over 11 years of the last 18 years under house arrest.
Suu Kyi lead National League for Democracy had won the elections held in 1990. But she was not allowed to take power and the military junta that took power in 1988 annulled the elections.
A Noble Peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi has become an international symbol for heroic and peaceful resistance of oppression. She, like Nelson Mandela, is a believer of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence as the weapon to resist the injustice.
Suu Kyi is the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San. She has also lived in India for some years attending high school and Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi when her mother was Myanmar’s (then Burma) ambassador to India.
Suu Kyi’s house arrest has crippled the struggle for democracy in Myanmar. The military junta has been successful in crushing all attempts for democracy. The dream of a democratic Myanmar cherished by Suu Kyi and others doesn’t seem to be realizing very soon.
Condemnations and pressures from the world have so far not been able to persuade the military junta to give way to democracy nor it has been able to secure release of Suu Kyi. The self-proclaimed pro-democratic, anti-terror world super power(s) remain mute on the injustices in Myanmar.
Despite all odds-long years of solitary confinements, huge personal losses-Suu Kyi is determined to usher democracy in her country. That is why the military junta fears one single lady so much that it does not allow her the freedom to speak and move. Whether she succeeds in her mission, she will always be remembered as an icon of heroism.
