The words peace and non-violence (ahimsa) remind us of none other than Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. However, there are many other world leaders who drew inspiration from Gandhiji. One amongst them is Aung San Suu Kyi who’s well known as the Myanmar Gandhi. Suu Kyi who’s a staunch believer of Gandhian principles believed that she could win democracy for Myanmar by adopting non-violence. Despite the number of obstacles and hindrances she had faced, Aung San Suu Kyi stood for what she strongly believed in and it was her iron will that secured democracy for her country, thereby bringing an end to the military rule. Democracy helped Myanmar citizens to choose their elected leader.
Who exactly is Aung San Suu Kyi?
Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19th June 1945 in Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar (Burma). She is the daughter of Aung San, the founder of the Myanmar Armed Forces and is hailed as the Father of Myanmar. Having led the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League to victory in 1947 he was assassinated on 19 July 1947. On the other hand, Aung San Suu Kyi emerged a strong stateswoman blessed with her father’s fighting spirit and mother’s political acumen. Suu Kyi completed her higher studies from New Delhi and went on to live in New York. Later in 1988, she returned to Myanmar.
It was during this time that the long-ruling military leader had been ousted from his post. Then Aung San Suu Kyi who was into politics managed to impress the public with her maiden political speech on 26 August 1988. In her first speech, she had emphasised on the importance of democracy. But later, in September the military leader again took charge.
House arrest
In the same month that the military leader assumed charge, Suu Kyi founded the political party ‘National League for Democracy’(NLD). Within 10 months of having initiated the party, she managed to strike fear among the military. This led to her being house arrested on 20 July 1989. When she was given an option to leave the country instead of being house arrested, she chose to stay back. Her strong will and peaceful mentality drew praise from several former military officers and political leaders, who rendered their support to her. Her fight for democracy became a movement among the youth.
Elections held for namesake
In 1990 the military allowed for elections to be held, without having known that Aung San Suu Kyi had garnered massive public support. In those elections, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 80% of the Parliamentary seats. However, the military was reluctant to hand over the reins to Suu Kyi and regained control of Myanmar by house arresting the NLD Chief. Even in 1991 when Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize, she was not allowed to leave the country, and hence the prestigious award was received by her two sons on her behalf.
House arrested for 15-years
Among 21-years of her political history, Suu Kyi spent 15-years of her life in confinement. In spite of her incarceration, her influence spread all throughout Myanmar. Her peaceful protest led her to win the general elections, wherein she served as the State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. However, on 1st February 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested in a Myanmar coup d’état by the military alleging that the results of the election were fraudulent.
