| Overdue' release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Suu Kyi comes after 15 years as a political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, who went from English housewife to Myanmar's opposition leader and world famous political prisoner, is a powerful symbol of the struggle against dictatorship in one of the world's most oppressive countries. Detained for 15 of the past 21 years, the 65-year-old pro-democracy leader was freed yesterday after her latest period of house arrest expired. Yet despite her steely determination in confronting the generals, the former Burma has moved no closer to democracy after 48 years of brutal military rule, holding an election on Sunday that the military junta's party won easily. Slightly built and soft-spoken, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and plays a crucial role in keeping world attention on Myanmar's military junta and its human rights record. Known simply as 'The Lady' by millions of her countrymen, she refuses to give up on the resource-rich country. "For me, real freedom is freedom from fear and unless you can live free from fear you cannot live a dignified human life," she once said. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the country's last elections, in 1990, by a landslide, but has never been allowed to govern. After deciding not to contest Sunday's election, her party was disbanded by the junta. She was due to be released on May 27 last year. That changed when an American intruder swam to her lakeside home just weeks before she was to be freed, claiming God had sent him to warn her she would be the target of an assassination plot. She was sentenced to house arrest the following August for allowing the intruder, John Yettaw, to stay two nights, which was deemed to be an infringement of security laws. She was last freed in May 2002 and immediately travelled the country to meet supporters, drawing huge crowds - and increasing hostility from backers of the military government. Then, on May 30, 2003, Suu Kyi and her convoy were, according to rights groups, ambushed and attacked by government-affiliated thugs. Dissidents in exile suspect more than 70 NLD followers were killed. The military blamed the clashes on Suu Kyi and placed her under "protective custody" at a secret location, sparking international outrage and sanctions from the West and an unprecedented rebuke from Yangon's neighbours. Since major surgery in September 2003, she has been confined to her home on Yangon's University Avenue, a prisoner in all but name, without the use of a telephone and with her visitors restricted. Suu Kyi's struggle has drawn comparisons to South Africa's Nelson Mandela and India's Mahatma Gandhi - freedom fighters from whom she has drawn inspiration over the years. She was born in Yangon, then called Rangoon, on June 19, 1945. She was educated in Myanmar and India and later In 1972, she married Aris and they raised two sons - Alexander and Kim - while moving between Bhutan, India and Japan before settling in Oxford. Suu Kyi, who says arrests for her and other activists are an "occupational hazard" of the democracy movement, has always played down the hardships she has faced compared with those that the Myanmar people have had to endure. "What we have is perseverance. It is not patience, it is perseverance. We are prepared to persevere whatever the obstacles," she said in 2002. She is now the world's most famous prisoner of conscience, but her fight has come at great personal cost. She has always refused to leave Myanmar, for fear of not being allowed back. Her husband was denied a visa to visit her, even when he was dying of prostate cancer. Aris died in March 1999 and Suu Kyi declined an offer from the junta to leave the country so she could attend his funeral. * US President Barack Obama said: "While the Burmese regime has gone to extraordinary lengths to isolate and silence Aung San Suu Kyi, she has continued her brave fight for democracy, peace, and change in Burma. "She is a hero of mine and a source of inspiration for all who work to advance basic human rights in Burma and around the world. The United States welcomes her long overdue release." "Aung San Suu Kyi's release offers hope to the people of Burma, who face uncertain times following the elections," said Tutu, who is chairman of the group. "She is a global symbol of moral courage and we wish her strength and health as she makes her own transition from such a long period under house arrest." * German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Myanmar's rulers to free Myanmar's remaining political prisoners. "Aung San Sui Kyi is a symbol for the global fight for the realisation of human rights. Her non-violence and relentlessness have turned her into an admired role model," the German government said in a statement. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2005loNRYY&feature=player_embedded
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| Aung San Suu Kyi ( aung hcan: cu. krany; Burmese pronunciation: [àuɴ sʰáɴ sṵ tɕì]; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 80% (392 of 492) of the seats in Parliament.She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1990 until her release on 13 November 2010. Aung San Suu Kyi was the recipient of the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the Government of India. Aung San Suu Kyi is the third child and only daughter of Aung San, considered to be the father of modern-day Burma. ÏÞCâY: ¥¿ß‚ÎVJæMG ¼ÈÄÏáæ¿ ØíçÈÙÞøÕBZAá È¿áÕßçÜAí ÎcÞXÎùßæa ÕßçÎÞºÈ ÈÞÏßµ ²Þ¹í ØÞX Øâ ºß ®Jß. ÕßçÎÞºÈJßæaÏᢠØbÞÄdLcJßæaÏᢠ¥ÎßÄÞÙïÞÆBZAMáù¢ ɵbÎÄßÏÞÏÞÃí ¥ùáÉJFáµÞøßÏÞÏ Øâ ºß çÎÞºÈÎáÙâVJJßW µÞÃæMGÄí. çÜÞµæJ ¯xÕᢠdÉÖØíÄÏÞÏ øÞ×íd¿àÏ Ä¿ÕáµÞøßæÏ µÞJí ¥‡ÞÏßøçJÞ{¢ ¼ÈBZ Õà¿ßÈá ÎáKßW Ä¿ß‚áµâ¿ßÏßøáKá. çÜÞµæÎO޿ᢠÎÈá×cÞÕµÞÖJßÈᢠØbÞÄdLcJßÈᢠçÕIß È¿AáK çÉÞøÞGB{áæ¿ ¼bÜßAáK dÉÄàµÎÞÏß ÈßÜæµÞUáK ²Þ¹íØÞX Øâ ºß ÕcµíÄßÉøÎÞÏß Äæa ÙàçùÞÏÞæÃKí Ïá®Øí dÉØßÁaí ÌùÞµí ²ÌÞÎ. ÎcÞXÎùßW ¼ÈÞÇßÉÄc¢ ÉáÈ£Øí@ÞÉßAÞÈᢠøÞ×íd¿àÏ ÎÞxBZAᢠØâ ºßÏáæ¿ çÎ޺Ȣ ÕÝßæÏÞøáAáæÎKᢠ²ÌÞÎ dÉÄcÞÖß‚á. |
Courtesy : Kaumudi Daily, Malayalamanorama, wikipedia,Washington Post, 7days.ae
www.keralites.net |
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