Democracy’s forgotten soldier

ACTIONS speak louder than words, therefore the free world’s lukewarm-at-best concern for the suffering fortunes of Aung Saan Suu Kyi raises the question whether democracy’s proponents in the international community are just as much to blame for Burma’s military rule as the generals in Rangoon themselves. What consolation the 200-odd pro-democracy activists marking the 17th anniversary of National League for Democracy’s (NLD) election victory in 1990 were to her is difficult to ascertain, but they must have struck embarrassing cords in powerhouses across the democratised world.

Published: Mon 28 May 2007, 8:52 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 12:58 AM

It is important to note that neither regional nor global players have shown enough support for Burma’s struggling pro-democracy campaigners. Worse, at no time since the NLD’s victory was annulled and its hierarchy apprehended did the international community resort to anything more than carefully worded rhetoric to pressurise its military junta. Now 61, Ms Kyi has been in detention for more than 11 of the last 18 years. All this while, the world’s largest democracy has stood limp right next door while the world’s strongest democracy has been busy spreading democratic norms where they are by no means needed more than Burma. Surely, Burma fits the West’s regime-change bill to the letter, save huge oil reserves perhaps. It ought to be clear by now that military rule, not just in Burma, soon finds itself trapped in a self-perpetuating compulsion, and with passing time centrality of command requires greater authoritarianism. That such processes greatly harm civil liberties and human rights is no longer a matter of conjecture for the developed world. That is why it was no surprise to see plain-clothed policemen taking pictures of people taking part in the rally even if they allowed it to go ahead.

The Burmese problem is compounded because unlike other such establishments, their junta hardly ever receives any pressures from the international community that would force it to restore democracy. Yet the continuing struggle of the likes of Suu Kyi is a beacon of hope, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Embittered by an uncaring international community, the people have decided to go-their-own till a force (or forces) from the outside adds to the momentum.

Throughout this process, even from the confines of her house arrest, Suu Kyi continues to be the glue that holds Burma’s apparently insignificant pro-democracy impulses together. The outside world should act promptly, out of embarrassment if not conviction, or even compulsion, and ensure she is no longer democracy’s forgotten soldier.