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Aung San Suu Kyi’s father was an national leader who negotiated Burma’s independence from the British Empire in 1947. He was assassinated that year when Suu Kyi was two years old. Suu Kyi went on to form a democratic party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to oppose the military junta that came to power.
She was placed under house arrest for 15 years, but remained a spiritual leader to the Burmese people. One of her most famous moments came in 1988 when she walked straight through a line of soldiers aiming rifles at her and her supporters.
When Suu Kyi was released in 2010 and elected to parliament, it was seen as a symbolic end to nearly five decades of brutal military rule and oppression.
Triumph of non-violent protests
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During her travels, Aung San Suu Kyi met fellow Nobel Laureate the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who had joined campaigns for her release. |
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Known in Myanmar as "the Lady," Suu Kyi sees herself as continuing the tradition of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
"Civil disobedience has a great history," Suu Kyi said in an interview 23 years ago. "That is why I mention Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King said to the people, 'I have a dream.' Well, in a way it is the same with us. We just want to bring our dreams to reality."
In an interview with the BBC last year, Suu Kyi explained that she was attracted to non-violence “but not on moral grounds, as some believe, only on practical, political grounds. It is simply based on my conviction that we need to put an end to the tradition of regime change through violence, a tradition that has become the running sore of Burmese politics.”
However, even though her country has moved in the direction of democracy, it is still in a precarious political position. A recent outbreak of violence that killed 17 people has consumed the news in Myanmar and further underlines the lingering tensions in the still-unstable country.
Finally able to accept the Nobel Peace Prize
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Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her memories of her time in Oxford had helped her while she was under house arrest. |
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During a stop in Oslo, Norway, Suu Kyi finally received her Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded in her absence in 1991 while she was still under house arrest. She condemned the recent violence and used the opportunity to call for the release of the remaining political prisoners.
"I am standing here because I was once a prisoner of conscience," Suu Kyi said. "As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many."
Suu Kyi also received an honorary degree from Oxford University in Britain, where she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics in the 1960s as a fresh-faced undergraduate.
In Ireland, Amnesty International and U2 front man Bono threw a party and gave Suu Kyi a human rights award. In a statement released last month, Bono said, “It’s so rare to see grace trump military might, and when it happens we should make the most joyful noise we can. Aung San Suu Kyi’s grace and courage have tilted a wobbly world further in the direction of democracy.”
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Consumers are also voters. If companies continue to publicize what party platforms they support alongside their next sale, where you shop could become as equally a defining factor as who you vote for in the next election.
