Suu Kyi, who is facing mounting international pressure to take action since the escalation of recent violence in Rakhine, has recently been called upon by fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to stop the violence against Rohingya Muslims. Suu Kyi, who is facing mounting international pressure to take action since the escalation of recent violence in Rakhine, has recently been called upon by fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to stop the violence against Rohingya Muslims.

In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that it wished “to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means”. 26 years later, the Rohingyas of Myanmar would disagree with the trusting assessment of the erstwhile committee. Reflecting on her great personal sacrifices and strong will during the 11-year house arrest imposed by the military junta, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa wrote in The Guardian in 2009 that the people of Myanmar (and the world by extension) “desperately need the kind of moral and principled leadership that Aung San Suu Kyi would provide”.

Suu Kyi, who is facing mounting international pressure to take action since the escalation of recent violence in Rakhine, has recently been called upon by fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in a statement released on Twitter to stop the violence against Rohingya Muslims and take a stand on the long-standing issue of their persecuted, stateless status. Yanghee Lee, the United Nations’ special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, told the British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) that the situation was “really grave” in Rakhine and called for Suu Kyi to “step in”. Similarly, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said in a statement that “the treatment of the Rohingya is alas besmirching the reputation of Burma … I hope [Suu Kyi] can now use all her remarkable qualities to unite her country, to stop the violence and to end the prejudice that afflicts both Muslims and other communities in Rakhine”.

Evasive reactions

During her 2015 election campaign, Suu Kyi did not raise the issue herself and when interviewed on that subject by foreign journalists, she evaded the question and seemed to rationalise the fear of Muslims, suggesting that the violence was the responsibility of both Muslims and Buddhists equally. At the time, it was partially attributed to her drive to win the election, which she went on to clinch with an 86 per cent majority, by avoiding an alienation of potential supporters who could have been anti-Rohingyas. Her post-election moves too, however, continued to be very cautious for a popular leader.

She failed at condemning the destruction of two mosques by sectarian Buddhist mobs, appealing internationally for “space” to deal with the situation. Expectations from Suu Kyi to take a firm stand on the Rohingya situation increased when on October 9, 2016, in an attack similar to August 25, 2017, militants believed to be Rohingyas attacked border posts – killing nine policemen. The Army responded with crushing force aimed at killing or capturing the militants. In the months following the initial attacks, 102 alleged attackers and 32 soldiers were killed. Reports of entirely burnt and razed Rohingya villages, rapes and executions of suspected militants followed. During this period, foreign media had been barred from entering the region, which raised international eyebrows.

Following the violence, Suu Kyi undertook a diplomatic visit to Japan. She met the Japanese foreign minister who mentioned that violence could not be allowed in dealing with the crisis. To that, Suu Kyi reportedly replied, “The problem in Rakhine state is extremely delicate and care is needed in responding … The Myanmar government is responding to the issue of Rakhine state based on the principles of the rule of law.” She failed to criticise the actions of the army and got away without using the word “Rohingya”. Many in Myanmar believe the Rohingyas are “squatters” or immigrants from Bangladesh and that the term “Rohingya” itself is a fabrication. The Buddhist communalists insist on calling this ethnic minority “Bengalis”.

A popular leader appearing paralysed

In spite of her landslide victory, in Myanmar’s project of ‘restoration to democracy,’ Suu Kyi hasn’t necessarily been a free agent. On one hand, she had been facing repeated challenges from the vociferous Buddhist nationalists group Ma Ba Tha (Burmese acronym for the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion), which is led by militant monks and spearheaded anti-Muslim actions like attacks and felling of mosques in the preceding years. The right wing rhetoric in Myanmar is a familiar one — danger of Buddhism being overtaken by fast-breeding Muslims, in a state that is almost 90 per cent Buddhist. In the beginning of August, angry monks began protesting outside Myanmar’s most famous temple and accused the government of failing to protect Buddhism even though the ruling National League for Democracy did not put forward a single Muslim candidate for the parliament in 2015. On the other hand, there is the military which still retains a strong position and under the Constitution of the former military regime, reserves control of the defense, home affairs and border affairs ministries, in addition to 25 per cent reservation of legislative assembly seats for armed officers.

It is not surprising in the least, however, that human rights activists are finding her small for her own shoes as silence on a human crisis of this scale comes across as complicity.

Commentators have acknowledged that defending the Rohingyas could dent Suu Kyi’s political prospects with the Burmans, yet democratic leaders — especially icons like Suu Kyi — are expected to be willing to transcend such constraints. “The violence against the Rohingya is not an isolated event,” Stella Naw, an analyst from the ethnic Kachin minority focusing on national reconciliation, had told The Indian Express,“We know the game the army is playing. But as a politician elected by the people, she is accountable for her inaction and failure to condemn the army.”

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