Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History, Volume II

Friday, February 15, 2008

This is Aung San Suu Kyi. She lives in Myanmar, where she is under house arrest.

Her incarceration began because she won the general election in 1990, and the military junta refused to relinquish power. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, although she was not permitted to travel to accept it. The military government released her from house arrest in July of 1995 but made it clear that if she left the country to visit her family in the UK, it would not allow her return.

When her husband, Michael Aris, a British citizen, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, the Burmese government denied him an entry visa. Aung San Suu Kyi remained in Burma, and never again saw her husband, who died in March 1999. She remains separated from her children, who live in the United Kingdom.

The junta continually prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from meeting with her party supporters or international visitors. In September 2000, the junta put her under house arrest again, where she remains to this day.

I don't think I would have the strength of character to sacrifice my relationships with my family for a political ideal. But I'm glad she does. Our world is a better place for having her in it, and she is indeed ill-behaved and courageous. Well done, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

1 comments:

Cindi in CO said...

Yes, she's made amazing sacrifices, and I know I couldn't go that far for a political ideal.

I hope history is kind to her.