Free Suu Kyi

On the occasion of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday, world leaders and activist groups have called for her release from detention. Suu Kyi is under house arrest. She has been under some form of detention for much of the past 20 years. Her ‘crime’ is that she leaves Myanmar’s powerful generals insecure and unsure of their grip over power. Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide mandate in general elections in 1990. But the military refused to hand over power to the NLD. Instead they strengthened their iron grip and sought to eliminate every threat to their rule. They have found it hard to come to terms with Suu Kyi’s immense popularity in Myanmar and outside. Her presence in the public sphere would be a daily reminder that the generals’ rule is illegitimate and provide public protest against the junta a powerful rallying point; hence the need to lock her away under some pretext. The latest excuse for denying her freedom and keeping her out of public life is that she violated the conditions of her detention. In 2008, an American supporter entered her lakeside home uninvited. The military has held her guilty of allowing him in. With elections due later this year, the generals are not taking any chances. They want Suu Kyi out of the political arena.
Issuing statements for Suu Kyi’s release and candlelight vigils are comforting ways of showing support. But these sporadic campaigns by themselves, are not going to push the junta to release her. What is required is a sustained campaign of diplomatic engagement with the generals to prod them into doing so.

India and China are among the handful of countries in the world that wield some influence over Myanmar’s military rulers. Yet neither has been willing to use this to secure Suu Kyi’s release. China’s silence is easy to figure out. It is not a democracy. But India is committed to the principles of democracy. Not speaking up against the illegal incarceration of one of the greatest pro-democracy icons of our times is unconscionable. Besides, India must wake up to the fact that its long-term interests in Myanmar are best served by the restoration of democracy in that country. It must push the generals to release Suu Kyi immediately.