Fall of an Icon

By Muhammad Omar Iftikhar | June 2020

“Four years after Aung San Suu Kyi came to power, Myanmar remains a country where the slightest criticism of the authorities can land you in jail,” says Clare Algar, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy at Amnesty International. She further says, “Environmental activists, poets and students are among those who have been arrested and prosecuted simply for expressing their opinions.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, the first State Counsellor of Myanmar since 2016, has been under the radar for not being fair to her citizens. She has failed to address her country's rising ethnic and economic predicaments. The plight of the Rohingya has been left in the dark because she does not want to take any action for their relief.

Despite the world considering Suu Kyi to change the socio-economic dimensions of Myanmar, she has remained unsuccessful. Over the years her government has been harassing critics. This even includes the slightest of a difference the critics might have with state affairs. Moreover, her government has also arrested and prosecuted activists since she came to power four years ago.

Amnesty International has shown concern over her government silencing those who raised a voice of reason in Myanmar. According to the human rights group, the people who have been arrested include students, journalists and environmental and labour activists among others. Abbott Arriyawuntha Biwuntha, a Buddhist monk was also arrested under Aung San Suu Kyi’s regime. He faced criminal defamation charges for criticizing the military. He also accused a senior officer of donating money to a rigid religious nationalist group. Saw Wai, a poet who expressed his views about bringing changes to the 2008 constitution of Myanmar was also arrested. "I only have my poetry as my weapon. I will fight with it … I will not surrender," he told Amnesty International. This shows the level of monitoring and observation that the law enforcers are abiding by on the orders of Suu Kyi. She does not want anyone to talk against her leadership style or the government itself.

Under Suu Kyi’s rule, Myanmar is going through a tough time. She has ensured that people’s rights for free speech are stifled. According to Amnesty International, over 300 people were prosecuted in 2019 across Myanmar. These are alarming numbers coming from a country where the State Counsellor herself won the 1991 elections. In 2017, critics worldwide had called for the Nobel Committee to strip Suu Kyi of her title. However, nothing has happened yet.

Myanmar’s military-era laws are still being followed by the state. Suu Kyi raised her voice against the house arrest that she endured from 1989 to 2010. She was then making an effort to bring democracy to Myanmar’s system of military rule. She gained global recognition because of her efforts to give Myanmar political and economic freedom. She led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a majority win in Myanmar's first openly contested election for 25 years in November 2015. However, her leadership style changed drastically when she became a State Counsellor, a position akin to the Prime Minister of Myanmar.

"After campaigning for human rights for decades and paying a high price for their own activism, it is shocking that Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues have done so little to change military-era laws that are still being used to repress and punish critics," says Clare Algar of Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has called for the authorities in Myanmar to release prisoners of conscience. It has also asked the government to drop charges against those facing imprisonment. Amnesty International views that the activists were peacefully stating their opinion against repressive laws of the government.

Myanmar remained under military rule from 1962 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, a series of political reforms began to take shape. The people of Myanmar hoped that the future would not be as dark as when the country was under military rule. However, Suu Kyi proved to be an equally terrible leader akin to the generals who kept suppressing the people and did not allow free speech. During the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, the authorities in Myanmar have also shut down the internet. This has disrupted the flow of information. The authorities claim that the internet shutdown has been enforced because of the fight between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group.

It is now evident that the people of Myanmar have lost all hopes as far as Aung San Suu Kyi is concerned. They regarded her as the one who woud bring Myanmar out from its many political and economic predicaments. However, now she has become the kind of leader they despise. The continuous repression of freedom of speech in the country will only agitate the people. Suu Kyi must keep in mind that if the masses can elect her, they can also throw her out of government. She may have brought democracy to Myanmar without violence but now she seems to be compelling the people to resort to violence if she does not bring positive reforms.

It is evident Suu Kyi will not turn a new leaf anytime soon; if her oppressive regime continues to silence the critics, the critics will have no option but to fight back.

International/Kuala Lumpur

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