Aung San Suu Kyi Earned Her Nobel Prize, Let Her Keep It

Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi is gathering criticism from every quarter which seems to be the way things go in this world of social media where people swarm like sharks on a perceived weakling. Suu Kyi's 'weakness' is her refusal to condemn the Burmese (Myanmar) military for their raping and killing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma's Rakhine State. 

Aung San Suu Kyi is the face of democracy in Myanmar. In 1991 she easily won federal elections but was denied power by the military junta that was in control. She spent 15 of the next 21 years under house arrest. She consistently encouraged her many supporters to remain patient and non-violent. For this, and for the extraordinary courage she displayed in facing down military shooters, she won a Nobel Peace Prize, one which other Nobel Laureates would see her return. Is that fair?

The Rohingya

The Rohingya people are native to the sub-continent although a few can trace their heritage in Rakhine State back hundreds of years (some say a thousand years). Some were brought to the state by Portuguese slave traders a few hundred years ago while some others can trace their migration to Rakhine State to British colonialism. Burma was a British colony as well as the entire sub-continent.

After independence in 1948 there were many Rohingyas in Rakine State, such that they elected 5 Rohingya members to Burmese parliament. But then in 1982, the Burmese government passed a law which changed everything. Declaring Rohinyas non-citizens without the right to vote, without education, and ineligible for positions in the civil service, and with movement restrictions. 

 Jihad

The Rohingya jihad movement began in 1947, even before independence, in northern Rakhine State. They wanted the northern part of the state to join Pakistan, but Pakistan refused to entertain that idea, so they began to fight for an independent state. There are still pockets of mujahidin active today and the Burmese military blame the current operation against the Rohingyas on jihad attacks on Rakhine police.

Suu Kyi

This brings us back to Suu Kyi. During her 15 years of house arrest, Suu Kyi studied and practiced Buddhism intensely. She gracefully applied Buddhist pacifism in her struggles with the military junta, but seems to have abandoned that pacifism when it comes to the Rohingya. Is it because, only occasionally in Burma's history have they recognized the Rohingya as Burmese? Is there something in Buddhism where you don't need to apply it to non-Buddhists? Is it because they are mostly Muslim with a minority of Hindi, and therefore are a threat to Buddhists? 

The fact that northern Rakhine Muslims started fighting for independence from Burma even before Burma gained its independence from Britain is rather telling for states where there is a Muslim majority. They do not like to be ruled by a non-Muslim entity and will resort to violence to end such rule. 

Suu Kyi is 'far-thinking' enough to see that nothing good can come from having a Muslim majority state in Myanmar. They will not blend into society, nor will they be ruled by a religion they think is evil. 

The 'religion of peace' proclaims itself as tolerant of other religions but reality testifies otherwise. 

What Muslims call “tolerance,” others correctly identify as institutionalized discrimination.  The consignment of Jews and Christians to dhimmis under Islamic rule means that they are not allowed the same religious rights and freedoms as Muslims.  They cannot share their faith, for example, or build houses of worship without permission. No Muslim majority country has a thriving Christian or Buddhist community.

It seems obvious to me the Suu Kyi is doing what she always did - protecting her country and its Buddhist heritage. Her departure from 'what she always did' is that she is no longer applying Buddhist pacifism in her methods. Is it a case of 'power corrupts'? Or, is there simply no other way to save her country?

Rakhine State, Myanmar