ASSK Position

8/9/2019 ASSK Position

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/assk-position 1/5

of 5

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Basic Stand In October 2009 Burma's popular dissident leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sent word to

outside about her fundamental stand and doctrine. She cited three of her speeches or articlesas her basic position:

I. All we want is our Freedom, Parade Maga zine, 9 March 2003II. Please use your liberty to promote ours, New York Times, 4 February 1997III. Acceptance speech at Jawaharlal Nehru Award presentation ceremony, New Delhi,

India, 1993

I

ALL W E W ANT IS OUR FREEDOM Parade Maga zine March 9 2003

Traveling across Burma, I ask people why they want democracy. Very often the answer is,“We just want to be free.” They do not have to elaborate. I understand what they mean. They want to be able to live their lives without the oppressive sense that their destiny is not theirsto shape. They do not want their daily existence to be ruled by the orders and whims of those whose authority is based on might of arms.

When I ask young people what they mean by freedom, they say that they want to be able tospeak their minds. They want to be able to voice their discontent with an education systemthat does not challenge their intellect. They want to be able to discuss, criticize, argue; to beable to gather in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands to sing, to shout, to cheer.Burma’s young people want to play out the vitality of their youth in its full spectrum of hope

and wonder–its uncertainties, its arrogance, its fancies, its brilliance, it rebelliousness, itsharshness, its tenderness.

What do the women of Burma want? They tell me that they want to be free from the tyranny of rising prices that make a household an exhausting business. They want to be free fromanxiety that their husbands might be penalized for independent thinking–or that theirchildren might not be given a chance in life. Many — too many – long to be free from havingto sell their bodies to support their families.

The farmers and peasants I meet want to sow and plant as they wish, to be able to markettheir products at will, unhampered by the coercion to sell it to the state at cruelly low prices.They struggle daily with the land. They do not want unreasonable decrees andincomprehensible authority to add to their burden.

And what about those of us in the National League of Democracy? Why are we working sohard to free our country? Is it not that we see democracy through a haze of optimism. Weknow that democracy is a jewel that must be polished constantly to maintain its luster. Toprevent it from being damaged or stolen, democracy must be guarded and unremitting vigilance.

We are working so hard for freedom because only in a free Burma will we be able to build anation that respects and cherishes human dignity.

As I travel through my country, people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned inmy home –first for six years, then for 19 months. How could I stand the separation fromfamily and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of

conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But wehave stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity–our conscience.



of 5

Here is what I want most for my people: I want the security of genuine freedom and thefreedom of genuine security. I would like to see the crippling fetters of fear removed, that thepeople of Burma may be able to hold their heads high as free human beings. I would like tosee them striving in unity and joy to build a safer, happier society for us all.

I would especially like to see our younger people stride confidently into the future, their

richness of spirit soaring to meet all challenges. I would like to be able to say: “This is anation worthy of all those who loved it and lived and died for it–that we might be proud of our heritage.” These are not dreams. These constitute the reality towards which we have been working for years, firm in our faith that the will of the people will ultimately triumph.

II

'Please Use Your Liberty to Prom ote Ours'

New York Times February 4, 1997

Those of us who decided to work for democracy in Burma made our choice in the conviction

that the danger of standing up for basic human rights in a repressive society was preferableto the safety of a quiescent life in servitude. Ours is a nonviolent movement that depends onfaith in the human predilection for fair play and compassion.

Some would insist that man is primarily an economic animal interested only in his material well-being. This is too narrow a view of a species which has produced numberless brave menand women who are prepared to undergo relentless persecution to uphold deeply held beliefsand principles. It is my pride and inspiration that such men and women exist in my country today.

In Burma it is accepted as a political tradition that revolutionary changes are brought aboutthrough the active participation of students. The independence movement of our country was carried to a successful conclusion by young leaders, including my own father, General

Aung San, who began their political careers at Rangoon University.

An institution with such an outstanding reputation for spirited opposition to establishedauthority is naturally a prime target for any authoritarian government. The Burmese military regime which assumed state power in 1962 blasted the Rangoon University Students' Union building out of existence within a few months of taking over and made it illegal for studentsto form a union.

In 1988 the people of Burma rose up against the rule of the Burma Socialist Program Party,the civilian cloak of a military dictatorship. At the vanguard of the nationwidedemonstrations were students who demanded, among other basic rights, the right to form aunion.

The response of the military junta was to shoot them down. More than eight years on, thestudents of Burma have still not relinquished their quest for an association that wouldpromote their interests and articulate their aspirations and grievances.

As recently as December, there were student demonstrations where the call for the right toform a union was reiterated. The security forces used violence to disperse the demonstrators,and a number of young people from my party, the National League for Democracy, werearrested on the grounds that they had been involved in organizing the demonstrations. I wasaccused of having discussions with the students.

Things have indeed come to a sorry pass in a country if meetings between politicians andstudents are seen as acts of subversion. My party has never made a secret of its sympathy forthe aspirations of students. We work to forge close links between the different generations so

that a continuity of purpose and endeavor might be threaded into the fabric of our nation.



of 5

When we are struggling against overwhelming odds, when we are pitting ourselves againstthe combined might of state apparatus and military power, we are sometimes subject todoubts — usually the doubts of those whose belief in the permanence of an existing order isabsolute. It is amazing how many people still remain convinced that it is wise to accept thestatus quo.

We have faith in the power to change what needs to be changed but we are under no illusionthat the transition from dictatorship to liberal democracy will be easy, or that democraticgovernment will mean the end of all our problems. We know that our greatest challenges lieahead of us and that our struggle to establish a stable, democratic society will continue beyond our own life span.

But we know that we are not alone. The cause of liberty and justice finds sympatheticresponses around the world. Thinking and feeling people everywhere, regardless of color orcreed, understand the deeply rooted human need for a meaningful existence that goes beyond the mere gratification of material desires. Those fortunate enough to live in societies where they are entitled to full political rights can reach out to help their less fortunate brethren in other areas of our troubled planet.

Part of our struggle is to make the international community understand that we are a poorcountry not because there is an insufficiency of resources and investment, but because we aredeprived of the basic institutions and practices that make for good government.

There are multinational business concerns which have no inhibitions about dealing withrepressive regimes. Their justification for economic involvement in Burma is that theirpresence will actually assist the process of democratization.

But investment that only goes to enrich an already wealthy elite bent on monopolizing botheconomic and political power cannot contribute toward égalité and justice — the foundationstones for a sound democracy.

I would therefore like to call upon those who have an interest in expanding their capacity forpromoting intellectual freedom and humanitarian ideals to take a principled stand againstcompanies that are doing business with the Burmese military regime. Please use your liberty to promote ours.

(Adapted from the commencement address to the American University in Washingtondelivered on her behalf by her husband)

III

ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KY Iat the Jawahar lal Nehru Award presentation cerem ony

New Delhi 1993 (delivered on her behalf by Daw Than E)

Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Prime Minister, Member of the Nehru AwardCommittee, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests and Dear Friends:

This is an occasion for mixed emotions. There are strong ties of friendship and sharedpolitical ideals that bind me to so many people in India. I do not remember a time when I didnot know about India and "Panditji" as we always referred to Pandit Nehru in our family. To be awarded a prize for international understanding established in his memory is a matter of pride and joy for me.

On the other hand I am well aware that the prize comes to me not as an individual but as anindividual but as a representative of the democracy movement in Burma. And that fills me

with a sense of humanity and gratitude, as is always the case when I am chosen to be therecipient of honours that are awarded to those who have rendered outstanding service to the



of 5

cause of human dignity the world over. In my own country there are large numbers of menand women who do not enjoy the protection of international recognition, daily risking their well-being, their liberty and even their lives, for the sake of principles and rights that willguarantee our people a secure and dignified existence. I am thankful for the opportunity todraw attention to the struggles of these brave men and women and to accept, in all humanity,the Nehru Memorial Prize for International Understanding in their name.

It is as much the desire to pay tribute to those who have sacrifice so much in pursuit of a freeand democratic Burma, as to re-establish and straighten my ties with India that I so muchcircumstances could have allowed to me to receive this honor in thin person today. However,as that could not be, I have chosen as my worthy representative a much loved family friendand "honorary" aunt, the first Burmese to become a member of the United NationsSecretariat, she has been an ardent advocate and a practitioner of internationalunderstanding. I know that she will accept the prize on my behalf with all the grace anddignity the occasion merits.

Pandit Nehru's contributions to international understanding go beyond the part he played onthe world stage during his lifetime to narrow the gap between diverse culture and differingideologies. His spirit contribute to reach out to people struggling to establish universalhuman values in a world increasingly preoccupied with material power.

During my years of detention the words and works of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru were a constant source of inspiration and support. I count these two great Indians among my most revered guides, mentors and friends. Throughout the six years that U was cut off fromthe world outside I had hanging in the front hall of my house a scroll on which I had copiedextracts from Panditji's immortal words, to be found in his autobiography, made such aprofound impression on me I would like to quote the passage in its entirety:

Law and order, we are told, are among the proud achievements of British rule in India. My own instincts are entirely in favour of them. I like discipline in life, and dislike anarchy anddisorder and inefficiency. But bitter experience has made me doubt the value of the law andorder are the states and governments impose on people. Sometimes price on pay for themis excessive, and the law is but the will of the dominant fa ction and the order is the reflex of an all-pervading fear. Sometimes, indeed, the so-called law and order might be more justly called the absence of law and order. Any achievement that is based on widespread fear canhardly be a desirable one, and an 'order' that has for its basis the coercive apparatus of theState, and cannot exist without it, is more like military occupation than civil rule. I find inthe Rajatarangini, the thousand-year-old Kasmiri historic epic of the poet Kalhana, thatthe phrase which is repeatedly used in the sense of law and order, sometime that it was theduty of the ruler and the state to preserve, is dharma and abhaya - righteousness andabsence of fear. Law was something more than mere law, and order was the fearlessness of the people. How much more desirable is this idea of inculcating fearlessness than of enforcing 'order' on a frightened populace!

The sentiments expressed by Pandit Nehru in the above passage are exactly my own. Often Ihave felt that we shared much in common and regretted not having taken the opportunity toget to know him better during the years I was in India with my mother. At that time I look upon him simply as a friend of my parents and never imagined I would one day come to look upon him as my own friend.

Pandit Nehru often broke through the barriers of race and generation by his warm humanity.On his way to London for talks on independence for Burma my father made a stop in Delhito have talks with Pandit Nehru and other Indian leaders. Panditji immediately showed afatherly concern for my father, twenty-six his junior. He cast a critical but kindly eye over the younger man's shabby, thin cotton uniform and decided it would not do. He arranged forseveral smart, warm woolen uniforms to be run up hastily by his tailors. Hearing that

England was suffering from one of the coldest winters in living memory Panditji also



of 5

commandeered a greatcoat: a well known photograph of my father shows hi lookingsomewhat swamped in this greatcoat which is rather too large for him.

When my mother was appointed Burmese ambassador to Indian in 1960 Pandit Nehru castover her the warm protection of his friendship, also making a point of singling her out atpublic occasions to enquire after her well-being. It was with such gestures of human warmth

that Pandit Nehru won the hearts of peoples of all races and creeds. And his intellect andintegrity won him the respect even of those who did not share his commitment to democracy and internationalism.

For us who believe that a democratic political system offers the best solutions to the myriadproblems that beset our imperfect world, the achievements of Pandit Nehru and Indiaprovide strong encouragement. This sub-continent of many races, languages and creeds; thisnation that stepped forward proudly to keep its tryst with destiny only months after its fabrichad been rent by horrifying communal strife; extremism and violence; this, the largestdemocracy in the world, is proof supreme that there is no problem beyond the control of asystem that respects the inherent dignity of man and honors him as a being fit for freedomand self-rule. It is the heartfelt hope of the vast majority of the people of Burma that ourcountry too, on a day not too far away, will become a democratic nation guided by the will of the people and ruled by dhama and abhaya.

India and Burma share more than common frontier. Buddhism which is the backbone of Burmese culture sprang from Indian soil. The tolerance, loving kindness, compassion andself-control that Buddhism teaches are qualities that are in valuable in a world made smaller but more complex and potentially very dangerous by the immense technological advances of our age. More than ever there is a need to recognize that all peoples are bound by a commonhumanity, to cultivate those traits that help us to understand one another better. More thanever there is a need for magnificent like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru who could reachout to win alien hearts with their breadth of vision.

India today continues in the tradition of its great leaders. It is indeed an honour to have beenchosen to receive a prize for International Understanding from this nation that is so close tomy heart.

Mr. President and members of the Nehru Award Committee, may I thank you for the honour you have done my country, my people and myself.

Thank you

ASSK Position

Documents

Transcript of ASSK Position