Monday, December 06, 2004

Aung San Suu Kyi

Via Kevin Kumala, who keeps me informed about political developments in East Asia, comes word that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement, has recently had her house arrest extended for an indeterminate period by Burma's military junta.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who is universally acknowledged to be the leader and the personification of Burma's pro-democracy movement, was inspired by the non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1990, her National League for Democracy won a convincing victory in national elections, but the military government, refusing to accept the election results, extended the term of a house arrest that had been imposed the year before.

For a brief biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, see this BBC story or the chronology and selected bibliography associated with her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. (Here [.wav file], via the American Heritage Dictionary, is the proper pronunciation of her name.)