It’s arguable that Nelson Mandela of South Africa was the only political leader who commanded more universal admiration and respect over the past 50 years than Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar.
Both seemed bonded by an uncompromising commitment to democratic principles, which they honored by spending 27 and 15 years as political prisoners, respectively.
However, after talking the talk, Mandela began walking the walk from the day he was finally released in 1990. By contrast, Suu Kyi seemed to be walking pursuant to a Faustian bargain with her military jailers from the day she was finally released in 2010.
Early warning signs of democratic betrayal
In fact, in “Obama’s Historic Trip to Myanmar: Too Soon?“ (November 12, 2012), iPINIONS questioned President Obama’s visit. Because, like so many world leaders before him, he was making a pilgrimage to her home to bask in the glow of her political halo.
Even then, I highlighted how Suu Kyi’s silence on Rohingya persecution demonstrated her co-option by Myanmar’s military. Her refusal to condemn the religious cleansing of Muslims, whom the UN calls “the world’s most persecuted people,” stood in stark contrast to Gandhi’s vocal opposition to similar persecution in India.
From democracy icon to military collaborator
As I predicted in “Aung San Suu Kyi Becoming Democratic Mascot of Myanmar’s Military Dictatorship“ (March 28, 2013), she soon vindicated concerns about her democratic principles.
Instead of standing with oppressed people, she made a show of sitting with the military leaders she once defied. Most notably, she appeared at their annual military parade, surrounded by hundreds of uniformed officers in scenes that epitomized authoritarian pageantry.
I also decried the conspiracy of Western media silence as Buddhist monks began religiously cleansing Myanmar of Muslims while Suu Kyi and her military cohorts sat by.
In my 2015 analysis “Buddhists Religiously Cleansing Myanmar of Muslims,” I hoped increased media coverage would force Myanmar’s leaders to act — if only to prevent images of fleeing Rohingya from undermining their tourism promotion efforts.
International media finally take notice
This is why I was heartened when the BBC finally began echoing the questions I had raised years earlier about Suu Kyi’s commitment to democratic principles. They asked why the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s political party was excluding Muslims from its candidate list for the upcoming elections.
The comparison was stark: imagine if Mandela had prepared for South Africa’s first democratic elections by presiding over the ethnic cleansing of Whites from both his party and the entire country.
Western powers’ selective blindness
Western powers remain all too willing to indulge Suu Kyi’s betrayal of democratic principles she once championed. This selective blindness was evident when Washington denounced Myanmar’s generals for internal party purges, while ignoring Suu Kyi’s exclusion of Muslims from her opposition party.
A senior US diplomat criticized the ruling party’s actions as having a “chilling effect” reminiscent of military dictatorship, demanding they act to “reinforce, not undermine, public confidence in democratic processes.”
Yet this same standard wasn’t applied to Suu Kyi’s anti-Muslim policies. And that oversight makes about as much sense as denouncing Assad for Syrian ruling party changes, while ignoring opposition parties enforcing ISIS-style Sharia law.
Unfortunately, Western powers, led by the hopelessly compromised United States, will never learn from their selective application of democratic principles.
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