It is believed and researchers say that it has proven that elephants which are herbivores are afraid of ants, which I think is the smallest insect as against the elephant which has a mammoth body. Perhaps an adult elephant weighs between 4 to 6 tons while an ant is 6 millimeters long, researchers say weighs about 3 milligrams (or 0.003 grams). How can it be a match for the strongest animal of the forest? But it is a fact that the elephants are afraid of ants because ants by getting into their trunk can create such discomfort for the elephant that it would hit it’s trunk to the tree to push out the ant from its trunk resulting in it’s death. It can also reach it’s brain and create havoc there.
Reference of ant is made to show that strength is not the only criteria for a person to instill either respect or fear of anyone. This is said in the context of a woman who is very frail, short in stature and I think she may not be able to stand firm if strong wind is blown at her. The reference is to the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi., who is fighting for establishing a democratic government in her country. It cannot be denied that she is an embodiment of perseverance and boldness. It is not an easy task to be imprisoned off and on and made to live in isolation. What is the crime she has committed to undergo that punishment? The answer is that she wants freedom and democracy for her people. She wants her people to live in peace and free of fear.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19th of August 1945 in Rangoon, Burma in the family of Aung San, father and Khim Kyi, mother. Her grandmother is suu. Burma, known as Myanmar since 1989, is approximately 261,220 square miles in area. It is bordered on the north by China, on the west by the Bay of Bengal, India and Bangladesh, on the east by Thailand and China, and on the south by the Indian Ocean and Thailand. The name of its capital, Rangoon, is an English corruption of the Burmese name, Yangon, meaning “End of Dangers,” given by King Alaungpaya in 1755.
Aung San Suu Kyi is called with a prefix Daw. The word ‘daw’ is not her name but the said word is used to show respect to the person as one says ‘Madam’ or ‘lady.’ ‘Daw’ means Aunty. She is aunty to everyone in Burma. She is a well educated lady having had education in India at Sri Ram College in New Delhi and B.A. from St. Hugh’s College of Oxford University She had a short stint in the United Nations when U Thant was the Secretary General. She had married Marries Michael Aris, a British Citizen who was working in Bhutan as a translator and who was a Tibetan Scholar. She has two sons from that marriage. She earned her Ph.D. from London University. She was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies at Shimla.
Daw Aung San’s father was a General in the army but it was he, who gave leadership to win freedom for his country from the British Colonial rule and Japanese domination. Sadly he was assassinated before Burma won Independence in January 1947. Though Burma became independent, the political parties failed Burma and the country slipped into the hands of military rulers in 1962 when General Ne Win led a coup de tat.
Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to take care of her ailing mother. At that time the Military leader of Burma, General Ne Win stepped down and there was a mass movement called ‘8888 uprising’ for democracy. ( It is called so as it was held on 8th day of 8th month of 1988 ). She addressed a mammoth rally in front of Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon calling for democracy. But a new military junta took over the reins of the Government. It was at that time she made her entry into politics for democratizing the country and free it from the military rulers and formed National League for Democracy in 1988. The military Junta could not stop her influence with the masses and to contain her influence, she was put under house arrest in 1989. But she contested the 1990 General election under detention and won with a resounding majority. The military never announced the results. Since then she has been under house arrest of and on until recently when she was released under the new set up of guided democracy of the military who have donned the civilian dress. Even now she is under threat of arrest and the threat of further detention can be seen from the warning the military gave in the beginning of this week ( 27-06-2011)
Detention of that frail figure baffles the whole world. One wonders how such a small and frail figure can stand against the mighty army. Here one can compare her strength with the story of the ant and the elephant. She does not believe in violence She is a Buddhist by religion. Her entire approach is Gandhian for taking the country to democracy. In fact, she is very much influenced by Gandhi’s principle of fearlessness and non- violence. Her Buddhist religion also influenced her. She belonged to the Theravada Buddhism sect. It is one of several sects of Buddhism and it means “Teachings of the Elders.” Theravada Buddhists prescribe individual religious striving. Lay people follow the moral and religious teachings of the Buddha, but do not undergo the same rigorous renunciations that are called for in other traditions. They gain merit to help them achieve a better re-birth by supporting monks and nuns. She always says that she could face all the rigors of detention because of following the principles of theravada sect of Buddhism. She spends much of time memorizing sutras and meditating. She believes the teachings of Buddha can be blended with the democratic aspirations of the people. She has elaborated in one of her most famous speeches “ Freedom from Fear†in which she asserts that Buddhism and dictatorship contradict each other, because Buddhism places the highest value on every individual’s ability to attain Buddhahood, while authoritarian regimes devalue individuals, turning them into a “faceless, mindless—and helpless—mass to be manipulated at will.” She also asserts that the Buddhist emphasis on righteousness and virtue supports the idea of political protest when a regime is unjust, as opposed to non-engagement, which some Buddhist traditions have historically taught. She believes that as long as protests are non-violent, and therefore do not violate the precept to do no harm, they are an expression of Buddhist virtues and practice. Like the Buddha, she talks about the hindrance of fear, but in political terms, as in this quote from the said speech
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” She also believes that fear spurs many world leaders to lose sight of their purpose. “Government leaders are amazing”, she once said. “So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want.”
Aung San Suu Kyi has caught the imagination of people all over the world. She has become a hero of human rights. She has been conferred with various awards including Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1991. There is a pop song dedicated to her – U2 Walk On. She represents the hopes of the majority of Burmese people and under her leadership it is hoped that one day she will succeed in putting back the wheels of democracy on rails once again. Thus she has proved that it is not the muscle power that is important but one’s commitment and in her case, it is her Buddhist practice of non – violence and fearlessness has made her to stand tall and steadfast against the army. Believe it or not, she is 66 years of age!!! Still going strong.!!!