By Nay Thar (Name changed)
The good news flying around the country that our martyr’s daughter Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest brings dim happiness and hope for many people from Myanmar. Does that mean she can bring peace and freedom to her people? Question and doubt remains unanswered to many people in both rural and urban areas. Some ethnic people in very remote areas do not even know about Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party. This might be because people are struggling to survive and have little or no awareness of political change in Myanmar. Second, people have less hope or interest in one person or one party as they have been experiencing changing persons but no improvement in the country.
Concerning Aung San Suu Kyi’s security, many people are worried that there will be violence like in 2003 in the northern village Depayin when a government-sponsored mob attacked her caravan and killed and wounded many of her supporters, while Aung San Suu Kyi managed to flee. But because of the attention from both, the local and international media, this might not happen. Especially the military junta is now busy enough to take care of the internal unity, and struggles to maintain military power over the ethnic groups.
Aung San Suu Kyi also agrees with the ethnic groups to call for a second Panglong Agreement to look for a political solution of the ethnic conflict. She even said that her release does not mean she got freedom as her people still have not got freedom. This clearly represents the real image of a leader. She herself alone cannot bring the peace and freedom, but she may motivate the people to stand up and speak up for their right. However, the separation of NLD and NDF already let the people’s hopes on the NLD down. If one party cannot maintain unity, how can it bring unity and peace to the country? The answer should be for all people of Myanmar to stand up together for peaceful demonstrations inside and outside the country while the fighting of ethnic armed groups against the military junta goes on at the same time. By this means we can see the real changes.