What a world do we live in? Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who was put under house arrest for over a decade by the Myanmar government because of her campaign for justice is today defending the same army generals despite there being clear evidence of their wrongdoings (“Suu Kyi rejects genocide charges at top UN court,” Dec.11, Gulf Today).

It was not long ago that she was hailed worldwide as an icon for her defiance to the army. Sadly the tide has changed. With her being a part of the government setup, today she is vehemently protecting the very same army which is reported to have committed grave atrocities against the Rohingya community. I wish she was right in her argument that the army is wrongly targeted, because it probably would be one of the first instances where an autocratic hierarchy changed course and got down to looking after the interest of its citizenry.

The news report stated that while she rejected allegations of genocide against Myanmar in the UN’s top court she admitted that the army may have used excessive force against Rohingya Muslims. Does that mean that the ‘excessive force’ claim is not a bother for her?

There are independent reports which show that not only have the Rohingya Muslims faced horrific violence at the hands of Myanmar security forces in 2016 and 2017, but they have also been subjected to decades-long systematic discrimination.

Something is amiss here.

Karim Sahib
By email