In 1989 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi wrote in her essay, In Quest of Democracy, “human life is infinitely precious.” This is true, and she was handed numerous awards for her role as an advocate for human rights in Myanmar for saying so. Yet journalist Mehdi Hasan recently called her, “an apologist for genocide against Muslims.” Her silence, or indifference to the violent attacks on the Rohingya people of Myanmar raises some questions.
Did she really mean some human life is precious? Perhaps when you’re trying to maintain the support of the largest constituency in Myanmar––the nationalists? Can a group of people be dehumanized by a majority group to the point that the term "human life" does not apply to them? History has shown that yes, that can happen, and does (the Native Americans, black people, the Jews, the Shia Hazaras of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Palestinians, the Bosniaks, the Chechens, the Tibetans, et cetera).
Known as stateless people after having had their citizenship stripped from them since 1982, despite having lived in Myanmar for centuries, the Rohingya have endured murder, torture, starvation, loss of property and harassment by the Burmese nationalists, including Buddhist monks. Thousands of Rohingya have fled the country, seeking refuge in neighboring states. Those who remain face more intimidation, the women and girls raped and degraded.
The UNCHR reported earlier this year of how an 11 year old Rohingya girl detailed her gang rape by soldiers until she lost consciousness. The report noted that, “several women would be targeted for rape within a particular house, school or mosque.” While more of these injustices are being exposed, Suu Kyi has gone out of her way to deny the reports. They are merely exaggerations. The accounts of sexual abuse against women and girls she dismisses as “fake rape.” And when not admonishing journalists for criticizing such brutalities in Myanmar, Suu Kyi champions women’s rights on a global platform, warmly preaching to a camera, “more women’s rights means more human rights.”
