Old friends: Desmond Tutu with Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon in 2013.
The Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has called on Aung San Suu Kyi to end military-led operations against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority that have driven 270,000 refugees from the country in the past fortnight.
The 85-year old archbishop said the “unfolding horror” and “ethnic cleansing” in the country’s Rahkine region had forced him to speak out against the woman he admired and considered “a dearly beloved sister”.
Despite Aung San Suu Kyi defending her government’s handling of the growing crisis, Tutu urged his fellow Nobel peace price winner to intervene.
“I am now elderly, decrepit and formally retired, but breaking my vow to remain silent on public affairs out of profound sadness,” he wrote in a letter posted on social media.
“For years I had a photograph of you on my desk to remind me of the injustice and sacrifice you endured out of your love and commitment for Myanmar’s people. You symbolised righteousness. Your emergence into public life allayed our concerns about violence being perpetrated against members of the Rohingya. But what some have called ‘ethnic cleansing’ and others ‘a slow genocide’ has persisted – and recently accelerated. It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country,” said the 85-year old anti-apartheid activist. “If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep.”
Tutu joined the growing list of voices calling on Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to protect Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority as the United Nations estimated the number of refugees to have crossed into Bangladesh had reached about 270,000. A spokeswoman for the UN high commissioner for refugees, Vivian Tan, said the revised figure – an increase of nearly 130,000 on Thursday’s estimates – did not necessarily reflect fresh arrivals in the past 24 hours, “but that we have identified more people in different areas that we were not aware of before”.
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever peace prize winner, said on Monday “the world is waiting” for Aung San Suu Kyi to act. “Every time I see the news, my heart breaks,” she wrote on Twitter. “Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment. I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same”.
On Tuesday, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said the government clearance operations in Rakhine “risked” ethnic cleansing.
A Change.org petition to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel peace prize had reached 377,332 signatures by Friday. On Thursday, Aung San Suu Kyi made her first spoken remarks on the crisis in Rakhine since government crackdowns began last month. “It is a little unreasonable to expect us to solve the issue in 18 months,” she told the Delhi-based network Asian News International. “The situation in Rakhine has been such since many decades. It goes back to pre-colonial times.”
On Friday, Tutu used his open letter to urge Aung San Suu Kyi to intervene and speak out.
“As we witness the unfolding horror we pray for you to be courageous and resilient again,” he said. “We pray for you to speak out for justice, human rights and the unity of your people. We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crisis and guide your people back towards the path of righteousness again. Source: The Guardian
The 85-year old archbishop said the “unfolding horror” and “ethnic cleansing” in the country’s Rahkine region had forced him to speak out against the woman he admired and considered “a dearly beloved sister”.
Despite Aung San Suu Kyi defending her government’s handling of the growing crisis, Tutu urged his fellow Nobel peace price winner to intervene.
“I am now elderly, decrepit and formally retired, but breaking my vow to remain silent on public affairs out of profound sadness,” he wrote in a letter posted on social media.
“For years I had a photograph of you on my desk to remind me of the injustice and sacrifice you endured out of your love and commitment for Myanmar’s people. You symbolised righteousness. Your emergence into public life allayed our concerns about violence being perpetrated against members of the Rohingya. But what some have called ‘ethnic cleansing’ and others ‘a slow genocide’ has persisted – and recently accelerated. It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country,” said the 85-year old anti-apartheid activist. “If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep.”
Tutu joined the growing list of voices calling on Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to protect Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority as the United Nations estimated the number of refugees to have crossed into Bangladesh had reached about 270,000. A spokeswoman for the UN high commissioner for refugees, Vivian Tan, said the revised figure – an increase of nearly 130,000 on Thursday’s estimates – did not necessarily reflect fresh arrivals in the past 24 hours, “but that we have identified more people in different areas that we were not aware of before”.
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever peace prize winner, said on Monday “the world is waiting” for Aung San Suu Kyi to act. “Every time I see the news, my heart breaks,” she wrote on Twitter. “Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment. I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same”.
On Tuesday, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said the government clearance operations in Rakhine “risked” ethnic cleansing.
A Change.org petition to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel peace prize had reached 377,332 signatures by Friday. On Thursday, Aung San Suu Kyi made her first spoken remarks on the crisis in Rakhine since government crackdowns began last month. “It is a little unreasonable to expect us to solve the issue in 18 months,” she told the Delhi-based network Asian News International. “The situation in Rakhine has been such since many decades. It goes back to pre-colonial times.”
On Friday, Tutu used his open letter to urge Aung San Suu Kyi to intervene and speak out.
“As we witness the unfolding horror we pray for you to be courageous and resilient again,” he said. “We pray for you to speak out for justice, human rights and the unity of your people. We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crisis and guide your people back towards the path of righteousness again. Source: The Guardian
HATE TWEETS ON SHOT JOURNALIST GAURI LANKESH:
One commented: “You reap what you sow.” Another wrote in Hindi: “A bitch died a dog’s death and all of her litter is crying in the same voice.”
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also come under fire for not blocking his followers on Twitter who have been praising the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, a fierce advocate of secularism and a frequent critic of right-wing ideology. Some of those who attacked her on Twitter after the killing claim close ties to BJP leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi "has never blocked or unfollowed anyone on Twitter" and his following someone is "not a character certificate", his party said after accounts followed by Modi posted vicious and abusive messages celebrating or justifying the murder of Lankesh. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal said the BJP's explanation is transparent. "While we fight trolls, PM Modi ignites them," said the Congress in a statement.
Modi has also come under criticism for not speaking up for Rohingyas
As India hardens its stand on Rohingya refugees, PM Modi told Myanmar New Delhi shares its concern
"We thoroughly understand the challenges that you have been facing. We are partners in your concerns, over the loss of lives of security forces and innocent people due to the extremist violence in Rakhine State," Indian Prime Minister Modi tells Aung Suu Kyi on visit to Mynamar
Fijileaks: We would like to remind Aung Suu Kyi of another Nobel laureate's distant voice from the past:
Even Buddhism has lost its non-violence and humane teachings, with monks beating each other up in the street:
A copy of VICTOR LAL's lecture ‘Religion, Violence, ISIS and Gandhi’s Encounter with Islam and Caliphate’, which he delivered at the Centre for Peace Studies, University of Tromsø, Norway, in October 2015, can be obtained from
Fijileaks: editor@fijileaks.com
