Names in the News: Burma's News Makers in 2011

Names in the News: Burma's News Makers in 2011
THE IRRAWADDY, Friday, December 30, 2011

In a year that saw many unexpected developments in Burma, some names stand out among those who made the news in 2011. Below is a list of just some of those who played an important role in the past year, including some who may be even more newsworthy in the year ahead.

Min Ko Naing

"On my son's birthday, many people told me: 'You no longer own your son. He now belongs to the nation,'" said the mother of Min Ko Naing, an 88 Generation Students group leader who is currently serving a 65-year sentence for his political activities. Known for his honesty and humility, Min Ko Naing was arrested and imprisoned for his role in organizing protests against dramatic fuel price hikes in July 2007 that later led to the Saffron Revolution. In fact, since 1989, he has spent only two years outside prison. But despite being held for so long behind bars, Min Ko Naing has unwittingly become a powerful symbol of freedom and courage. For his captors, the military regime, he is a bird of freedom that must be kept in a cage. Many Burmese consider Min Ko Naing the most inspiring leader in the country after Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi

In her tumultuous role as leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement since 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, has often been portrayed as an idealistic figure lecturing a mix of democratic values and theories of non-violence to the masses of Burma. Over the years, she has dared to criticize the military establishment—though mostly by innuendo. But since her freedom from house arrest in November, Suu Kyi has markedly toned down her anti-government rhetoric and taken a more pragmatic stance by publicly supporting recent overtures by the new government. It appears that the country's rulers are trying to co-opt her to gain international and domestic acceptance for their new parliamentary system, and she has now decided to join the game and play a formal political role under their terms. "We may not achieve 100 percent of what we are hoping for, but we have to take a risk at the appropriate time," she explained to party followers.

Gun Maw

Armed conflict continues unabated between Burmese government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the north. Fifty-year-old Gen. S. Gun Maw is the deputy military chief of the KIA, a fearsome militia of 10,000 troops that operates along the Sino-Burmese border. Since intense fighting resumed in June after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire, Gun Maw has emerged as one of the most influential leaders in the KIA and its civilian administration, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which he led in two rounds of negotiations with government representatives in 2011. A physics graduate from Mandalay University, Gun Maw was recruited by the KIA when he was a high school student and soon grew into an outstanding commando. He says "the resolution of ethnic conflict is as important as the democratic struggle."

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Names in the News: Burma's News Makers in 2011