The saint who turned into a monster (for many)

Elegant, intelligent, courageous. Thirty years ago, there was a new face to the fight for democracy and human rights around the world. The BurmeseFrom Burma, although the country is now known as Myanmar. activist Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest in the capital Rangoon, captured the imagination of millions. Leader of a democratic movement suppressed by the military dictatorship, she won then Nobel Peace PrizeAn annual award given to an individual or organisation working towards peace. Past winners include Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai and the European Union. and became a "symbol of hope"; her name mentioned alongside the Dalai LamaThe spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. and Nelson MandelaA South African anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in jail before becoming president. . But, today, she stands up in the International Court of Justice to defend her country's human rights record. Myanmar is accused of genocideThe annihilation of a people, either through killing of its members, or through the suppression of its culture. after a brutal military assault began in 2016 against the RohingyaA stateless ethnic group. In 2017, the Myanmar army attacked the Rohingya and many fled to Bangladesh. ethnic minority. Some say Myanmar's leader has turned from saint to monster in the space of three years. Is this fair? Until her release in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was the world's most famous political prisoner. In 2015, her party won a landslide election and she formed a new government working with the military. For her supporters in Myanmar and around the world, this felt like the victory of democracy over dictatorshipA form of government in which one person possesses all the power without any limits. , hope over despair. Within months, hope turned to anger. In 2016, the military led a campaign of violence against the Rohingyas, killing thousands and displacing over half a million across the border into BangladeshA country in South Asia with a population of nearly 170 million.. International investigators accused the government of ethnic cleansingThe systematic forced removal from one area or killing of an ethnic group, with the aim of creating a region that is ethnically homogeneous. . Aung San Suu Kyi did nothing. Amnesty InternationalAn international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights. called her lack of action a "shameful betrayal" of the values she embodied. But she told the BBC, "I'm no Mother TheresaThe Albanian-Indian nun famous for her charitable work. She won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and was made a saint in 2016.," and she has always resisted attempts to turn her into an idol or saint, describing herself as a pragmaticDealing with things sensibly and realistically, in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations. politician. Whilst under house arrest, she was a symbol of the "power of the powerless". Without power, people could project their values onto her and make her an icon of peaceful resistance. But now she has political power, this is no longer possible. Journalist Mary Dejevsky says, "We made the mistake of putting her on such a high pedestal." Her cause was always Burmese nationalism, not world peace. So we should not be surprised she is in court defending her country today. But does that mean we should never turn politicians into idols? Some say Aung San Suu Kyi's fall from grace doesn't mean we should abandon our political idols. We need hope, principles and ideals in politics and we need to raise our politicians up to a higher standard. When they fail to live up to those ideals, we can feel disappointed, angry and betrayed. But if we don't ask our leaders to be heroes, we should not be surprised if all we get are villains. No more hero-worship, say others. Heroes make great stories, but are bad for the real world. In reality, nothing is black or white, good or evil. Politics is about compromise and difficult decisions, and by turning Aung San Suu Kyi into a living saint, we were blind to her views and her limitations. We deceived ourselves, but if we are surprised and disappointed, we only have ourselves to blame. Q & A What do we know? Myanmar has been taken to the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide against the Rohingya minority. The UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. has collected evidence showing human rights violations, but the Burmese government has called these allegations "exaggerations". They consider the Rohingyas to be illegal migrants from the predominantly Muslim country of Bangladesh. This will be the first case of genocide to be heard at the court since the 1990s. What do we not know? The international community was surprised when Aung San Suu Kyi announced, last month, that she would attend the court proceedings. By doing so, Myanmar recognises the court's legitimacy. However, we don't know whether the Burmese government will accept the court's ruling, or why Aung San Suu Kyi decided to attend.KeywordsBurmese - From Burma, although the country is now known as Myanmar.