Scottish Sunday

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Birmingham city centre evacuated as terror fears trigger global action

By Brian Morton

Aung San Suu Kyi – the tireless campaigner for democracy in Burma – turns 60 today. But she’ll spend her birthday, like most of the past 14 years, under house arrest

WE have a certain sentimental attachment to the combination of mental courage and physical frailty. Would we have felt quite the same way about Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Arundhati Roy if they had been strapping? Everyone comments on Aung San Suu Kyi’s tiny frame and bird-like wrists as if to underline the mismatch of her long struggle with the Myanmar regime. Aung San Suu Kyi – honoured yesterday with the freedom of the city of Edinburgh – is 60 today. She marks the day as a widow, separated from her children. The woman the Burmese people call “Auntie” is still a prisoner. The “new dawn” she proclaimed on her qualified release from house arrest in 2002 proved false. She was re-arrested and restrictions restored. Ten of the last 14 years have been spent in custody. Her name, which means “bright collection of strange victories”, seems ironic at best.

The cost of Suu Kyi’s non-violent pro-democracy campaigning has been high. On her first release, she was told that if she went to Britain to see her family – husband Michael Aris, a Tibetan scholar, and their sons Alexander and Kim – she would not be allowed to return. Suu Kyi chose to remain and fight. She never saw Michael again. He died in 1999. Her own health is precarious. It was her mother’s infirmity that took Suu Kyi back to Burma in 1988, but there may have been a destiny in her curious name. Suu Kyi’s father broke with tradition to give her, like her brothers Aung San Oo and Aung San Lin, a masculine name. General Aung San had been a founder of the Burmese Independence Party, one of the legendary Thirty Comrades trained by the Japanese in 1942 to oust the British, but who then changed sides and helped the British defeat the Japanese. He was assassinated in 1947, just six months before Burma gained independence. Suu Kyi was two when he died. Unlike Benazir Bhutto, another British-educated daughter of an Asian political dynasty, Suu Kyi did not grow up with a sense of mission to her country and its people. Her curiosity about the father she only barely knew was more personal than political or intellectual. Although she later decided to write his biography, Suu Kyi seemed destined to spend her adult life as a European intellectual, though significantly, her version of a pre-nuptial agreement with Michael was that should she be called upon to return to Burma he would not obstruct her.

I met Aung San Suu Kyi at a political society meeting in London, where I read a paper on the relationship between Henry David Thoreau’s theories of civil disobedience and Gandhi’s. Suu Kyi’s slightly belittling reputation as the “pretty Mahatma Gandhi” hadn’t yet surfaced, but I can vouch for its accuracy. We corresponded briefly about John Milton, whose prose I was teaching at the University of East Anglia, and she once came up to sit in at a seminar on Milton’s great essay on censorship, Areopagitica. It contains the lines: “It was from out the rind of one apple tasted, that the knowledge of good and evil, as two twins cleaving together, leaped forth into the world.” She hated the idea of good and evil as conjoined twins, and still more that it was the forbidden knowledge of good and evil that loosed them on the world.

When, in 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma, the country was already in ferment. The ruling General Ne Win was standing down. At eight minutes past eight on the morning of August 8, the mystically inspired 8/8/88 or “Four Eights”, the pro-democracy movement swung into action. Just over a fortnight later, Suu Kyi gave her first major speech near the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon: a declaration that the whole world would hear of the suspension of democratic rights in Burma and that the people would settle for nothing less than open, multi-party elections. There followed more than half a decade of house arrest. Cut off from husband, family, friends and the telephone, Suu Kyi only had the radio to keep her abreast of world events. Determined not to betray any lapse of resolve, she exercised on a Nordic track ski machine and was immaculately groomed, wearing jasmine in her hair every day.

In 1991, Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize and immediately donated the money to a health and education trust established in her name. Recognition by the Swedish Academy increased pressure on the regime, and 10 years ago next month, she was released for the first time, but found herself involved in a game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities. An iron platform on the gates of her compound became the Burmese Speakers’ Corner, but perhaps also became the source of an unwelcome cult, with the tiny Suu Kyi – 5'3" in her bare feet – raised up and at a distance like an object of veneration rather than a political activist. Even so, every Saturday she would meet with the crowd there, passing on instances of successful resistance, listening to questions and personal experiences. In this summer of protests, it might be well to remember Milton’s likening of the bereaved lovers of Truth to the grieving Isis (the name a reminder of Suu Kyi’s lost family life in Oxford) searching for the mangled remains of Osiris, and of the line he wrote almost exactly 300 years before her birth: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” Happy birthday, Auntie.

The Impact of Global Action Against Terrorism

With the recent evacuation of Birmingham city centre due to terror fears, it is clear that global action against terrorism has triggered heightened security measures in various parts of the world. The incident in Birmingham highlights the importance of proactively addressing and dealing with terrorism threats to ensure the safety of citizens and maintain peace.

Terrorism continues to pose a severe threat to global security. Countries around the world are constantly adapting their strategies and implementing measures to counteract this menace. Birmingham's evacuation serves as a reminder that vigilance and swift action are necessary to protect lives and maintain order in the face of terror-related incidents.

As the fight against terrorism intensifies, international collaboration plays a crucial role. Sharing intelligence, cooperating on investigations, and coordinating efforts are essential to effectively combat terrorism. Through united efforts, countries can enhance their security capabilities and thwart potential threats before they materialize.

In addition to governmental actions, the hospitality and tourism industry also plays a significant role in ensuring safety and security. Hotels, in particular, have a responsibility to implement robust security protocols to safeguard guests and staff. This includes implementing advanced surveillance systems, conducting thorough background checks on employees, and continuously training staff in emergency response procedures.

Hotels must also maintain open lines of communication with local law enforcement agencies and cooperate in sharing information about any suspicious or potentially dangerous activities. By being vigilant and proactive, hotels can contribute to the overall security framework of a city and provide a safe environment for visitors.

In conclusion, the evacuation of Birmingham city centre serves as a reminder of the global impact of terrorism and the need for coordinated action. Governments, together with the hospitality industry, must remain vigilant and take proactive measures to ensure the safety and security of their citizens and visitors alike.

Best Wishes: An Aung San Suu Kyi Exhibition, part of Refugee Week in Scotland, is at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh, until June 22 19 June 2005.

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