Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sequel to the Siege

Things tend to happen in the middle of the night in military-ruled Burma. That is the time when houses are checked by the local authorities for unreported visitors; that is the time when dissidents are hauled off to interrogation centers; that was the time when the road to my house was blocked of before our Party Congress planned for 27 September. That was also the time the barricades were removed after eleven quiet days during which my house had remained cut off from, the outside world, although I myself was free to come and go.

Taking the rare opportunity of completion my work at a reasonable hour, I Had gone to bed at eleven o'clock on the night of 7 October. Around midnight I became aware of voices in the garden. I assumed that some of the thirty-one guests besieged in my house were having a late-night discussion. But as the voices continued for some time in increasingly animated tones I began to think that there had been some kind of incident I was wondering if I should find out what was going on when the voices faded away. However just as I was about to drift off to sleep, the voices started up again, louder than ever. Eventually at 2 a.m. I went down to investigate and discovered that the road had been opened up again.

The next morning, visitors started arriving: there were our party members who had just been released from detention, there were well-wishers and supporters and there were journalists. A press conference had to be arranged at short notice. We were back to the normal, hectic routine. Within a few hours, the deliciously slow pace of the past eleven days was but a wistful memory. Eleven days is not a long time but it is long enough to make one appreciate a different tempo of life.

We had four normal days, four days in which to assess the events of the past fortnight and to make arrangements for the work of the party to proceed. A question the came up frequently was whether we intended to continue with our weekend rallies. My reply was that we would continue for as long as the people were prepared to come. The authorities must have realized that the people were prepared to continue their support of ou rallies, because at midnight on Friday, 11 October, the sound of police sirens and rumbling trucks with which we had become familiar announced that access to my house had once again been cut off.

There was a slightly déjà vu air about next morning. We all smiles at each other and wondered how long we would be cut off this time. However there were a number of circumstances that differed from the last time that the road was closed. To began with, we did not have to worry about what to do with huge quantities of half-cooked food, which was a relief. Secondly, U Tin Oo did not appear. I have written several times about our Deputy Chairman U Tin U, one time commander -in-Chief of the armed forces of Burma, but I have not had occasion to mention a particularly lovable trait of his: he has the strongly developed protective instinct of the truly honourable soldier. Whatever a difficult situation arises he arrives to offer his protection and assistance. When he did not arrive I knew that he must have been prevented from coming. I waited until about 11a.m, then we went to U Kyi Maung's house to find out what was going on.

A number of people were gathered at U Kyi maung's house. Among them were some NLD Members of Parliament from outside Rangoon. Their bright expressions and high spirits warmed my heart. These were men who hold sacred the promises they made to their electorate six year ago, who have faced many hardships and who are prepared to face many more that they may keep faith with those who put their trust in them. It is people like them who make all sacrifices seem worthwhile; it is as much for love of them as for love of freedom and justice that I am engaged in the struggle for democracy.

At U Kyi Maung's house, my suspicion that this time, none of our lugyis (elders) would be allowed to come to my house was confirmed. It just meant that I would have to come out to see them, to confer with them and to carry on the work of the party.

"Business as usual" was our motto although we had to be somewhat unorthodox in our methods. For the next few days we met at different houses at different times to complete work that should have been conducted in a regular party conference. Everywhere we went, the authorities exhibited the most intense, not to say vulgar, curiosity, surrounding the places with Military Intelligence and security personnel, wasting a lot of video and camera film recording all the comings and goings.

We estimate that the government intelligence organizations must spend from 80 to 90 per cent of their time, energy and money on matters related to NLD activities. How much more sensible it would be to come to a civilized settlement that would remove the need for spies and sieges.