I

found the above editorial (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 29) disappointing for its knee-jerk remarks. The statement about her “failure to stand up against the military” is, ironic since standing against them for democracy and human rights are exactly what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been doing for the past three decades. She has always done it her way, which is peaceful reconciliation between the military, totally entrenched at every level for the last five decades, and the rest of the civilian population, and indeed the ethnic groups across the country raging civil war for the past 50 years.

We, the Burmese people, are amazed at how mainstream media broadcast and publish only a one-sided view on the plight of the Rohingyas without any mention of the atrocities committed against Myanmar ethnic groups by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) terrorist group, supported by their outside forces.

We feel so let down that no news ever comes out about the ongoing Panglong Peace Conference on national reconciliation, painstakingly orchestrated by Suu Kyi’s government, which, for the first time, brought the numerous armed rebel groups and the military to the discussion table to end the war and build lasting peace nationwide, not just in the Rakhine region.

As for the remark “[...] willingness to uphold justice for the victims of human rights abuses in her country”, one may do well to recall that the chief legal adviser of the National League for Democracy and her close confidant, U Ko Ni, was gunned down in broad daylight at Yangon International Airport over a year ago, and yet the perpetrators are still at large.

I do agree that history and time will be the best judge of this extremely complex situation and its key players. We, the Burmese, trust her that she is doing what she believes to be the best for all parties concerned. The international community will do us a huge favor by giving Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her people some breathing space and not adding fuel to the flames!