CHALLENGE: It was Burma's pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, who once wrote these thought-provoking lines: "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
Thanks to her fearlessness and indomitable courage in the face of the might of the Burmese generals, the issue of democracy in Burma is remaining in the global consciousness.
The effectiveness of Suu Kyi's steadfastness could be measured from the decision of the Burmese ruling junta to continue to keep her under house arrest despite earlier speculation that she would be released on or around her 61st birthday which fell on Monday.
Thus, Suu Kyi has spent 11 of her 17 years in Burma under house arrest, which is really a measure of the apprehension suffered by the generals that she would rally too many Burmese around her and her cry for democracy in Burma, if she is released from house arrest.
Therefore, Suu Kyi continues to capture the moral high ground in her bloodless battle with Burma's rulers and despite leading the life of a virtual prisoner she keeps a flame of hope burning in Myanmar that it could be democratized. In other words, in degree to the proportion to which Suu Kyi is stifled behind closed doors, the issue of the repression of democratic freedoms in Burma is publicized.
However, Suu Kyi could not be said to be a continuing challenge to the ruling powers of Burma only. Her condition also continuously censures those sections of world opinion which consider themselves staunchly liberal democratic and pay lip - service to the cause of having her released but are doing next to nothing about it. Among the latter could be counted Western democracies which give the impression of taking-up her cause with Burma's ruling junta but are not doing anything concrete about it.
A measure of the world's inaction is the relatively easy induction of Burma into ASEAN, an economic grouping which has in it a sizeable number of once Newly Industrializing Countries of Asia, also referred to as "Asia's Leaping Tigers".
Apparently, for ASEAN, what matters mainly is economic dynamism and growth and not political liberalization which involves the spread of democratic freedoms within a state. Even more thought-provoking is the relative inactivity of the West on this issue. May be, in the growth plus equity formula in the development debate, what is mattering more for the West is growth and not equity which is also synonymous with egalitarianism.
Perhaps, sections of the West are enamoured of Burma's growth figures and are prepared to take a "soft line" on the Burmese junta, for "market friendliness" is a glowing asset in the current thrust towards economic globalization.
It is up to the West, particularly its foremost powers, such as the US, to prove these contentions wrong. Clearly, pressure needs to be brought on Burma's rulers for the sake of speeding-up Burma's democratization. Stiff UN Security Council sanctions on Myanmar are not too much to ask for. If not, one may be left to conclude that fear of losing markets is stifling the "liberal democratic West's" will in bringing about the political liberalization of Burma.