MYANMAR'S Muslims are once again involved in bloody confrontation with the authorities, by far the worst since Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy took power. The Myanmar army has admitted to killing 25 Rohingya villagers in recent days after it claims that its soldiers were attacked with clubs and machetes. It says two of its men were killed and many injured. There is no confirmation of the death toll among the Muslim Rohingya but it is likely to be higher, possibly considerably higher than the official figure. The Rohingyan homeland in Rakhine province on the frontier with Bangladesh has been under martial law for six weeks since a number of reported cross-border incursions which the army claims killed nine police and border guards. Video has been posted showing helicopter gunships strafing ground targets and the corpses of women and children in burning villages. There have as yet been no statements from any independent observers from international bodies confirming the military aggression and journalists are forbidden from entering what the government classes as a conflict zone. But given the past behavior of the army toward the Rohingya, the latest reports of violence are entirely credible. One of the remarkable factors in the oppression of this Muslim minority, long denied statehood by the Myanmar's military government, is that they have been largely passive in the face of violent assaults by fanatical Buddhist monks. Many have tried to flee their homeland down the coast for refuge in Malaysia but along the way they have been robbed, murdered and exploited by Thai gangs. In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that some Rohingya are seeking to fight back. But this is counterproductive because it plays into the government's hand, giving it the excuse for further oppression and violence. What is also so disturbing is the stunning silence of Aung San Suu Kyi. Honored worldwide for her peaceful protest against a ruthless military junta, the Nobel Peace laureate seems unwilling to address, in the least degree, the plight of the Rohingya. In the past, her supporters have argued that she still has a delicate path to tread with the military who still hold significant levers of power - defense and interior ministries for instance. But with this latest upsurge of murderous violence against this disenfranchised minority, it is time that The Lady, as she is known by her supporters, took some definitive action. Her Peace Laureate gives her considerable moral authority. There is no doubting the courage of her peaceful resistance against the Myanmar's military junta who kept her under house arrest for years. But now is the time for her to turn some of the admiration she gained around the world, into positive action. Her country has 135 different minorities. There are problems with many of them. But the horrors being endured by the Rohingya are so great that they can no longer be ignored. It is time The Lady spoke out. Yet there is a nagging fear that she shares the extremist prejudice against the Rohingya. She was particularly upset when the BBC sent a Muslim woman to interview her. Her complaint, made when the microphones were still open, was at odds with the tolerant, peace-loving image that earned her global praise and support. It may seem unlikely, but if Aung San Suu Kyi continues to do nothing to help her Rohingya fellow countrymen, maybe the Nobel committee should reconsider her award.
