THERE can be no doubting the quiet courage of Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Her considerable moral authority was recognized in 1991 when she was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. Yet in one key area of her country's politics, as it moves from military rule to pluralism, she has been strangely muted. This is of course the plight of Burma's Muslims in this predominantly Buddhist country. To be fair she has raised the issue of the terrible persecution of the Rohingya minority in the northwest of Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and she has condemned rising ethnic tensions, which have now reached Rangoon, now called Yangon. However, many, including some of her closest political supporters have been saddened and perhaps also surprised that she has not confronted this serious issue full on. Well on Wednesday Suu Kyi finally made her position clearer when she protested the restrictions and alienation of Myanmar's Muslim community. Unfortunately, as with so much in politics, place and timing are everything and the Nobel peace laureate got both wrong. She chose to speak out on a trip to Japan, where as expected, she was being feted for her peaceful confrontation with the military junta that once ruled Myanmar with a rod of iron. Whether justified or not, the location of her remarks gave the impression that she was speaking to her international audience and not to the Burmese people themselves, where the heart of the problem lies. Indeed it might be construed that, recognizing the rising unease around the world at the treatment of Burmese Muslims, Suu Kyi felt compelled to address the tragedy when she was abroad. The question remains however, why she has not yet spoken so clearly back home. It cannot be that she shares in any way the vicious, xenophobic prejudices of a hard core of Buddhist extremists. Yet her limited protests, when speaking to her domestic constituency, at the depravities that have been taking place against the Rohingya have been disturbing. There are clearly political considerations that will be influencing the way in which she tackles the issue. Buddhist monks have been at the forefront of the opposition to the military regime, and among them will be bigots whose reprehensible attitude to the country's Muslim minority has encouraged local communities in their persecution of their neighbors. Yet these selfsame people have often been in the vanguard of the opposition. Suu Kyi's challenge therefore is to tackle these people head on, while seeking at the same time not to alienate them. This is surely the reason that until now, she has been less than forceful in her condemnation of their bigotry and hateful views. There should be no underestimating the complexity of maintaining the unity of the opposition, not least when the single issue that unified them — the oppression of the military — appears to have gone away. Nevertheless the time has come for Suu Kyi to take off the kid gloves and make clear to her supporters her utter condemnation and complete opposition to unlawful and racist acts against any minority in Myanmar. The pity is that the first time she chose to make her position completely clear, it was to a foreign audience. This will rouse the almost certainly unjustified suspicion that she fears to speak out clearly at home. She should not forget the powerful truth that for evil to triumph, it only requires good men to stay silent.
