‘Suu Kyi should use her human rights fighter status to save Rohingya’

PUTRAJAYA: Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi is urged to use her experience in fighting for democracy and human rights to stop the atrocities by the country’s military against the ethnic Rohingya.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said as a leader who was once awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Suu Kyi should no longer remain silent and treat the recognition as something meaningless to the world.

“If in the past she could fight for democracy and liberation until her struggles were recognised by the world, she should now translate that into action on the Rohingya issue which is happening in her own country.

“This world recognition for her should be accompanied by appropriate action, and not just being a ‘ puppet’ for the world to see.”

Ahmad Zahid said this at the closing of the Merdeka Rides 2017 organised by the Superbikers Association Malaysia ( SAM), here, today which was also participated by riders from Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei.

He said while other countries were showing concern over the plight of the Rohingya through the various forms of aid given, the international community was also waiting for the same action from the Myanmar leader.

She ( Suu Kyi) needed to translate the feelings shared by the world by doing something, which should rightly be demonstrated by her as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he added.

Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 when she was under house arrest for going against the regime of Myanmar’s military junta in her fight for democracy and human rights in her country.

The deputy prime minister also urged former United Nations secretary- general Kofi Annan to play a bigger role in calling on the other international organisations to show concern for the fate of the ethnic Rohingya.

He said religious and racial differences should be no obstacle and in fact, the international organisations and world community should be made aware of their role in assisting in the name of humanity.

At the event, Ahmad Zahid also launched the Rohingya Humanitarian Fund drive by Superbikers Association Malaysia and within eight minutes, a sum of RM7,838 was raised. — Bernama