Expatriates greet Burmese activist with tears, cheers
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Myo Myint lost most of his right arm and right leg and several fingers fighting for the Burma army before he began working against the nation’s military rulers and became a political prisoner.
The 49-year-old political refugee would like to return to his homeland one day, but he doesn’t believe it will happen, even after hearing Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi say she would work to make sure people like him could come back.
Myint was among thousands of elated supporters who greeted Suu Kyi with cheers, tears and a standing ovation Tuesday as she took to the stage at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, the fourth stop on her 17-day U.S. tour.
Like Suu Kyi, Myint was imprisoned in 1989. But Myint, who spent 15 years as a political prisoner, said he doesn’t believe Suu Kyi will be able to help him go back to Burma, also known as Myanmar. He says he’s too wellknown for working against the junta, having been featured in an HBO documentary called “Burma Soldier.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Suu Kyi, who was recently elected to parliament after spending 15 years under house arrest for opposing Myanmar’s military rulers, voiced optimism for democracy in her Southeast Asian homeland.
“The important thing is to learn how to resolve problems. How to face them and how to find the right answers through discussion and debate,” the Nobel laureate told the more than 5,000 people who gathered to hear her speak. Fort Wayne is home to one of the largest Burmese communities in the United States.
Since 1991, when a single Burmese refugee resettled in Fort Wayne — about two hours north of Indianapolis and 8,000 miles from Burma — thousands more have followed, many of them relocating under a federal program after years in refugee camps in Thailand.
Suu Kyi rose to prominence during a failed pro-democracy uprising to protest Burma’s military-backed government in 1988. Thousands of the 1988 protesters were killed and tens of thousands more — including Oxford-educated Suu Kyi — spent years as political prisoners. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party was subsequently stymied by the junta’s iron grip on the country.