Sayeed Muhammad
My-anmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the honorific freedom of Oxford, the British city where she studied and raised her children, over her “inaction” on the Rohingya crisis, reports AFP.”When Aung San Suu Kyi was given the Freedom of the City in 1997 it was because she reflected Oxford’s values of tolerance and internationalism,” says a statement the city council issued late Monday.”Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of the city’s highest honour because of her inaction in the wake of the oppression of the minority Rohingya population,” added the statement published after a unanimous vote.
“Our reputation is tarnished by honouring those who turn a blind eye to violence.”In September, the authorities of Oxford University removed portraits of the Nobel laureate, who is its former student.Suu Kyi’s late husband Michael Aris was a lecturer in Asian history at the university, and the couple lived and raised their two sons in the city.She came under fire for failing to speak up supporting the minority Muslim community.According to the UN, more than 620,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh since late August and now live insqualor in the world’s largest refugee camp after a military crackdown in Myanmar.