LAST week, I wrote about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning activist who was recently released from house arrest by the military junta in  Myanmar.

I praised her phenomenal courage (she once, for example, fearlessly walked towards soldiers who were pointing their rifles at her). But I also accused her of unnecessary coldness for refusing, in 1999, to visit her husband when he was dying in London (her reason being that if she left Myanmar, the authorities would not allow her to return to continue her struggle against their tyranny).

In the past, Vanguard readers’ reactions to my views have always been varied, with some agreeing with me and others thinking that I am somewhat misguided or talking complete rubbish. But things were different on this occasion.

Much to my amazement, every single reader who contacted me via text or email expressed complete support for Aung San Suu Kyi’s uncompromising attitude towards the father of her children at a time when she should, in my opinion, have been there for him.

Even more remarkably, all of the readers who defended Aung San Suu Kyi (see below) were male; and I can’t help but wonder how all these proponents of unemotional heroism would feel if THEIR wives were as tough as the Burmese Iron Lady and decided to elevate political principles above spousal loyalty when they were on their deathbeds!!!

From: Ekpenyong (Tony) Edem medeatwealth@yahoo.com
Hello Donu, Nice column you have here. Keep it up. Referring to your piece dated “Heroic coldness” dated 19th November, isn’t it rather ironic that you applaud Aung San Suu Kyi for disregarding the comfortable living she could have had if she had remained in the Western community, and yet berate her for not fulfilling her duty to her late husband. Haba Donu, please read your piece again and take note of all the sacrifices this woman made, what difference would one more mean?

What if she’d been killed as she walked towards those soldiers, would she have been able to visit her late husband? If you admire her for thinking nothing of her life, why should her husband’s be any different? She deserves hero- worship; even I can’t imagine living like that. It is said that life is worth living when you have a purpose, but I think life is more fulfilling when you achieve that purpose.

From: Solomon (Maiwada) Yero solyero@yahoo.com
Donu, I write in response to your article titled “Heroic coldness” which appeared in your popular Sweet & Sour column of the Vanguard Newspaper of Friday 19th Nov. 2010.
First let me say, I have always enjoyed your column. You tell it like it is. You have a deep love for Nigeria and a strong desire to see that things done right…In this sense I think you are fighting a noble cause yourself and there are a number of us in this nation who are proud of you. May your ink never run dry.

Now, coming to the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi. This lady believed and still believes she’s fighting a good cause and many of us agree with her. There is a point you get to in a struggle that you cannot look back. She got to a point where she had to sacrifice her own family ties in order to see to the emancipation of thousands, if not millions, of Burmese who were and are still living under the repressive regime of the military junta.

Imagine what would happen if she swallowed the junta’s bait to visit her terminally ill husband in the UK. Either the struggle would have been aborted or she would, at best, have made a feeble effort at fighting from outside the country. And what a daunting task that would be.

It is no doubt a painful experience for any woman not to be able to see her terminally ill husband before he passes on. If she was permitted a message to him she must have let him know how much she loved him and possibly why she could not visit at the time. Since, I believe she embarked on this struggle with his full support and encouragementm, he would show understanding and allow the presence of their two sons to console him.

Today, Aung San Suu Kyi is out of detention. She is still in Burma, able to hear directly from the people, able to see things for herself, able to strategize with the people on the next line of action and perhaps even able to dialogue meaningfully with the junta. We may not have seen the last of her house arrests yet, but what is clear is that she’s not a woman to give up the struggle at any cost, having sacrificed so much in the past, until Burma is democratized.

This is the kind of spirit we need in our nation where people believe in something positive for the nation and they keep at it in a non-violent way until the desired change is archived.