Show ' ' r '' - I people throiugho It is an outcry heard in Burrha and from oppr : '' J- : ' Last May Nobel laureate Aung Sen Suu Kyi was released after spending 19 months under house arrest It was the second tune she hadbeen detained by the military dictatorship that rules Burma Now although the is allowed to speak and travel the countryside she continues to be monitored and harassed OnMarch20AungSanSuuKyi57wiltbe honored with die $1 million A1 Neuharth Free Spirit ofthe Year Award ’ ' r! ? V'jp- - wkich is given annually to “the person in the news who has stirred our hearts by demonstrating the human capacity to dream dare and da" While she will not attend the awards ceremony forfear that she would be denied readmission to Burma here— in this essay for PARADE — Aung San Suu Kyi shares her passion to gain Jbr her people something that we in democratic countries too often take for granted' ourfreedom RAVELING too many— long to be free from across Burma I ask people having to sell their bodies to support their families The farmers and peasants I meet want to sow and plant as they wish to be able to market their produce at will unhampered by die coercion to sell it to the state at cruelly low prices why they want democracy fery often the answer is "We just want to be free” They do not have to elaborate I understand what they mean They want to be able to live their lives without the oppressive sense that their destiny is not theirs to shape They do not want their daily existence to be rated by the orders and whims of those whose authority is based on might of arms When I ask young people what they mean by freedom they say that they want to be able to speak their minds They want tobeableto voice their discon- tent With an education system at Hminn niitilrU lhVmirtni‘linJMMihBMAA:llu pVwwMVMv mat ooes not cnanenge meir m- country Mymmtr In 1W tM tellect They want to be able to discuss criticize argue to be able to liousness its harshness its tenderness What do the women of Burma want? gather in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands to sing to shout They tell me that they wtuit to be free to cheer Burma's young people want from the tyranny of rising prices that to play out the vitality of their youth make running a household an exhaust- 1 in its full spectrum of hope and wonder—its uncertainties its arrogance its fancies its brilliance its rebel- - corn AND INSIDE PHOTOS OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI BY t IVH1 i IIMRHy OKMOim tiff Kt Imrrwn kwto It ihrniM HMMQ nirms AUNG SAN SUU KYI BY EDDIE ADAMS FOB PAHADE They struggle daily with the land They do not want unreasonable decrees and incomprehensible authority to add to their burden And what about those of us in the National League for Democracy? Why are we working so hard to free our country? It is not that we see democracy through a haze of optimism We know that democracy is a jewel that must be polished constantly to maintain its luster 1b prevent it from being damaged or stolen democracy must be guarded jj with unremitting vigilance We are working so hard for freedom because only in a free Burma will we be able to build a nation that respects and cherishes human dignity As I travel through my country people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned in my home— first for six years then for P MB 4 MMCM 19 months Howe MO! MMM MMAZM |