Aung San Suu Kyi is the symbol of Burma's struggle for freedom. Burma's pro-democracy leader and a Nobel Peace laureate, she has spent more than 15 years under house arrest.

When she returned to Burma in 1988 from London to take care of her ailing mother, Burma was in total chaos; there were no signs of developments and human rights were violated, freedom of speech were curbed down by the military junta. In their own country, thousands of Burmese, including women, children and elderly people are forced to work against their will. And those who refused, they were tortured, raped or murdered. Burma became one of the world's most impoverished countries.

Call it coincidence, in the same year, the long-time military leader of Burma, General Ne Win, stepped down. This gave an opportunity for the people to protest against the military rule and led to a mass demonstration for a democratic Burma on 8 August 1988. The protest which came to be known as 8888 Uprising was violently suppressed.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who had lived a quiet life before, could no longer remain as a mute spectator. On 26 August 1988, addressing half a million people at a mass rally, she spoke out against the military ruler and began a non-violent movement for human rights and democracy. However in September, a new military junta came into power.

Highly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's principles of non-violence and Buddhist concepts, Aung San Suu Kyi joined politics to build a democratic Myanmar. In September 24, 1988, the National League for Democracy (NLD) was formed and she became its general secretary. Born on June 19, 1945, Rangoon, she herself came from a political background. Her father, Aung San was an opposition leader and a martyred national hero of independent Burma. Her mother Khin Kyi was a prominent Burmese diplomat.

She was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989 and was offered freedom if she left the country, but a fearless Aung San Suu Kyi refused until the civilian government was restored and political prisoners were freed. She said: "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."

In the 1990 general elections, her party (NLD) won more than 80% of the parliamentary seats. However, the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand over power, which led to an international uproar. She was again placed under house arrest at her home in Rangoon. During her arrest, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She used this prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.

In 1998, she declared the formation of a representative committee, which again led to her house imprisonment. From 20 July 1989 till 13 November, 2010, she's been regularly under house arrest. Several international organizations had called for her release and in 2009, a UN body declared her detention illegal under Myanmar's own law.

In May 2009, she was arrested and charged with violating the terms of her house arrest after an intruder (a U.S. citizen) entered her house compound and spent two nights there. Within and outside of Myanmar, everybody speculated the motive behind it was to prevent her from participating in multiparty parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in 2010. And yes, it was stripped when a series of new election laws were enacted in March 2010: an individual who is convicted in a crime can't participate in any form of elections; anyone who was married to a foreign national is also barred from running for office. Facing just a little opposition, the junta-backed party (Union Solidarity and Development Party) easily won the general election, conducted after a gap of almost 20 years.

And finally, her house arrest term came to an end on 13 November 2010. But, her fight is not over as she vowed to continue her opposition to military rule. Her never-say-die attitude makes her a tough and a spirited fighter, who has lived in separation from her family for the sake of her country. Aung San Suu Kyi is the democratic voice of Myanmar and a ray of hope for its people.

Team MSN She