London: Nearly 20 years after Oxford University awarded her an honorary doctorate in Civil Law, democracy icon and Myanmar opposition leader Aung Saan Suu Kyi will arrive in UK to receive it at a special ceremony on June 20, the university on Thursday said.
Suu Kyi studied, married and lived in Oxford for many years until 1988, when she left for Myanmar to visit her ailing mother, but did not leave the country due to fears that she would not be allowed to return by the ruling military junta. Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy and member of the Myanmar parliament, will receive the honorary doctorate in civil law at Encaenia, the ceremony at which the university awards honorary degrees to distinguished men and women. Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said: “We are delighted that Daw Suu is finally able to return to the University and are looking forward greatly to what will be a very special occasion”.
Suu Kyi read PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at St. Hugh’s College from 1964 to 1967. After graduating, she worked in New York and Bhutan, before settling in Oxford with her husband, Tibet scholar Michael Aris. Her return to Myanmar in 1988 to care for her ailing mother coincided with a period of growing discontent with the military government.
Fearing her influence, the military placed her under house arrest in July 1989. She remained under house arrest or in prison for most of the subsequent 20 years, during which time she received many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and an honorary degree from the University of Oxford in 1993, neither of which she was able to accept in person. She was finally released from house arrest in November 2010.
In April this year the NLD won 43 out of the 44 seats it contested in a by-election and Suu Kyi was elected to parliament to represent the constituency of Kawhmu. She is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford and of St Antony’s College, Oxford, and patron of the International Gender Studies Centre in Oxford’s Department of International Development. (PTI)
