Today, 2026 June 19, is the 81st birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whom the public affectionately calls “Amay Suu” (Mother Suu). This age is a time to spend life peacefully with one’s beloved family. However, the military dictators have detained and imprisoned Daw Suu behind multiple walls out of fear and hatred.
The inability to tolerate such unjust oppression and arrest of the people’s beloved popular leader awakened the Spring Revolution. In the public taking to the streets and the civil disobedience movements of civil servants from health, education, and other sectors, the release of Daw Suu was a foremost slogan.
The Spring Revolution, which the people started on a self-reliant basis, was later led by organizations such as the CRPH / NUG. Looking back and analyzing, these groups indirectly inherited the people’s support for Daw Suu and were able to take the leading position of the revolution. It is very clear that rather than trusting the leadership and capability of the people from CRPH/NUG, the public surrounded and supported them based on their trust in Daw Suu.
This is also natural. It is highly necessary back then to exert one’s physical and mental abilities to forge a leadership role in the vacant leadership position. Even if Daw Suu were to be released, this point remains true. Rather than making an 81-year-old elderly woman bear the burdens of the state, it is time for the next generations to inherit Daw Suu’s good legacies. Only then will it match the attribute of being ‘worthy of inheritance’ among the five duties of children.
Here, how the inheritance is received and taken is very important. Will they inherit and preserve Daw Suu’s good legacies and continue to carry out her values, dreams, and desires? Or will the successors take responsibility to change and amend Daw Suu’s darker legacies? Or will the successors fight over the inheritance among themselves just to get Daw Suu’s immense political influence into their hands? This is something everyone who loves Daw Suu should analyze and contemplate.
First, before talking about Daw Suu’s successors, let us first analyze how Daw Suu herself inherited from her father, the independence leader U Aung San. Some analysts say that Daw Suu was able to rise to the position of popular leader because of U Aung San. This is also an undeniable fact. Daw Suu coming onto the political stage and gaining the support of the public must have also been greatly aided by the background influence of ‘Aung San’ contained in her name.
At the same time, what must be considered is that although U Aung San had other children, the people only supported and trusted Daw Suu. Looking at this, while the ‘Aung San’ influence was an aid that opened the political path for Daw Suu, what sustained the public’s trust for many years was Daw Suu’s own capability, or her ability to inherit the deeper legacies of Aung San. Daw Suu inherited not just U Aung San’s lineage and influence, but also qualities such as unpretentious honesty and openness, fearless courage, and always considering the interests of the people.
Daw Suu did not just inherit U Aung San’s good legacies. She also worked to take responsibility for and change the bad legacies. The most prominent example is her effort to reform the military founded by U Aung San so that it would become a military loved and valued by the people. At the same time, Daw Suu took lessons from the fact that U Aung San’s armed path not only failed to truly support Myanmar’s independence in the long run but also brought about fascist traits, militarism, and inter-ethnic rifts. Therefore, instead of an armed path that depends on external forces, Daw Suu consistently walked a non-violent path based on people’s power. Looking at this, it can be seen that although Daw Suu was not perfect, she inherited the bad and good legacies of her father, U Aung San, in the best possible way.
Let us look back again at the situation of Daw Suu’s successors. How much do they understand and practice the Dhamma (principles) that Daw Suu upheld, such as her fundamental philosophies of “Freedom from Fear,” “Revolution of the Spirit,” and “Non-violent Path”? As for the NLD party, ignoring Daw Suu’s constantly spoken words that “The people are the center of change,” it has not progressed beyond the level of a cult of personality, saying they will make decisions and actions only when Daw Suu comes out.
Although the public is demanding a change to the situation where the entire party depended on just one person—which can be called Daw Suu’s bad legacy—they do not have the courage or desire to make such a change. It is shameful. If the NLD party disappears from history in the future, it will be not only because of the oppression of the military dictators, but internal weakness and decay will also be a major factor.
Furthermore, the CRPH/NUG, who claim to lead the revolution, holding onto the 2020 election support gained because of Daw Suu, have not moved forward from the stage of arguing that they alone should lead. They have not only chosen the armed path that Daw Suu forbade, but we also do not see them foreseeing the consequences of the armed path or providing responsible leadership. While Daw Suu said to courageously stand for what is right, it can be seen repeatedly in their interviews that NUG leaders do not dare to think, speak, or do anything that goes against what is popular. In their thinking, rather than implementing Daw Suu’s values and dreams, they are merely trying to use Daw Suu as a figurehead to gain support—in other words, to divide and take a share of Daw Suu’s influence as an inheritance.
When Daw Suu was in power, there were flaws regarding the Rohingya issue and building trust with other ethnic groups. The NUG successors have no consideration of how to responsibly heal these kinds of bad legacies. What is currently seen are only interest-based considerations—one way when meeting that group, and another way when meeting this group—and they lack policy standards and long-term plans. Looking at this, it is pitiful that the NUG is detached from Daw Suu’s values of inner revolution, freedom, and courage, and full of fear, is desperately hoping and relying on external dependencies.
It is not only political groups that want to inherit Daw Suu’s political influence and prestige, but also social media influencers. Most of them are gaining public support through sensational narratives like how close they were to Amay Suu, or “if you touch Amay Suu, the sword will unsheathe,” and some have become quite wealthy and successful. We do not see them making any effort to reflect on Daw Suu’s Dhamma or understand her teachings. They do not even seem to understand the democratic goal of thoroughly listening to and discussing fundamental differences. Whenever differences arise, they label and defame them in various ways as a third party, an informant (dalan), or a spy, and attack en masse. Their actions, done using Amay Suu as a cover, are just smearing soot on Amay Suu’s face.
As Freedom Fighter, we have consistently pursued the non-violent path over the past five years. On this journey, we have noticed that people and organizations who study and reflect on the inner Dhamma rather than just indulging in a cult of personality around Daw Suu are very few. Even if we were to point out prominent leaders of non-violence for Myanmar, it is very difficult to show another person besides Daw Suu. As Freedom Fighter, we are not interested in getting involved in the scramble for Daw Suu’s political influence, but have decided only to build a courageous and dignified society through non-violent means, which is Daw Suu’s goal. We always welcome cooperation with those who wish to study and walk Daw Suu’s Dhamma, NLD party members, and any other forces who want to fill this gap together.
In conclusion, among those trying to succeed Daw Suu, we do not see anyone ‘worthy of inheritance’; instead, we only see a huge mess of fighting over the inheritance to exploit Daw Suu’s influence. Therefore, we wish that Daw Suu may be free from the harms of three of the five traditional enemies—bad rulers, thieves, and bad inheritors—may she be released from detentions as soon as possible and meet with her loved ones, and may those ‘worthy of inheritance’ emerge in full force to realize the future that Daw Suu wishes.