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| the posting below is quoted from the Guardian newspaper |
The Myanmar leader should be cut from Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, critics insist
It is one of the most popular children’s books of 2017, a collection of
stories about female role models from Amelia Earhart and Marie Curie to
Hillary Clinton and Serena Williams, inspiring girls to aim high and
challenge the status quo.
"Bu
t Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, likely to be in many
Christmas stockings, has run into controversy because of one of the 100
women included in its pages. When the book was written last year, Aung
San Suu Kyi was deemed a worthy subject: winner of the Nobel peace prize
and epitome of courage in the face of oppression. But her fall from
grace over her response to violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims,
described by the UN as possible genocide, has triggered calls for her to
be taken out of future editions. In response, the authors, Elena
Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, are considering removing her from
reprints.
Labour MP and shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi, who has raised
concerns in parliament about the Rohingya crisis, said: “I often wonder
how it can be possible to go from being one of the most admired and
respected civil rights champions, a symbol of courage, patience and
principle, to someone who shows such lack of compassion.
“I have no doubt that history will remember her as the leader who
watched on while mass killing, systematic rape and ethnic cleansing of
hundreds of thousands who were forced to live in squalid refugee camps.
I’d encourage the authors to consider that there is an entire generation
of young Rohingya children who are stateless and hopeless, suffering a
miserable existence. Aung San Suu Kyi’s refusal to condemn makes her
complicit.”
I had included Aung San Suu Kyi in my "Women Who Changed the World"
series, but now I realized who she really is. This painting is removed
from my website and Saatchi gallery. I will scrape off her face and use
the board for something more deserving.
