The notion of freedom is so broad and springs from such a great wealth of sources that it would seem impossible not to be able to say something – anything – about it. Yet when it comes to articulating that first word there is a lengthy pause … where do you even begin? What is ironically frustrating is that many of those who have the most intriguing insights into this colossal concept are often the very people who have experienced the curtailing or even the complete deprivation of their own personal freedom. How can we even pretend to understand something so fundamental when we have spent our entire lives taking it for granted? For many, the time-honoured cliché of putting oneself in another’s shoes simply cannot apply here.

At the same time, even though most of us cannot empathize with the loss of personal freedom, we can certainly sympathize. Freedom is a theme so poignant and ever-present in our constantly changing world that one can study it in great depth simply by keeping an eye on world affairs. This brings us to a place that has been foremost in many minds for the past month: Burma.

Political and social freedom has been absent from Burma since 1962. Having become an independent republic in 1948, the democratic civilian government had little chance to consolidate itself before a military coup installed a dictatorship which still exists, in much the same form, today. Our generation was too young to be aware at the time, but protests to military rule in Burma were carried out long before the events this September that brought the whole issue back to our consciousness. Most notably, in 1988, the 8888 Uprising led to widespread massacre and suppression by the military. It did have one positive outcome, however, as the government conceded to hold democratic elections for the first time in 28 years.

A party called the National League for Democracy and led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the elections by a landslide, taking almost eighty per cent of the Parliamentary seats. The military regime however refused to accept the results and, after promising a constitution which has to date not materialized, has continued to rule to the present day. Today the military leader of Burma is General Than Shwe. Meanwhile Aung San Suu Kyi, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been under house arrest since the 1990 elections.

What has brought Burma into the global spotlight once again has been the protests which began on August 15. Arguably, it should not have taken yet another round of uprisings, suppression, and bloodshed to make this issue a priority for the international community – unfortunately it has. The impetus of the Saffron Revolution, as it has come to be known, was the Buddhist monks who staged peaceful protest marches in Yangon, Burma’s largest city. The protests culminated on September 24 when 20,000 monks were joined by 30,000 civilians. In total, over 100,000 people have taken part in these peaceful demonstrations. Day after day the threats from the military to force the crowds to disperse intensified and on September 26 they materialised. Monasteries were raided, monks and civilians were arrested, and the army opened fire on 50,000 people. Many protestors continue to be unaccounted for and it is believed that they are still being detained and possibly tortured. On September 28 the government suspended the internet services and began confiscating phones and video cameras from the crowd effectively cutting off all channels of free communication from Burma. The numbers released by the Burmese government as to how many people were killed or are still in custody are believed to be a gross underestimate.

This is what it means to not be free. When your government severs all avenues of contact and plunges your country into isolation, when not only civilians but monks (highly revered in the deeply religious Burmese society) are being arrested and dragged off the streets for doing no more than marching peacefully, when the woman that personifies the democratic hopes of an entire country is imprisoned because of her popular support and when there seems to be no way of overpowering the regime that has made poverty, dictatorship, and violent military crackdowns the status quo, this is what it means not to be free.

Now it is for the global community, especially China and Russia who have great influence over the Burmese regime, to intervene and prevent further abuse. Restoring freedom to a people is by no means easy and diplomacy is often a painfully slow process. The attainment of freedom, be it for an entire nation or on a lesser scale, is a constant battle. But freedom is a fundamental human right and so no matter how difficult the battle is, whether it is for ourselves but especially if it is for others, we must all keep fighting.