in the United Nations Secretariat in New York and afterward in Bhutan She was married to British academic Michael Aris in 1972, and the couple had two sons In March 1988, Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar to take care of her ailing mother, and she became a prodemocracy political activist Suu Kyi was destined to take the leadership in a country under the military dominance since 1962 of General Ne Win, who was also the leader of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Her status as daughter of Aung San and her sound knowledge about her country’s culture contributed to her immense popularity Ne Win resigned on July 23, 1988, but the military retained power and brutally crushed a popular uprising The military junta then created the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997 Suu Kyi and her associates established the National League for Democracy (NLD), which called for nonviolent protests and appealed to the United Nations to intervene on their behalf Her status as a national leader made her position formidable She adhered to her nonviolent ideals in spite of the brutality, intimidation, and slander directed against her by the SLORC Suu Kyi criticized the violation of human rights by the military junta, calling for free and fair elections Her meetings throughout the country attracted many people and caused the junta to put her under house arrest and to reject her candidature for the forthcoming elections Despite this, her party won the May 1990 elections with 82 percent of the legislative seats The international pressure forced the junta to release Suu Kyi in July 1995, but she was barred from leaving Yangon In the same year her NLD delegates were expelled from the national convention, which was preparing a draft constitution The convention itself was suspended in March 1996 In September 2000, Suu Kyi and 92 NLD members were put under house arrest again There was another secret meeting between Suu Kyi and the junta in 2002 that resulted in the release of NLD prisoners due to increasing criticism of the regime from many lands over the world She was released from house arrest on May 6, 2002, and was permitted to travel in Myanmar But she was jailed again in 2003 and remained in jail in 2008 Her international standing remained high The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov prize for freedom of thought in July 1990 In October 1991 the Nobel Committee awarded her the Nobel Peace Prize, calling her “an outstanding example of the power of the powerless.” She donated the $1.3 million prize money to set up a trust for the Awami League 43 health and education for her people She was also given the Nehru Peace Award in 1995 by the government of India Suu Kyi remained the undisputed leader of Myanmar for her ceaseless efforts to restore democracy and against the abuse of human rights Further reading: Aung San Suu Kyi and Michael Aris, eds Freedom from Fear and Other Writings New York: Viking Press, 1991; Houtman, Gustaaf Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy Tokyo: University of Tokyo, 1999; Parenteau, John Greensboro Prisoner for Peace: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Struggle for Democracy North Carolina: Morgan Reynolds Incorporated, 1994; Victor, Barbara The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi: Nobel Laureate and Burma’s Prisoner Boston: Faber and Faber, 2002 Patit Paban Mishra Awami League The Awami League, a political party founded by lawyer and politician H S Suhrawardy in 1956, was at the forefront of the political developments that led to the creation of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) in 1971 When the British left India in 1947, they had left behind two sovereign nations: India and Pakistan In the years that followed independence, questions of national identity arose between East and West Pakistan and were taken up by the Awami League on the behalf of East Pakistan The Awami League advocated that Bengali, spoken in East Pakistan, be given the status of national language alongside Urdu, which was spoken in West Pakistan and had been declared the national language in 1947 The league also promoted greater representation of Bengalis in central government, since Bengalis in central civilian services in West Pakistan did not possess a strong base of power within the region, and higher posts in military and government in East Pakistan were often held by West Pakistanis During the military rule of General Ayub Khan (1958–69), there had been economic growth in both wings of the country, but the disparity between the wealth of West Pakistan and the poverty of East Pakistan had also been on the rise Furthermore a war with India in 1965 had left East Pakistan undefended, because the constitution of the country provided for troops to be stationed only in West Pakistan Under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League formulated a six-point demand as a means of