The school where Aung San Suu Kyi studied in Oxford reported that they’ve taken down a portrait of Myanmar’s leader. It isn’t known whether the Rohingya crisis is the cause. The school had only recently received the painting as a gift.
The portrait, which has hung at the main entrance of St. Hugh’s College at Oxford University, was replaced on Thursday by a new painting by Japanese artist Yoshihiro Takata.
St. Hugh’s is one of several so-called ‘colleges’, autonomous units within Oxford University. Suu Kyi studied at the prestigious university in the 1960’s.
‘We had received a new painting earlier this month, which was scheduled for a period at the main entrance,’ the college said in a statement. They said that the portrait of Myanmar’s leader has been moved to a safe place.
The University didn’t say whether the removal of the portrait is related to the current crisis in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
Several hundred thousand Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh after Myanmar initiated a military operation in the state of Rakhine.
Refugees have spoken of killings, rape, and the burning of villages. The United Nations believes that Rohingya is being subjected to ethnic cleansing. The Government of Myanmar claims the military operation in Rakhine is aimed against an armed Islamist group Group in Rohingya.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
