Who will save the Rohingyas of Arakan, Burma?

Faroque Shah
RB Article
September 29, 2012

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a South East Asian country with a population of 60 millions. It has many ethnicities, races and religions – Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Animism. Today the country is known more for its ultra-racist policy towards Muslim Rohingya, Christian Chin and Karen minorities than anything else. It attained independence from the Great Britain on January 4, 1948. Its two neighbors then India and Pakistan attained their independence from Britain on August 15 and 14, 1947, respectively. Both those countries are nuclear power states with nuclear powers. 

Burma, on the other hand, since its independence has been engaged in long war with its minorities, such as Shan, Kachin, Karen, Mon, Chin and others, simply because its new leaders in the aftermath of assassination of General Aung San did not fulfill the promises made regarding the minorities rights at the Panglong Conference. Although, the Muslims minority Rohingya was left out in this historic conference, their interest was served by U Abdu Razzak, a teacher of General Aung San, who attended it. Aung San promised him that in the independent Burma, Muslims would have the same rights as Burmese Buddhists. 

Today the western state of Arakan (Rakhine) is part of Myanmar. But it was a separate independent country lived by two peoples – Rakhine Moghs and Muslims Rohingya - up till 1784. In 1404, nearly 600 years back, the Burmese King Minnyay Kyawzwa invaded Arakan. The Arakanese King Narameikh Hla (Mogh) fled Myohaung (Mrohaung), the capital city and escaped to Gauda (Gaur), the capital of Muslim Bengal in India. The Muslim ruler Sultan Giazuddin Azam Shah gave him shelter as an adopted son for 23 years. There he was trained in the Indian armies. Later the Muslim Sultan sends a force of 40,000 soldiers under the leadership of General Sindi Khan to restore his throne. They were able to dethrone the Burmese king. Upon ascension to the throne of Arakan, Narameikh Hla assumed the title of Min Suleman Shah. 

In 1784, when the kingdom was again annexed by the Burmese King Bowdaw Paya, under his directives all the old Muslims monuments and mosques (including the historic Sindi Khan Mosque) were destroyed. Even Rakhine's big statue of Maha Myatmuni was taken away to Mandalay, Amrapura by Arakanese slaves. Afraid of their lives, most Arakanese – Muslim Rohingyas and Magh Rakhines fled to Bengal or today’s Bangladesh (then part of British India) to escape persecutions from the new Burmese king. Even the Arakanese king Sanda Thadita, a Muslim, escaped Arakan with his forces and Ministers, to Bengal. This was a natural reaction to save their lives, as we can witness in our time with fleeing refugees from places like war-torn Iraq, Afganistan and Syria. 

Unfortunately, today the Burmese regime say that Muslims of Arakan have infiltrated from Bangladesh and that they are not citizens of Myanmar and thus, should be put either in camps and sent to the third countries. The UNHCR’s chief responded that his agency won’t take the Rohingyas as refugees as they are citizens of Myanmar. Similarly, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the Rohingyas are internally displaced people in their own country. 

The 1982 Citizenship Law of Burma, formulated by military dictator Ne Win, denies Muslim Rohingyas their citizenship rights, and deliberately violates several International Human Rights Laws. In his statement in the Parliament in July 2012, U Shwe Maung alias Abdu Razzak, a Muslim elected member of Parliament, declared that Muslims have historical back ground of 1000 years in Burma and if the present Bangladesh government could recognize the Moghs as citizens of Bangladesh who are settled in their country why the Myanmar government should deny the same right to Muslims of this country. He said, “I am astonished to hear often that the Bangalis have entered Arakan yesterday or after independence (1948) and in the British period (post-1826).” “If you study the history of Arakan and its people, you will find history of Rohingya in Arakan. At least, you have to recognize us as citizens of Myanmar,” he said. 

The recent violence that spread like wild fires in all parts of Arakan, including Sittwe, once again underscored the true picture of systemic racist policy of the Burmese regime where it uses Buddhist Moghs as instruments to kill and drive out the Rohingya Muslims from its own land. Rohingyas are subjected to systematic human rights violations, forced deportation, mass shooting and gang rape of Muslims women, and arbitrary arrest by the racist Burmese and Rakhine Buddhist Moghs. Under the pretext of preserving peace and security, the racist government used NASAKA and Lon Htain (Border Security and riot police forces consisting of all Moghs) where Muslim Rohingyas are locked inside houses like cattle and the Rakhine Moghs are allowed to move freely wherever they want. By so doing, they make a mockery of the curfew and show that such restrictive laws are not for Rakhine but for Rohingya only. 

Rohingyas are restricted from moving from village to village and marriages are banned under strict laws. In a RNDP (Rakhine National Democratic Party) statement, forwarded to Napyaytaw, it says, "these kalas’ (referring to the Rohingyas) childbirth is not only dangerous to Arakan state it is also dangerous for the entire country, Myanmar.” 

It is simply awful to see their hatred and bigotry against the Rohinya people and Islam. They burned most of the big and small Mosques in Sittwe. In the Muslim majority areas of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, they closed all mosques. At other places they destroyed many mosques. The authorities never prevent the culprits from doing such destructions of Muslim houses of worship. Wherever securities forces enter a village they first arrest young boys for no reasons and attempt to loot their homes and businesses, and shoot and assault women folks. Many of our women lost their lives in defense of their modesty. Many innocent young boys are reported to have died in prisons due to atrocities and tortures that they had suffered. 

Since 1962 some 19 joint operations were conducted to drive out the Rohingya Muslims, as a result of which nearly 1.5 million Rohingya were forced to leave the country. In 1942, during Japanese occupation, the joint Burmese and Rakhine forces massacred more than a hundred thousand Rohingyas in Kyaktaw, Myohoung, Kyataw, Rambraye and Paktaw where 350 villages were burned down. 

In this latest violence in Sittwe many Muslims were burned to death. It is therefore hilarious to hear President Thein Sein declaring lately that there was no case of racial violence, nor any religious and racial discrimination against the Rohingya, and that it was simply sectarian violence. He also does not want any international agency or human rights organizations to inquire and interfere in Myanmar’s internal problems. 

If these be the case, who will save these oppressed Rohingyas from this racist Budhist Moghs and Burmese culprits? As I write, there are fresh reports of attacks on Muslims in Kyauk Phyu, Kyaktaw and Rambree. Recently, President Thein Sein admitted that monks and Rakhine politicians were kindling hatred of Rohingyas. And reports are coming that Rakhine Buddhists are hoarding lethal weapons and long swords in the monasteries. They are also blocking the access of aid packages from the international relief organizations to reach the starving Rohingyas. Their slogan is “Rohingya NO", “Arakan is for Rakhine and not for Rohingya” and “drive or kill the Kala (Rohingya)”. 

Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN group. Is it too much to ask the ASEAN leaders to stop this massacre? How about the OIC? Can their leaders find some magic power to save the oppressed Rohinagyas? If not, who will save these Rohingyas from Buddhist extermination? 

Faroque Shah M. Yusoof is graduated on the History of Burma and from Rangoon University.