Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union Addresses the Audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC

RB News

April 8, 2013

Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, addressed the audience at the launching ceremony of Ambassador Dr. Akbar Ahmed’s new book at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The book, containing a wealth of information on the world’s tribes and ethnic minorities, was published in April 2013 by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. A number of dignitaries and journalists from CNN, BBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, Al-Jazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, and others from international print and broadcast media were among the audience. Ambassador Dr. Ahmed’s book unveiled issues of modern day warfare and its impacts on tribes, ethnic minorities, and indigenous population in various regions of the world. There were a significant portion of Rohingya issues, which was detailed in the book. Further, the contemporary issues and the most recent violence against the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma were presented by the author. During the ceremony in the National Press Club, Dr. Uddin was honored by Ambassador Dr. Ahmed with presentation of the book. 

In his speech, Dr. Uddin provided a brief historical perspective on Rohingya ethnicity in Arakan state in Burma, the contemporary Rohingya issues, and the on-going violence against Rohingya and Myanmar Muslim population by Burmese Buddhist radical elements and monks as a result of newly emerging radical Buddhist terror network in Burma. Dr. Uddin’s emphasis on the indigenity of Rohingya population in Arakan clearly resonated the narration of Rohingya issue by Dr. Ahmed in his book. Dr. Uddin explained the audience the deeply-rooted Rohingya culture and civilization in Rohang region of Arakan, dating as far back as 9th century. “All these evidences clearly lead to squarely invalidation of the current position of Burmese Government on Rohingya ethnicity and citizenship” Dr. Uddin stated. He further explained how the intensity and seriousness of the human rights violation and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya people in Arakan state has undeniably risen to the level of genocide. Dr. Uddin has also shed the lights on the emerging humanitarian crisis in Rohingya IDP camps and villages in Arakan as the monsoon season is approaching rapidly. “While the international community is trying so hard to avert a possible humanitarian disaster in IDP camps, the dire situations in many Rohingya villages has gone largely unnoticed – they have no food to eat in villages, particularly in Myohaung, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Rathaydaung, Sittwe, Rambre, and several other areas that are under constant threat from radical Rakhine terror network” Dr. Uddin added. About the recent spread of violence in Central Burma, he provided the detailed accounts of the gruesome killings of Myanmar Muslim families in Meiktila and destruction of mosques and properties of Myanmar Muslims in several other cities in Central Burma. Dr. Uddin again appealed the international community and the United Nations not to waste the valuable time and save the vulnerable victims in Burma. “The rapid growth and spread of radical Buddhist terror network ‘969’ in Burma is not just a threat to very existence of the Rohingya and Myanmar Muslims in Burma, but setting the stage for a new dimension to this terrorism that sure will also target the people of other faiths in Burma – it is just a matter of time” he concluded.