Rohingya: Unfinished Business from WWII?
M.S. Anwar
RB Article
RB Article
September 6, 2017
(The Myanmar) Army commander Sr. Gen.
Min Aung Hlaing’s remarks on Friday (Sept 1) suggest it won’t ease off
its campaign (against Rohingya), describing it as “unfinished business”
dating back to World War II. -- Wall Street Journal
Yes,
you read it right. That is straight from the horse's mouth. This is
what the Commander In-Chief of the Myanmar army said in regard to the
ongoing ethnic cleansing (many call it Genocide) against the Rohingya
population in Arakan, the western-most state of Myanmar. Before looking
into what could be his intention behind the statement, let me point out
an unintentional but positive aspect of it.
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Saying
that the (Rohingya) issue is an unfinished business dating back to
WWII, he has indirectly admitted that the Rohingya existence in Arakan
state dates back to 'at least' to the British colonial time in Burma
(now Myanmar). It further negates the infamous label against the
'Rohingya people' (by some Bama officials; racist sections of Bama and
Rakhine Buddhist societies) that they (i.e. Rohingya) are some
modern-day illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. [Note: Bama = Burmese]
But
that's not all. The Myanmar state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
claimed, during her visit to Brussels on May 2, that the (Rohingya)
problem dated back to 18th Century and couldn't be solved overnight.
She, thereby, had admitted that ‘the Rohingya existence’ dates even
further back to an era what Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing later claimed.
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There
are tons of historical evidences that prove that the Rohingyas are sons
of soils of Arakan. In fact, the ancient Arakan kingdoms and
populations were Indo-Aryan (or Indian Vedic people), who are
forefathers of the today's Rohingya people, unlike the Rakhine people
who are descendants of the Mongoloid Tibeto-Burmans who invaded and
settled in Arakan in 10th Century. [Note: Islam was introduced to these
ancient Indo-Aryan people in 8th Century even before the arrivals of the
forefathers of today’s Rakhines.]
Even
disregarding all these historical evidences, the statements by Snr.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the two most powerful
people in Myanmar, should be sufficient evidences to the racist
naysayers to understand that the Rohingya are indeed a native people of
Arakan.
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Coming back to the point, what could Snr. Gen Min Aung Hlaing mean by 'the Unfinished Business from WWII?'
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What happened in Arakan during WWII?
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In
1942, the Rakhine Buddhist extremists backed by Bama ultranationalists
slaughtered, executed and massacred over 100,000 Rohingya people in
Arakan state, a violence considered to have taken place on a much bigger
scale than what you are witnessing today. [Some eyewitnesses that could
have passed away by now have personally narrated many such horror
accounts to me.]
Before
1942, both Rohingya and Rakhine populations are more or less evenly
distributed in all over 17 townships of Arakan state. During the 1942
violence, most of the Rohingya population in the South were pushed
towards the North and thereby, making the Rohingya population a majority
in the region especially Mayu (Maungdaw) district; and a minority in
the south or all other 15 townships in the state. There are 5 Townships
-- Taung Gote, Ann, Man Aung, Rambre and Gwa -- in Arakan that have now
become entirely Rohingya-free zones.
[Note:
Both Rohingya and Rakhine accuse each other for the violence and
killings. But going by the demography and distributions of populations
of Rohingya and Rakhine before and after 1942 violence, the ratio of
number of deaths between Rohingya and Rakhine could highly likely be
70:30 (70 Rohingyas dead & 30 Rakhines dead). Rohingyas were
deceived, massacred and heavily defeated by Bama and Rakhines in
Southern Arakan, whereas the Rohingyas got an upper-hand in the Mayu
district in the later phase of the violence as they became a huge
majority by merging with those who fled from the Southern Arakan. Exact figures of deaths could be available at British and Japanese history
archives and libraries.]
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So, what triggered the violence against Rohingya?
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In
1942, the fascist Japanese forces invaded Burma upon the invitations by
Thakin Aung San and his comrades fighting for the liberation of the
country from the British colonial empire. Hence, Bamas and their next
kins, Rakhines, took side with the Japanese forces, whereas the
Rohingyas took the side of the British. That estranged Rohingyas from
Rakhines and drew a clear communal line separating the two communities.
Eventually,
the Japanese forces took over Burma from the British. During the
process, there was an administrative vacuum created in Arakan state
after the British forces had left and before Japanese could establish
their administrative bodies. By taking advantage of the situation, the
Bama Buddhist ultranationalists incited their Rakhine kins to turn
against the Rohingya Muslims; and backed them to commit massacres
against Rohingyas and expel them from their homes/lands. That should
well be the first step towards Rohingya genocide which you are
witnessing today. The large-scale massacres of Rohingya people
eventually died down but silently continued on small-scales throughout
the Japanese administrations in Burma till 1945.
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The British Responsibility
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The
Rohingyas remained supportive and loyal towards British and their
forces and helped them in re-occupying Burma from the Japanese forces.
The British promised to give the Rohingya people an autonomous region in
northern Arakan in return to their loyalty and supports. Nevertheless,
the British has never fulfilled the promise given to the Rohingya.
Rather, the British deserted them; and handed their destiny and future
over into the hands of the very racist and ultranationalist Bamas and
Rakhines.
For leaving
behind the Rohingya people in a socio-political mess, avoidance to
reveal the history of the Rohingya and Burma at this very critical point
today; for their immoral and insensitive stand in the crisis for
geopolitical and economic gains in the country, the British will, if not
wholly, partially be held responsible for the genocide against the
Rohingya. The British will go down in the history for their complicity
in the Rohingya genocide.
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Burma Independence and Rohingya
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Burma
got independence from the British in 1948. Since then, the different
Burmese governments carried out an operation after an operation with
intentions of destroying the Rohingya community; and grab their
ancestral lands and resources until this very day.
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| Credit: Dr. Maung Zarni |
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| Credit: Dr. Maung Zarni |
Therefore,
the intention that the Sept 1 statement by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing
(reported in the Wall Street Journal) highly indicates is: Continuation
of Ethnic Cleansing/ Genocide! This is an unfinished business for the
Bama and Rakhine ultranationalists dating back to WWII. Thus, Rohingya
is an unfinished people that need to be eradicated at any cost.
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Snr.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing could have said it intentionally or
unintentionally but revealed that they were the Bama ultranationalists
(like him) who implemented and sowed the plans of ethnic
cleansing/genocide against the minority Rohingya right the from the time
of WWII. Because this is an unfinished business (project) for the Bama
ultranationalists and the Rakhine extremists that demands to be
finished, they will be committing atrocity crimes and crimes of genocide
against the minority, under this pretext or the other, until and unless
they are forced to stop by the international powers and authoritative
bodies through effective interferences.
The statement by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing as alarming and dangerous in reality as it sounds.
M.S.
Anwar is an activist and journalist born and brought up in Arakan,
Burma. He’s currently News Editor at Rohingya Blogger. He can be reached
at: editor@rohingyablogger.com
