Tuesday 31 July 2012

It’s Neo-Nazi Racism, Stupid!

Dr. Habib Siddiqui

In his book – Worse Than War – Daniel Jonah Goldhagen says that during mass murders, the murderers themselves, their supporters and those who wish to stand idly by practice linguistic camouflage. And this has been the case with the apartheid regime in Myanmar when it comes to its national project towards exterminating or purging out the Rohingyas.

When asked by an independent reporter Barb Weir (from deLiberation) to comment on Rohingya citizenship crisis, an Interior Ministry official working for the Myanmar government said:  “After trying for many years to connect them to neighboring countries, we finally have decided that they are most likely the descendants of Swiss nationals that came to Myanmar many centuries ago and lost their passports.  Unfortunately, their birth records were lost in an avalanche in Switzerland and so we cannot prove their origin.  However, we are negotiating with Switzerland to repatriate them.”
When asked by the reporter about the origin of these “illegal immigrants”, the govt. official said, “I told you.  They’re Swiss.  And besides, they’re Muslim.  The Rohingya Muslims are a demographic bomb for Myanmar.  We want to remain Buddhist and democratic, and Muslim Rohingyas are a threat to our existence.  Muslim self-determination has been expressed in dozens of countries. Why don’t the Muslim countries take them?  They don’t belong here.”
When asked if he was worried about being accused of practicing apartheid policy, the official said, “We’re not worried.”
That tells us all we need to know about the mindset of the Myanmar government vis-à-vis the Rohingya people, not that we did not know what to expect from a representative of that apartheid regime. If you were looking for hearing from the horse’s mouth, we have it in President Thein Sein’s statement, released in early July. His office said that it would not recognize the Rohingya and would hand over responsibility for them to the U.N.’s refugee agency in Arakan State, adding that it was also “willing to send the Rohingyas to any third country that will accept them.”
But frankly speaking, I was rather shocked at the level of haughtiness demonstrated by the interviewee from the Interior Ministry. The interview truly epitomizes denial and arrogance.
Myanmar government wants to portray the Rohingyas as outsiders who had intruded into the country illegally. This small minority, according to official estimate of only 800,000 living in a country of some 56 million, is even depicted as a demographic bomb, threatening Buddhist lifestyle. I did not know Buddhism is that frail. Funny that the Thein Sein regime is even touted as a reform-minded government!  If this be the attitude towards a persecuted minority one wonders how appalling it must have been during previous military regimes.
The Rohingyas, of course, are neither Swiss nor from Switzerland, and Switzerland is not Bangladesh either.  No matter how the apartheid regime in Myanmar feels untroubled or gleeful about their own savagery and horrendous treatment of this persecuted people, the Rohingyas are from Myanmar or what used to be officially known as Burma. No denial of their existence can obscure this historical fact. It is also ludicrous to imagine that such a small tiny minority could be a threat to Buddhism.
For decades what used to be whispered (and/or unheard by others) in government circles before the latest pogrom was unleashed against the Rohingyas of Burma (Myanmar) has now become somewhat audible for all to hear. Thanks to the new-found guarded openness of the regime. We may not like what we hear though; after all, these are spiteful words – lies – coming from some of the worst racists of our time. But they are brutally candid about disclosing their inner hideous thoughts.
Their recent statements clearly show that for the past half a century, the Burmese government ultimately has been the author of its own actions – their genocidal campaigns, their repeated pogroms, and their apartheid character to eliminate the Rohingya people one way or another. It is this policy which has led to forced exodus of more than a million of Rohingyas, let alone the inhuman condition that their people are subjected to day in and day out inside Myanmar.
As we have witnessed in the past with the Jews of Germany, Bosnian Muslims of former Yugoslavia, Kosovars of Kosovo of  former Greater Serbia (and former Yugoslavia), and victims of Rwanda and Burundi, any time such mass extermination or eliminationist projects are launched, it is always about societies and their cultures that contribute to the circumstances that produce extermination plausible as a group or national project — a project that is led by the state, supported by a good percentage of the nation or its dominant group or groups, and which employs large institutional and material resources.
With the current ethnic cleansing in Arakan against the Rohingyas, we are once again reminded of this ugly truth that it is a national project in Myanmar led that is by a criminal neo-Nazi regime where a good percentage of Rakhine and Burman majority — brainwashed by their own brand of Julius Streicher in the likes of (late) Aye Kyaw, Aye Chan, Khin Maung Saw and others – are willing participants. The extremist Rakhine politicians and Buddhist monks play their respective roles providing the justification and necessary institutional and material resources for such extermination projects.
As noted by Goldhagen, the targeted groups come to be seen as deleterious to the well-being of the executioner (often a majority) group. In some instances people deem the group’s perniciousness so great that they want to eliminate it. “In some of the cases such beliefs become socially powerful and coalesce into an explicit public and political conversation about elimination.”
And that is what has happened with the targeted Rohingya people. As part of a very calculated, sinister plan, the unfortunate murder of a Rakhine woman was used as the backdrop to simmer hatred and start the latest extermination campaign against the Rohingya people. It is not difficult to understand why the alleged criminal conveniently died in the prison so that no one would ever know the truth and whether or not he was used as a pawn in what was to follow. Thus, instead of a much anticipated inquiry report on grisly murder of ten Burmese (not Rohingya) Muslims in early June, we heard President Thein Sein’s statement that the Rohingyas cannot live inside Myanmar.
As I have noted earlier, crimes at individual levels happen in all societies. But only in eliminationist projects are such crimes used to justify elimination of a targeted group. To do this, the Myanmar regime has employed all five principal forms of elimination – transformation, repression, expulsion, prevention of reproduction, or extermination of the Rohingya people. In spite of world condemnation, the regime, once again backed by its monks and mobs, refuses to allow outside inquiries and refuses to provide necessary food and shelter to the suffering Rohingya victims in this hot summer month of fasting.
So overwhelming is this criminal national project and its scope that when asked to comment about Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi’s ignoble comments about the Rohingya, the ministry official said, “She has to equivocate on Rohingyan rights.  However, we are confident that just like Nobel laureates Shimon Peres and Barack Obama, she will do the right thing and overlook injustice toward undesirable populations.” Ah, we should have known not to build false hopes with people that have mastered the art of double-talks, who talk about ‘sympathy’ and not ‘rights’!
So, what comes next?
President General Thein Sein has publicly stated that the Rohingya people should be expelled and the UN should take their charge. This is racial discrimination, plain and simple. It is an apartheid policy that has no place in the 21st century. The military regimes that preceded Thein Sein have been practicing this Burmanization and Buddhization policy of the country for the last few decades. When General Ne Win assumed power in 1962, he quickly nationalized all businesses and Muslims were the biggest losers. He also purged the armed forces and the civil bureaucracy of Muslims. Many fled (including those with Burmese or Karen spouses) to neighboring East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Thailand, West Pakistan (now Pakistan), UAE and Saudi Arabia. Anti-Muslim riots took place in Mandlay in 1997 and again in 2001. Some two dozen campaigns have also been directed against the Rohingya people to exterminate or evict them from their ancestral homeland in Arakan.
The real power in Myanmar still lies with the generals. President is their front man. They would continue to make sure that they control government and that the head of the state is a Burman from the majority race. To maintain their tight grip of power, they have created a toxic cocktail of ultra-nationalism (which is pure racism) and religious intolerance (which is bigotry) where the government patronized bare-feet monks are the flag-bearers of this new Myanmar. It is no accident that Nazi insignia – signs and symbols – are hot sales amongst the Rakhines and many Burmans today. They see themselves as the Fascist Germans of the Hitler-era ready to weed out their ‘Jewish peril’ – the Rohingyas totally. Even the so-called democracy movement icons and leaders have proven to be closet racists and bigots. Indeed, with the advent of a semblance of democracy, majority Buddhists feel they now have a license to kill and persecute minorities. This is tyranny of the majority at its worst.
It is high time that the UN and the international media take notice of this grave historic injustice to the Rohingyas of Myanmar. The Thein Sein regime must be obliged to accept the Rohingyas as equal citizens failing which the entire region would be forced to settle for decades of instability, something nobody wants. It is for the good of Myanmar that it fulfills its international obligations for reaffirming fundamental human rights, securing the life and dignity of the minorities within its territory, as are very clearly enshrined in the preamble of the Charter of the UN. The sooner the better!

Maungdaw authorities design the town for UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights visit


Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Maungdaw authorities- Township and district administration offices – are designing the town with full of Human rights to welcome UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Tomas Quintana visit  the areas , according to an elder from Maungdaw.

“We heard Mr. Tomas Quintana will visit tomorrow Maungdaw and Buthidaung and the Town authorities are preparing all things are under the control and town people –Rohingyas – are getting all facilities – movement, foods and religious.”
“The town authorities called all the village administration officers to their office and ordered all Rohingyas must be in the field for working rice cultivation, must be open the Rohingya shops.”
“The authorities also shifted all the arrestees from Buthidaung Jail to No.2 Hluntin Battalion of Buthidaung near golf playground, who were arrested in the riot period and kept in a small room where the authority toke off all the clothes from them.”
All Rakhines  – Maungdaw  north and south , from town and other sides ;- Buthidaung and Rathedaung – are gathering at refugee centers (mostly in the monasteries) in Maungdaw before , now the Rakhines are gathering at Maungdaw High school as they are victims of the riot and staying in the refugee center for fear of Rohingyas attack to them, said a school teacher from Maungdaw.  “The Rakhines  were gather in the monasteries when relief goods were distributing time and returned back to their home after received the relief goods. There are no Rakhine refugees in Maungdaw as no Rakhine ‘s houses burned, only Rohingyas’ houses only burned in Maungdaw.”
“Rohingyaa are not getting any relief from any quarters and they more suffering by not giving access to foods and medicines by the authority.”
Besides, Police officer U Hla Sein with other 4 police personnel entered more than 20 houses from Ward number 5 where the police beat the family members – women and children- and destroyed all the house hold items. At last the police toke the family list and handed over to Ward admin, said a villager from Ward number 5.
Foor Khan, 21, son of Syed from Naribill was arrested by Military Intelligence officer Hla Win Khine  today at about 4:00pm where he was tortured  to confessed  to say some name of villagers which the officer want to extort money from them, said a villager.
The military personnel are placed everywhere in Maungdaw Township. Rohingya people can move freely now wherever army personnel are posted. The military is selling rice for Rohingya with high price. Rice-sack porters also are happy for earning something. The Rohingya are not able to buy rice as they have no money. All the money were looted by Rakhine and security forces, said a villager from Maungdaw.
But some policemen -–Assistant police officer Aye htun Sein and sergeant Than Maung Gyi- who stationed near the clock tower are looting money from the people and collecting 1000 kyats as toll on per rice -sack.
The ancient mosque nearby Sittwe airport is under renovation by the local municipality as to show up that the government is taking care of the damages. The lands of destructed houses and mosques have been bulldozed. The situation of Rohingya refugee camps in Sittwe is still unchanged. People are dying by starvation and lack of medical treatments.
Violating human rights beside the unrecognizing citizens is likewise keeping the people at silent killing field. Many people are living in open area without any shelter but sometime they were brought to designated places and taken pictures to show up that they were in safe places, said an educated person from Maungdaw.
“Of course Mr Quintana will visit the villages in Arakan to see the situation but I don’t think the vulnerable Rohingya people will dare to speak to him. If anyone who speaks the truth will be tortured upon leaving of Mr Quintana. It is a worry that the government will make some Rohingya as their puppets and let them meets with Mr Quintana and will hide the reality and cover up their crimes against Rohingyas.”
Amnesty International and many Human Rights Organizations issued the statements that there are arbitrary arrests, mass killings and security forces are targeting Rohingya people. The security forces raid every night the villages in Maungdaw to arrest Rohingya men. The Rohingya women were raped in absence of men as almost men were not sleeping at home for the fear of arrest.
Malaysian government offered aids for displaced people but Burma’s foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin rejected it. Human Rights expert Mr Ansar Burney was rejected the entry visa to Burma. Turkish Red Crescent is waiting for the response of Thein Sein government to assist the Rohingya people. Iran government is urging the UN to send peacekeeping forces to Arakan. Independent media access is still controlled. Within, this situation, the Rohingya can get their rights from world community, said an old man from Maungdaw.

Police harassment increase in Maungdaw

Police harassment increase in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Police officers in Maungdaw Township increase harassment against the Town dwellers and villagers of Rohingya villages. Every day, the police officers arrest the innocent Rohingya villagers to extorted money.

The police surveillance officer U Aung Kyaw Than of Maungdaw Town went to Baggona village and arrested two villagers— Mohamed Zuhar and another one today and brought to Maungdaw police station where they were severely tortured to extort money.

U Aung Kyaw Than gave his telephone number to every village in Maungdaw Township to contact with him. His contact number is —00-95-0945-670, 545. He listed, at least 20 to 30 villagers from every village to meet with him. The police officer threatened to the villagers that if the villagers do not meet him to pay money, they will be arrested and will be sent to Buthidaung jail.

U Aung Kyaw Than has good relation with Officer-in- Charge (OC) U Tin Hla, U Hla Sein, U Hla Myint, and U Maung Chay of Maungdaw police station. This group also involves in Yaba tablets smuggling with Bangladesh. The group uses Rakhines and Rohingys for smuggling Yaba tablets to Bangladesh and they have to pay money to the group per week.

Yesterday, at about 4:00 pm, police and Hluntin arrested Mohibullah (27), son of Tin Soe (clerk), hailed from Bohmu Para of Maungdaw township at Clock Tower junction, while he was going to his home.

Besides, on July 27, Ayat Ullah ( 20), son of Salamat, hailed from Ward No.1 of Maungdaw Town was arrested by police personnel – Assistant police Inspector and sergeant Than Maung Gyi -   at Clock Tower junction while he was crossing the junction. After arrest, he was severely tortured at the road. Today, early in the morning, police threw a dead body of Rohingya villager nearby a Hindu Para of Shwezarr but it was seen by Rohingya villagers. Therefore, the police took away again to Maungdaw Town. Villagers believe that the dead body was the son of Salamat.

On July 25, Nasaka arrested Arif Hussain (22), son of Baser hailed from Sangri village of Kyauk Pyin Seik village tract of Maungdaw Township.

We, the people of Maungdaw town urge to the Home Minister of Burma through Kaladan Press Network to take action against the police officers, especially U Aung Kyaw Than.

The villagers of Rathedaung Towunship are not allowed to go out from their homes so; they are not able to buy anything from the market. Now, they are facing food crisis. No one visited the Rathedaung Township to oversee the Rohingya situation.

Rakhine Refugees camps again setup in Maungdaw

The authority called all the Natala villagers , Rakhine community from Maungdaw north , Rakhine community from Maungdaw town and others area- Buthidaung and Rathedaung -  to join at the Maungdaw State High school as a refugees, pretending  who are  not able to stay in their villages for fear of attack from Rohingya community, said an elder from Myoma Kyayoungdan village.

“The Rakhine before setup   7 refugee centers at monasteries , but now they again setting up new style  in Maungdaw High school. It is just for showcase of refugee to show the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana who will visit soon.”

Mosques checking in Maungdaw

On the other hand, the security personnel are checking the Mosques of Myoma  Kyayoungdan village  where was not happen before. The villagers were not at the Mosques when the security checked the Mosques. The Rohingya community is fearing for blocking the all Mosques as it is checking Mosques now most of the villages, said a religious leader from Maungdaw.

“The authority is going to arrest the Rohingya religious leaders and students. So the religious leaders and students are hiding  for fear of arrest. No one stay in the villages.”

Court staffs attack Rohingya community in Maungdaw

The court staffs have been throwing stones to the Rohingya community who went to see their love one (family members) at the hearing session , said a Rohingya who is the victim of the court.

“The court staffs also said that you are not allow to attend the courtroom. This is not your place.”

The judge also stated the case period into double and fine also double. The Rohingya community, who has a case with bail bound, are called by court and sent to the jail with double jail term and with fine.

BURMA’S ROHINGYA ORIGIN IN THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF ARAKAN: UNDERSTANDING THE ARAB – CHANDRA SYNTHESIS

(A WORKING PAPER ON ARAKAN HISTORY)

Abid Bahar
Abstract (Several issues has come to the surface from the present research on DHANNAWADI and VASALI period of ancient Arakan;
(1) That DHANNAWADI and VASALI were Indian dynasties with Hindu and Mohayana Buddhist religious followers
(2) During the Chandra rule there had been some Arab settlements in Arakan. The language of the Chandras was proto-Chittagonian: Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic mixed similar to what Buchanon Hamilton found in 1799 with Rohingyas in Burma, also that a similar language was spoken by the Chakmas and Thanchangras of Arakan and Bangladesh, its written form similar to Bengali found in the Ananda Chandra script
(3) Beginning from 957 A.D. there had been a huge migration of Tibeto-Burman Theraveda Buddhist population into the plains of Arakan, by defeating the Chandras they took possession of Arakan and the Indian look alike people retreated either toward the Northern part of Arakan or went back to Bengal, making the event its first Indian exodus of Arakaniese people to Bengal.
(4) In our contemporary period there has been a conscious effort among Arakan’s Rakhine crudader like historians to deny and cleanse from history, not only the traces of Indian Hindu or Mohayana civilization but also the traces of Muslim population and their Arab-Chandra synthesis of the Chandras predating the Tibeto Burman Theraveda Buddhist existence. )
———————————-
The Rohingyas people of Arakan are mostly Muslims with a small Hindu population among them. They are racially Indo- Semitic. They are not an ethnic group developed from one tribal group affiliation or single racial stock. Tides of people like the the Brahmins from India,  Arabs, Moghuls, Bengalis, Turks and people from Central Asia, came mostly as traders, worriors and prechers overland or through the sea route to Arakan.  Many settled in Arakan, during the Indian Chandra period, mixing with the local people formed the first neclus of the Rohingya people in Arakan. Historically speaking, in their common suffering in Burma, they found an identity now known to the world as the Rohingyas of Arakan. (1) Part one of this series of articles on Rohingya history is about the first Arab Chandra synthesis; covering from 3rd century CE. to 1406 A.D in chronological order.
3rd Century (CE): “By the 3rd century (CE), the coastal region of Kala Mukh (Arakan) had been settled with the colonists dominating and coexisting warily with the indigenous people. In the sites of major habitation Sanskrit became the written language of the ruling class, and the religious beliefs were those prevalent at that time in south-Asia (or Indian sub-continent). “(2)
4th to 10th century. DHANNAWADI and VASALI (Brahminical and Mohayana Buddhist civilizations)
“ As a port city, Vaishali was in contact with Samatat (the planes of lower Bangladesh) and other parts of India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Historically, these early rulers came to be known as the Chandras and controlled the territories as far north as Chittagong. “(3)
“The Anand Chandra Inscription, which contains 65 verses (71 and a half lines) and now sited at the Shitthaung pagoda, provides some information about these early rulers. Interestingly, neither the name of the kingdom or the two premier cities – Dhanyavati and Vaishali – is mentioned. This 11-foot high monolith, unique in entire Burma, has three of its four faces inscribed in a Nagari script, which is closely allied to those of Bengali and north-eastern India. As noted rightly by Noel Singer had it not been for Professor E.H. Johnston of Balliol College, Oxford, who translated the Sanskrit script and the Indian epigraphists before him, the contents of the Inscription which remained inaccessible for well over a thousand years would never have been known. (4)
“The script on the panel on the east face is believed by Johnston to be the oldest. According to Pamela Gutman it was similar to the type of script used in Bengal (Bangladesh) during the early 6th century CE. As to the panel on the north face, Johnston mentioned that several smaller inscriptions in Bengali characters had been added in the 10th century. Gutman however felt that the principal text in this section is of the mid-11th century CE. The panel on the west face, which is reasonably preserved, is believed by Gutman to be of the earlier part of the 8th century. This priceless document not only lists the personalities of each monarch but also some of the major events of every reign.”(5)
“So who is this Ananda Chandra? In verse 64, it clearly says that he was a descendant of the Saiva-Andhra monarchs [presumably of Banga or Bangladesh] whose kingdom was located between the Godavari and Krishna Rivers of Bengal, and close to the Bay of Bengal. The founder of this new dynasty was Vajra Sakti who reigned circa 649-665 CE. His successor was Sri Dharma Vijaya, who reigned from circa 665-701. As noted by Singer, and much in contrast to Rakhine claims, Dharma Vijaya was not a Theravada Buddhist, but probably a Mahayanist. The next in line was Narendra Vijaya who reigned from circa 701 to 704 CE. The next to rule was Sri Dharma Chandra, who reigned from 704 to 720 CE. He was the father of Ananda Chandra who was a magnificent patron of Mahayana Buddhism and Hindu institutions.(6)
Arakani researcher San Shwe Bu thinks the Chandras were from Hindu dynasty but later on like in Bengal converted to Mohayana Buddhism. According to him the king and the people both were of Indian origin. The coins of Wasali had the image of Siva engraved on it. M.S. Collins says, “The coins of Wasali were in pure Brahminical tradition.”(7)  The Indian Chandra aristocracy called the ancient dark skinned people of Arakan with the derogatory name the Rakkhasas (Kula). These were the indigenous people of Arakan.
What was the language of these people? The language of the Chandras was proto-Chittagonian: Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic mixed. See the “The Anand Chandra Inscription. There is no trace of Burmese or Rakhine Mogh script on it. According to Dr. Emil Forchhammer, a Swiss Professor of Pali at Rangoon College, and Superintendent of the newly founded Archaeological Survey (1881): “The earliest dawn of the history of Arakan reveals the base of the hills, which divide the lowest courses of the Kaladan and Lemro rivers, inhabited by sojourners from India… Their subjects are divided into the four castes of the older Hindu communities…”(8)
788 A.D. During the reign of Arakani Indian Chandra King Mahat Sing Daya’s time recorded in the royal chronicle that several Arab ships wracked on Ramree Island. “Survivors were sent to Arakan proper and settled in villages.” (9) Similar Arab settlements were recorded in the other parts of southern part of Chittagong of what is now Bangladesh.
785-957 Arab traders began to settle both in Arakan and Chittagong. Inter mixture with the local population no doubt led to the growth of the first Chandra-Rohingyas of Arakan. During this time, in both Arakan and Chittagong, the influence of Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic, Persi, combined together eventually formed the Chandra-Rohingya dialect which is similar to the Chittagonian dialect with their slight variations. The same dialect is also spoken by the Chakmas, and the Tanchaingyas of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Despite their racial differences their linguistic similarities shows they must be the citizens of ancient Chandra kingdom.
Durinng the 9th Century there was records of Chandra invasion of Chittagong. Hindus of Chittagong believe that the name Chittagong was derived from the original Sanskrit name “Chatta gram” into “Chaitigaon.” However, the Arakani historians claim that the name Chittagong was originally given by an Arakanese mongoloid king. It says, an Arakani king eracted a pillar at Chittagong in the nineth century A. D. with a remark “to make war is improper.” Interestingly, during this time a Chandra king (not a Mogh king) ruled Arakan.  It is hard to believe, because there was no Rakine Mogh kingdom in Arakan yet. At this time, Arakan was ruled by Chanda king Shoe Ratan. The language of the king was not the Burmese Moghhi “Tsit-ta-gungin”, “to make war is improper” seems was made up later on.  “To make war improper” seems more like the declaration of a peace treaty between two parties than as it was originally presented as the declaration of victory by an Arakani king. Under the circumstance of the nonexistence of  Burmese language in Arakan at the time, instead of the Burmese “Tsit-ta-gungin”, it would seem that the Chandras’s Sanskrit expression “Shoukeet Thakom” (Choutagon, in English meaning you  live in peace) The latter expression in Chittagonian or in Chandra-Rohingya language seems historically more consistent. One might wonder how this misinterpretation of a huge magnitude “Tsit-ta-gungin”, “to make war is improper” remained as truth for so long.
Many of the contemporary research on Arakan show that after the event of 1784 Burmese invasion of Arakan, Burmese king took the Arakani chronicles to Burma proper. To Burmanize Arakan, we know the Arakani Sanskrit chronicles were rewritten in Burmese along with a tendentious interpretation of events entered into the present Arakani history.
957-1430 MONGOLOID BURMESE MOGH INVASION OF ARAKAN: RISE OF THE RAKHINE MOGH
(Arakan’s two solitudes: Rakhine in the South and Rohingya in the North. Mongoloid invasion of Arakan and the beginning of “Kula” (Chandra Rohingya) exodus to North Arakan and Chittagong.) (11)
957 A.D.  Something happened in the year 957 A.D. and historians’ record this as a significant date when Tibeto-Burman people in large numbers entered Arakan and took its control by defeating the Chandra Mahayanas Buddhists, imposing their Theravada Buddhism, the latter was adopted from the Mons in the South who in their turn took it from Sri Lanka. Similar changes didn’t happen in Bengal. (10) In Bengal, most Mahayana Buddhists were converted to Islam by Sufi mystics. With the fall of Arakan to the Tibeto-Burmans, the Chandra Indians were either pushed to the north of Arakan or some even left Arakan for Bengal. Around this time, the defeated Chandra Royal family was found to settle in Chittagong proper.The Dev Pahar, in Chittagong city named after Dev Chandra was the site of this new Mohayana Buddhist kingdom.(12)
In North Arakan, mostly Chandra Hindus (lower casts also known as the Rakkhas) slowly adopted Islam converted by the already existing Muslims of Arakan and most Buddhist elites perhaps joined the Tibeto-Burnan Theraveda group or perhaps a defeated small number of Buddhist adopted Islam. Arakan became on one hand Theraveda Buddhist with largely Tibeto Burman stock, later came to be known as the “Mog/ Mug”/ Rakhines and the others were Rohingya Hindus and Muslims. Moghs settled in the south and Muslims, Hindus of Indian look alike people settled in the North. During the Chandra times and to its end in Arakan, we see the traces of Arabic names such as Rambree, Sufi sites on Myu Mountain tops, and Badre Patis in the Northern part of Arakan.
From the 11th century, clearly with the Tibeto-Burman rule, Arakan began to have two solitudes, Rakhine Mogh and the Rohingya Muslims but Arakan began to look East to its mongoloid Buddhist neighbors only until the year 1430; the year Arakan’s king Noromi Kla would be deposed by Burmese invasion and he would take shelter in Gaur of Bengal.
Revisionist History Writing and Rakhine Crusader like Activism: Ethnic cleansing of the Arakani Indo sematic traces
A footnote to the above discussion that Rakhine ultranationalists in their attemts to purify Arakan of Muslim traces for their only Buddhist mongoloid race prove that the Buddhist civilization was there for the past 3000 years, and even Buddha visited Arakan and the Mohamuni was made in Buddha’s presence. In this ethnocentric attempt, they are not only getting rid of Muslim names from Arakan sites in Mrohaung city and in its vicinity, in doing anti Indo semantic ethnic cleansing, by getting rid of both Hindu traces and the Mohayana Buddhist traces from Dhannwadi and Vasali kingdom sites in favour of the Theraveda Rakkhapuri ultra nationalist Buddhism.
In his book, Vasali and the Indianization of Arakan, Noel Singer notes, “Dhanyavti and Vasaishali on which stood Hindu temples, now been taken over by Buddhists. There is a tendency to transform Hindu gods into Buddhist deities.” “Regretably, despite Rakhine determination to eradicate Brahmanic evidence, this is unlikely to happen for a considerable time.” (13)
Their narrative about the Rohingyas (Hindu-Muslim) of Arakan by the Rakhine xenophobes “starts with the British colonization of the territory in 1826 after the first Anglo-Burma War of 1824-26, as if Rohingyas had no past connection to the soil of Arakan.”(14) In this propaganda campaign, there are several Rakhine crusader like  historians; they are Kanbawza Win, Aye Chan, Maung Maung, and U Khin Maung Saw.  One such historian is also San Tha Aung. Noel Singer remarks: “whose vehement claims that the inhabitants of the kingdom throughout its history were devout Theravada Buddhist, it should be noted that Svarga, the Hindu paradise, and not a Buddhist one was indicated in the inscription.” He “investigated the document further in the 1970’s apart from his biased version his labors failed to produce any new revelations.” (15) No doubt, the works of these tendentious Rakine historians belittling the Rohingya presence in Arakan must have played a significant role in the present ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people in Arakan.
1044-77 Rise of Burmese pagan king Anwardhta in Burma proper with Teraveda political Buddhism, “reduces North Arakan”from a kingdom to a province of Burma.
1044-77 Rohingyas (Arakani Hindus and Muslims) left Arakan for Chittagong. Chakma Royal history says that in this war against the Burmese, Chakmas sided with the Bengalis (the Chandras) but were defeated.
1287 – Mongols under Kublai Khan conquer Pagan.  Arakan revives again as a kingdom.
1406 Burmese King Min Khaung Yaza invades Arakan and Noromi-kala the king of Arakan along with his followers took asylum at Gaur court of Bengal. The Sultan welcomed Noromi kla to serve as an officer in the army.
1431  Noromi Kla was helped by the Bengal Sultan with General Wali Khan leading 20, 000 troops to restore him to throne of Arakan, at the same time Arakan became an autonomous province of Bengal, paying taxes to the Sultan.
(Continues to Part 2)
ENDNOTES:
(1)Abid Bahar, “Dynamics of Ethnic Relations in Burmese Society”: An Unpublihed MA thesis, University of Windsor, Canada, 1981, p. 25, Abid Bahar, “Mystery behind the Chakma and the Rohingya’s linguistic similarities”http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1721:mystery-behind-the-chakma-and-the-rohingyas-linguistic-similarities&catid=35:rohingya&Itemid=29
(2)Habib Siddiqui, Analysis of Muslim Identity and Demography in Arakan – parts 1 and 2 http://drhabibsiddiqui.blogspot.ca/2011/10/analysis-of-muslim-identity-and.html
(3)Ibid
(4) Ibid
(5) Ibid
(6) Ibid
(7) M.S. Collins,Burma, 1925, p.39-43.
(8) Habib Siddiqui, Analysis of Muslim Identity and Demography in Arakan – parts 1 and 2
(9) R.B. Smart, Burma Gazetteer Akyab district, Vol. 1,  1957, p.17
(10) Purna Chandra Chowdhury, Chottagramer Ithas, 2008, p. 31
(11) Michael Smith,The Muslim Rohingyas of Burma, 1995.
(12)  Purna Chandra Chowdhury, Chottagramer Ithas, p. 31
(13) Noel Singer, Vasali and the Indianization of Arakan, 2008, p108;San Tha Aung, Wathali, in Noel Singer, Vasali and the Indianization of Arakan, 2008
MP U Shwe Maung’s Parliamentary Speech in Burmese Parliament
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YTUdcLAq8ag
(14)Ibid
(15)Ibid,
News Night With Talat – 25th July 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtQjgIZdVt8;
Inside Story – Why is the world ignoring Myanmar’s Rohingya?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=RfC0aJwZjFI; Thousands of Muslims
Massacred by Burma’s Government and People (Myanmar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uO4leI66Ko&feature=related;Tell Me, What is Rohingya Genocide:
http://danyawadi.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/tell-me-what-is-rohingya-genocide-in-burma-by-abid-bahar-phd/;http://danyawadi.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/religiously-motivated-racism-and-the-ongoing-rohingya-genocide-in-burma/, http://danyawadi.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/religiously-motivated-racism-and-the-ongoing-rohingya-genocide-in-burma/
(Dr. Abid Bahar teaches in Canada)

Authority preparing to prove no violence in Maungdaw



“Some army is stationed near the market of Maungdaw and other areas, some Rohingya are going to market to buy foodstuff for their home when army has taken security in the town. The army also sells rice to the Rohingya since yesterday in Maungdaw.”
“The rice sacks which Rohingya buy from army, are taking to their home, but the police personnel are collecting toll from these rice sacks.”
“The police personnel –Assistant police officer Aye htun Sein and sergeant Than Maung Gyi- stationed near the clock tower and collecting toll from Rohingya who return from Maungdaw market.”
“The security personnel collect 1000 kyats per sack of rice who take for his home and sometimes the security personnel hijacked Rohingya who has money. The police personnel take him to the electric generator compound and toke all the belonging from Rohingya.”
If the armies also take position at clock tower, the Rohingya will able to move freely from this area, said a school teacher.
“Suddenly, the authorities change their plan of no foods for Rohingya is a showcase to prove the visiting  UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana .”
The authority also preparing to kept fake Rakhine refugees in the refugee centers in Maungdaw to show the difficulty of Rakhine community in Maungdaw. Actually, the Rohingya community is refugees as IDPs in their villages and not getting foods and medicines as they lost everything during the riot.
The UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana wish to find out the real facts, he must meet the Rohingya from villages or must visit Rohingya villages if he had times to see the Rohingya life after riot in Maungdaw, said  an elder from Maungdaw.
“The authority will give to meet him with some Rohingya who are the puppet of authority.”
“We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release stated in UN.org website.
“Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community,” she added.
Ms. Pillay welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s visit, but noted that “while he will be able to make an initial assessment during his one-day visit, this is no substitute for a fully-fledged independent investigation.”

Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa raised Rohingya Issue at the Extraordinary Summit of the (OIC)


RI ready to fight for Rohingya
Margareth S. Aritonang and Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Marty Natalegawa and Aung San Suu Kyi 
In his first official statement regarding the prolonged communal violence in western Myanmar between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that Indonesia would raise the problem at the Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, scheduled for mid-August.

Marty said that Indonesia would emphasize its opposition to any kind of human rights violations, including the violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar.

“We must highlight, again, that Indonesia has consistently rejected discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, or any other reason. Our stance also applies to the ongoing attacks against the Rohingya in Myanmar,” Marty told reporters at his office.

Marty also insisted that Indonesia would not sit idly by while western Myanmar burns.

He said that Indonesia had sent an envoy to Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2010 to investigate the conflict between the Rohingya and the Rakhine after refugees from the conflict poured in into the country.

“We have always brought the issue into multilateral and bilateral discussions with Myanmar. So it’s not true that we don’t care. Our silence doesn’t mean we don’t care,” Marty said.

Data from the Foreign Ministry said that 394 Rohingya have sought refugee status in Indonesia, 124 of whom were ready to be resettled in third party countries. The remaining 199 displaced persons are sheltered in a number of refugee camps in the country.

“We always open our door for anyone who needs our help,” Marty said.

Separately, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that the Indonesian government would not comment on granting political asylum status to the Rohingya who had arrived in the country. 

“I have no statement with regard to that,” Julian said at the Presidential Office on Monday.

Hundreds of the ethnic Muslim have fled Myanmar for several nearby states, including Indonesia. 

The United Nations claims there are about 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, and considers them among the most persecuted minorities in the world.

At least 78 people have been killed in communal violence there in the last month.

Reports say the Rohingya are currently stranded in the Riau Islands, with some in other locations around West and East Java. They left Myanmar to seek safety and asylum from the Indonesian government, with some apparently hoping to continue on to Australia for the same purpose. They are reportedly surviving in poor conditions, lacking food and other basic necessities.

When asked what the government would do about the situation, Julian said the administration had taken all possible measures, but for the time being, Indonesia could only use diplomacy. “The government has been trying its best in our diplomatic efforts with Myanmar. Hopefully these efforts will stop the violence,” he said.

“Our position is clear: we will make any possible diplomatic efforts to help our Rohingya brothers,” Julian added. 

Myanmar, meanwhile, has denied the communal conflict was motivated by religion and rejected any effort to bring an international presence into the conflict.

“Peace and stability is indispensable for the on-going democratization and reform process in Myanmar. National solidarity and racial harmony among different nationalities is vital for the perpetuation of the Union. Myanmar is a multi-religious country where Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus have been living together in peace and harmony for centuries, hence recent incidents in Rakhine State are neither because of religious oppression nor discrimination,” Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Current Situation of Arakan | 30th July 2012


"There are several hypocritical attempts ans steps taking by the government in Arakan to deceive the visiting UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Tomas OjeaQuintana about the actual situation of Arakan and to cover up the crimescommitted against Rohingyas.

Attempt 1
The authority are forcing the leaders of Rohingyas in Maung Daw and Buthidaung to say to Mr. Quintana that they are in peaceful situation and government has only arrested those who involved in the violence. 


Attempt 2
The authority are clearing all the blocks to show that people can move freely and forcing Rohingyas to re-open the remaining businesses.


Attempt 3
Until two days ago, Rohingyas were not allowed to do their lifeline cultivation of crop rice. Now, the NaSaKa in Maung Daw are forcing Rohingyas to start their cultivation and subsequently taking photographs of them.


Attempt 4
NaSaKa is behaving as if they are giving some food rations. The foods given to Rohingyas are taken back by NaSaKa after the completion of their photographic sessions.


Attempt 5
Authorities in Sittwe are repairing few remaining Mosques and painting them. 


Attempt 6
Authorities and Rakhine leaders are visiting the Rohingya camps, persuading Rohingyas and calling them as if their brothers.


Attempt 7
The government also ordered all people to attached the postcards with the symbol "NSK" to their the shirts." Rahim from Maung Daw reported.


In short, authorities in Arakan commanded all Rohingyas and Rakhines that they must, though externally, show solidarity and live like friends from 1st August to 5th August. This pseudo-solidarity and peacefully living together for five days is certainly an attempt to deceive the visiting UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana. C'mon, tyrannic regime and extremist Rakhines! Don't be afraid to show your true faces. Don't try to
deceive the world.


Moreover, according to one of the internal source, the police custodies in Maung Daw and Buthiduang have become Burmese Version of Nazi Extermination Camps where many Rohingyas arrested and locked up are being killed through tortures and various other means. The Rohingyas including under-aged ones are kept without water for days. When they are given foods, it is not on the plates but on the ground. Then, their hands are tied with ropes and they are forced to eat using their mouths. Besides, authorities of the custodies frequently put SALT into wounds of Rohingyas resulted from the tortures. Whoever dies is buried inhumanely wherever possible. Therefore, it is quite similar to how Jews were treated in Nazi's extermination camps. 


Furthermore, it has been known to the world that the monks in Rakhine state are restricting Rohingyas' access to foods, rations and medication. The monks boycotted 22 Rohingyas villages in Kyauktaw township. No Rohingya from these 22 villages are allowed to go out of their villages in search of foods and making them (Rohingyas) die by starvation inside their villages. To add more horrors, according to a reliable source from Maung Daw, about 2
to 3 Rohingyas per day (including children) are being slaughtered in "Allu Daw Bray (Byay)" monastery opposite to the government hospital in Maung Daw. During the raids by the police and Lunthin (security guards) which are made up of Rakhines, hundreds of Rohingyas were arrested. Some of them were killed on the spot, some have been kept and being tortured in police custodies and some were handed over to the concerned monastery to
be slaughtered. The people who are not allowed to inflict pains even on insects, whose religion teaches Metta (loving-kindness), are slaughtering human beings. Unbelievable! These people who are hiding behind saffron might not be Buddhists. They might be influenced more by Hitler than Buddha himself. 


Meanwhile, arresting of educated Rohingyas and their religious leaders continues in Buthidaung and Maung Daw.


The people of the world regretted and mourned after the holocaust of six millions Jews. Then, they decided and took oath to not let happen such kind of atrocities, ethnic cleansing, genocides and the crimes against humanity take place on the earth again. Yet, it is taking place against Rohingyas in Arakan state of Burma. Do come forward to save them before it
is too late.

Turkish Foreign Minister meets with representative of Rohingya



Turkish Foreign Minister  Ahmet Davutoğlu   and Dr. Mohammed Yunus


30 July 2012 
Davutoglu received Yunus, representative of Arakan Muslims, in the Turkish capital, Ankara. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday received Mohammed Yunus, representative of Arakan Muslims, in the Turkish capital, Ankara. 
  
The meeting at Davutoglu's residence was held closed to news media.Head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs Mehmet Gormez accompanied Yunus during the meeting.

Turkish diplomatic sources have said Yunus had asked for Turkey's support in dealing with the humanitarian crisis which forced many Rohingya Muslims to flee oppression into Bangladesh.

Sources also cited Yunus as asking for support to mobilize international community to step up and send aid to the displaced Rohingya Muslims. 

Sources cited Davutoglu as telling Yunus that Turkey would continue to monitor developments closely and that he was set to send a letter to his counterpart in Myanmar.

Britain must defend Burma's Muslim Rohingyas

The abuse of the Rohingyas by the Burmese government is a human rights catastrophe. 


 By RUSHANARA ALI

The Rohingyas have lived in Burma for generations, but under the 1982 Citizenship Law they are not recognised as citizens. Photograph: Getty Images.


The past year has seen impressive progress in Burma – the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of political prisoners, preliminary ceasefires with many ethnic minorities in Burma and the first elections in 20 years which saw pro-democracy candidates elected to parliament. Alongside this internal progress, international progress is being made with sanctions being suspended and political relationships starting to form, not least with an invitation from Prime Minister David Cameron to Burma’s President Thein Sein to visit the UK later this year. 

Burma’s President Thein Sein has been working hard to convince the world his government is changing. Yet this story of progress and reform hides a far more complex and troubling truth. Burma is taking some initial, fragile steps towards democratisation, but there is still a very, very long way to go. Several hundred political prisoners remain in jail, a brutal war continues many ethnic minorities including the predominantly Christian Kachin people in northern Burma, and there are still systematic human rights abuses – civilians in Kachin talk of forced labour, torture and extra judicial killings and at least 75,000 people have been forcibly displaced.

And there is the tragedy that is the plight of the Muslim Rohingyas. In June, a devastating cycle of violence spiralled out of control in Arakan State in western Burma. Sparked by the rape and murder of a Buddhist Rakhine woman allegedly by Muslim Rohingyas, decades of racial and religious hatred erupted into several weeks of sectarian violence in which hundreds were killed, dozens of villages torched and at least 90,000 people displaced. Both communities committed violence, but the Rohingyas were the primary victims.

The effects were seen far wider than Arakan State. Throughout Burma, and among Burmese exiled communities abroad, including in the UK, blatant and shocking anti-Muslim racism came to the fore with threats against Rohingyas as well as those who campaign for them and crude comments on social media depicting the Rohingyas as “Bengalis” and “terrorists”.

Back in Burma, as the violence subsided, the security forces began a violent crackdown going house to house arresting Rohingyas who have now seemingly disappeared without charge and without trial. Those who could flee had nowhere to run except the jungle. Those who could not flee faced jail or death. This is a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe in the making.

Underlying this entire issue is the question of citizenship. The Rohingyas have lived in Burma for generations, but under the 1982 Citizenship Law they are not recognised as citizens. The Burmese government, and many in Burmese society, describe them as “illegal immigrants”. For years, they have faced severe restrictions on marriage, movement, education and religion in Burma, because they are deemed “foreigners”. They are among the most persecuted, marginalised people in the world.

Bangladesh, however, will not take them either. Although an estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees have lived in dire conditions along the Bangladesh-Burma border for years, Bangladesh refuses to give sanctuary to any more. Those fleeing the current crisis have been turned back from the border, sent to face an uncertain fate. Those who have escaped from Burma on boats have been turned away from Bangladesh’s shores, often to die in stormy seas or be shot at by Burmese troops.

In early July, President Thein Sein escalated the crisis even further, by reportedly telling the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that his government will not recognise them. On the same day Britain opened a trade office in Naypyidaw and the US lifted sanctions, Thein Sein wanted to hand the entire ethnic group to the UNHCR to look after until they could be resettled in a third country. He described the 800,000 Rohingyas in Burma as “a threat to national security”.

There is an urgent need for international pressure on President Thein Sein, to repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law and introduce a new law that is based on international norms and human rights. No one born in Burma should be denied citizenship. No ethnic group should be written off as “a threat to national security”. Such racial and religious intolerance is unacceptable.

The British government must make this issue a priority. If Burma is to become a truly free nation, with all the responsibilities and benefits that come with that, it must respect human rights for all its people. Britain must push for open access for humanitarian aid and human rights monitors to all areas of Burma, the release of all political prisoners and for an immediate stop to the violence and persecution - including rewriting the Citizenship Law. Without this, the process of reform and reconciliation in Burma cannot move forward.

‘Open Prison’ for Rohingya Muslims | Nay San Lwin


Rohingya Muslims in Burma complain of a catalogue of discrimination in their homeland

BERLIN – The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims was initiated in the 1970s with a long-time plan. Rohingyas were one of the recognized ethnic groups in Burma during the parliamentary government after the independence of the country.

But a 1982 citizenship act was implemented by the world’s most notorious dictator Ne Win to make the Rohingya a ‘stateless” minority. The act imposes restrictions on Rohingyas in terms of marriage, travel, business and so on.

Getting a marriage contract is a “mission impossible” for Rohingya Muslims. The application must be submitted to the authorities in advance without assurances to get the contract. The process could take up a couple of year or more, depending on how much the couple can pay bribes to the authorities.

The agreement must be signed by the Muslim couple that they would not have more than two children. The approval of the permission would not be obtained without bribing. As having more than two children is prohibited, the extra children become undocumented children.

Another headache for Rohingya Muslims is the freedom of movement, which is strictly controlled. Moving from one village to another needs an authorization from local authorities, let alone the time spent and money paid to get the travelling approval paper.

It is more restricted for Rohingya Muslims to travel from the capital, which becomes an easy task as long as the person is able to offer huge bribes to authorities. Travelling to Burma’s former capital, Rangoon, is impossible for Rohingya Muslims, even if the person can offer attractive bribes to authorized personnel of the government. These travel restrictions cause Rohingya Muslims to lose lives over inability to get medical help.

Many checkpoints are erected across villages and towns to verify travel permissions. If someone fails to present the permission, he will be sentenced to prison. The prison period for violators depends on how much bribes can be paid to authorities.

In some circumstances, Burmese authorities allow visits to neighboring Bangladesh with border-pass passport for a few days. But if the traveler failed to show up on time, he will not be allowed back into the country.

Many Rohingya Muslims, who have been getting medical treatment abroad, have become illegal immigrants in Bangladesh because they could not return back home on time and the authorities refuse to hear their complaints as the government is happy to see Rohingya leaving the country.

Under official restrictions, Rohingya Muslim students were denied the right to study at medical and engineering universities, which are only available in Rangoon and Mandalay.

The regional college is available in the State’s capital Sittwe, where Rohingya students have to get travel permits to be allowed to studied, but the permit is only given for a few weeks and the students find no other way but to go back for renewing.

The delay in issuing travel permits by authorities causes the attendance records of Rohingya students not to meet the requirement for sitting for the examination. Some students do not get the travel permit during the examination time. All these restrictions cause only a few Rohingya students continue their study till graduation.

Open Prison

Rohingya are also banned from working as high-ranking officers in governmental sectors since the introduction of the new citizenship act. They don’t also have a chance to even work as low-ranking officers. This even applies to businessmen, where Rohingya businessmen find no other option but to pay huge amounts of money to Rakhine (Buddhist) businessmen to get business permits. They are occasionally extorted and habitually jailed without any reasons.

Rohingya working in the Middle East and south-east Asian countries have left their families in Burma, but they do not find a way to return home. Many complain that once a Rohingya Muslim leaves the country, his name will strike out from family registration paper.

Rohingyas are widely used as forced labors. They are forcibly ordered to work till projects are completed as well as in houses of authorities’ personnel.

In the wake of the recent communal unrest in Maungdaw Township, Rohingya were used as forced labors to build up the damaged houses of Rakhine Buddhists. Rohingya men were brutally tortured for refusing to carry out the order and some were arrested.

The Rohingya people always have fear. During last month’s communal unrest I had conversations with some relatives. They don’t feel free to talk about the brutal killing and the attacks. Their properties were looted and the houses were burnt down into ashes. They were forced to leave from the town where their generations lived for centuries. They are in trouble for lack of foods and medical treatments.

Worse still, the Rakhine Buddhist monks and the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) are barring assistance from NGOs. Restrictions on access of international media stumble efforts to produce the true news how the violence was taken place there.The Rohingyas are living in an “open prison”, which can be broken by the pressures of the international community, the United Nations, ASEAN and the European Union. The economic interest of the United States on Burma should be carefully scrutinized again as the ethnics Kachin and Rohingya are still suffering.

Rohingya Need Urgent Humanitarian Aid | BROUK







BROUK today called on the international community to protect Rohingya people immediately. During the last two days, BROUK has received the following information from the ground;

1. In Buthidaung Jail 43 dead bodies of Rohingya Muslims were buried in a mass grave near the jail's fencing on the 24th of July they were tortured jointly by the Rakhine and jail’s authorities. There are over 500 Rohingya prisoners arrested from Maung Daw and Buthidaung recently. BROUK received reports that most of them have been tortured, leaving without food and drink which leading to death.

2. Even though the violence stopped 5 weeks ago, Rohingya people cannot go out from their village and people are dying day by day as they are not able to buy any food.

3. RNDP party has instructed Rakhine people not to sell any rations to Rohingya Muslims. We also received reliable information from Rangoon that Central government has instructed all the authorities in Rakhine state not to sell any rations to Rohingyas in any towns of Arakan. 
If anyone is found to be selling Rations to Rohingya Muslims, he will be punished.

4. According to sources from Sittwe, no one can go to Sittwe Central Market to buy their rations.

5. During the last few days, government authorities have step up arresting many Rohingyas, including religious teachers and village wise people after inviting them to a meeting. Many Rohingyas were killed during police custody and the dead bodies were not returned to their family members, according to a reliable source.

6. On 21st July, Rohingya Muslims were not allowed to pray in the Mosque and 9 Mosques were sealed off by Nasaka (Border Security Forces).

BROUK President Tun Khin said “During the state sponsored violence Rohingyas were killed by lethal weapons. The current situation is worse as government authorities are killing Rohingya by cutting the rations. Today Our Homeland Arakan State becomes silent killing field. According to some humanitarian agency, in Sittwe some monks were posted near Muslim displacement camps, checking on and turning away people they suspected would visit for assistance. There is serious humanitarian crisis and Rohingyas are daily dying of starvation. Those with bullet injuries and disease are in acute mental and physical pain without medical care and treatment.”

Tun Khin also said “We appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to immediately intervene in order to save lives, property, honour and human dignity of the Rohingya people. The international community must take action immediately to save Rohingya lives. We would like to urge US, UK, UN, OIC and the international community to take immediate steps to put pressure on Thein Sein government. The UK government should release a public statement on this crisis and should raise it with ASEAN countries and other counterparts. It is time for the UK government to re-consider its invitation to President Thein Sein to visit the UK.”

For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866

Ahamed Jarmal
General Secretary
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
London

Asean Must Act to Help Rohingyas In Myanmar, Komnas HAM Says


A student in Banda Aceh holding a photograph of Rohingya refugees on Sunday in a demonstration of solidarity with the minority group. (Antara Photo/Ampelsa) 

Rangga Prakoso, Ulma Haryanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho | July 30, 2012

The National Commission on Human Rights and lawmakers have asked the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help end the alleged slaughter in Myanmar of minority Rohingya Muslims. 

Ifdal Kasim, chief of the commission known as Komnas Ham, said on Sunday that his office had sent a letter urging the Asean human rights commission to quickly gather its members so that concrete steps could be taken to end the mass killings of Rohingyas. 

“The Asean commission must speak and call a meeting so we can take immediate action,” Ifdal said. “They have the authority to do so.” 

Ifdal said the killings severely damaged Asean’s human rights image on the global stage and should not be viewed as Myanmar’s domestic affair. “The killings are already a regional problem,” he said. 

Separately, the National Awakening Party (PKB) issued a statement calling for Asean and the United Nations to intervene. 

Hanif Dhakiri, the secretary of PKB’s faction at the House of Representatives, said the events in Myanmar constituted a gross human rights violation and the systematic destruction of the Rohingyas. 

“That’s why the PKB demands that the UN actively get involved to stop the massacre,” he said. 

Hanif called on Asean to quickly hold an emergency meeting to decide how to respond to the issue. 

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingyas as citizens, saying they migrated from Bangladesh during British colonial rule. Bangladesh has also disavowed the group, saying they are Myanmar’s problem. 

Amnesty International has reported that hundreds of Rohingyas have been killed, raped, beaten and arbitrarily arrested since Myanmar declared a state of emergency in northern Rakhine state, on the border with Bangladesh. 

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week called for laws to protect the rights of the country’s ethnic minorities in her inaugural address to the country’s fledgling Parliament. 

The ongoing violence has driven Rohingyas from their homes in Myanmar’s northern and western states, and they have turned up in waves as asylum seekers and refugees in neighboring Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia. 

Asean secretary general Surin Pitsuwan said last week that the association was seeking an explanation from member state Myanmar about the recent ethnic violence targeting the Rohingya group. 

The explanation, he said, would be given at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

Surin said the Asean secretariat had held talks with Myanmar’s foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, but added: “We haven’t heard anything specific or concrete on the matter.” 

Meanwhile, Indonesian charity organization Rapid Relief Action (ACT) dispatched a lone mission on Sunday to visit Rohingya refugees in camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

“We will be represented by Andhika Purbo Swasono, who departs this afternoon,” ACT spokesman Feri Kuntoro told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. “He will conduct a field assessment on the needs of the refugees.” 

Andhika was originally scheduled to depart with a medical professional, Rio Pranata, but Rio’s visa was not approved. “We want to represent Indonesia’s humanitarian diplomacy,” Feri said. “Last year we were the first team from Indonesia to go to Mogadishu [in Somalia].” 

Neither President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono nor Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa have spoken out on the killings in Myanmar, although both are known for their quick comments on issues relating to human rights. 

Many observers have said they are holding their comments because they fear criticism would derail Myanmar’s democratization progress. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene only said, “We hope that the commitment from the Myanmar government for national reconciliation continues.”

Welcoming UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Quintana with made-up preparations | Nay San Lwin

Welcoming UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Quintana with made-up preparations | Nay San Lwin


UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana will be visiting Burma from today for four days. Quintana will visit Arakan for one day as described in the recent statement of Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 

The military personnel are placed everywhere in Maungdaw Township. Rohingya people can move freely now wherever army personnel are posted. The military is selling rice for Rohingya with high price. Rice-sack porters also are happy for earning something. But some policemen who sheltered beside the clock tower are looting money from the people and collecting toll on every rice-sack. The Rakhines are gathering at refugee centers in Maungdaw as they are victims of the riot and are further victimized the Rohingya by not giving access to foods and medicines by the authority 

The ancient mosque nearby Sittwe airport is under renovation by the local municipality as to show up that the government is taking care of the damages. The lands of destructed houses and mosques have been bulldozed. The situation of Rohingya refugee camps in Sittwe is still unchanged. People are dying by starvation and lack of medical treatments. 

Malaysian government offered aids for displaced people but Burma’s foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin rejected it. Human Rights expert Mr Ansar Burney was rejected the entry visa to Burma. Turkish Red Crescent is waiting for the response of Thein Sein government to assist the Rohingya people. Iran government is urging the UN to send peacekeeping forces to Arakan. Independent media access is still controlled. 

Amnesty International and many Human Rights Organizations issued the statements that there are arbitrary arrests, mass killings and security forces are targeting Rohingya people. The security forces raid every night the villages in Maungdaw to arrest Rohingya men. The Rohingya women were raped in absence of men as almost men were not sleeping at home for the fear of arrest. 

According to reliable source a monk confirmed that about 60 Rohingya youths were kept at Buddhist monastery in Maungdaw and each time 3 to 4 were taken away for execution. Recently Burmese Rohingya Organization (UK) confirmed that 43 dead bodies of Rohingya Muslims were buried in a mass grave near the jail’s fence in Buthidaung jail on July 24. More than 500 Rohingya youths and educated arrested from Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships. The confirmed news posted on Rohingya Blogger that 178 Rohingya were arrested from Rathedaung Township and took them to Sittwe jail but only 172 appeared at Sittwe court and no account or news about the remaining six arrestees. 

The campaign to drive out Rohingya from the country is still going on. The Buddhist monks are fueling the campaign. Even two Indian workers work for ESSAR oil Company were brutally beaten up by Rakhine people in Sittwe. The government’s attitude towards on Rohingya people is unmoved. The demonstrations by anti-Rohingya activists on support to the President Thein Sein’s suggestion to UNHCR held abroad and organizing to seize inside the country. The religious abuses over the social medias is going on .The rumors spreading by bias media is continuing. 

Violating human rights beside the unrecognizing citizens is likewise keeping the people at silent killing field. Many people are living in open area without any shelter but sometime they were brought to designated places and taken pictures to show up that they were in safe places. As described in the news report of Rathedaung Township which is in Burmese version, the villagers were taken to the places where the hand-made weapons are keeping and the pictures made with those weapons to define them as the culprits of the violence. 

Mr Tomas Quintana visited Burma many times in the past by prior notice to the regime as each time need to obtain the entry visa. He or anyone is incapable to make surprise visit. The political prisoners enjoyed the comfortable stay in the bars whenever he visits to the bars. As many human rights and other organizations are observing and always visiting although the regime doesn’t like them but allowing them to keep good relation with international community. The regime knows how to fabricate and what to do before the delegation arrive. Therefore the situation in Arakan is little bit calm down just within these days but it will be back to original position once Mr Quintana leaves from Burma. 

Of course Mr Quintana will visit the villages in Arakan to see the situation but I don’t think the vulnerable Rohingya people will dare to speak to him. If anyone who speaks the truth will be tortured upon leaving of Mr Quintana. It is a worry that the government will make some Rohingya as their puppets and let them meets with Mr Quintana and will hide the reality and cover up their crimes against Rohingyas. 

About Me

My photo
Maung daw, Arakan state, Myanmar (Burma)
I am an independent man who voted to humanitarian aid.