Up to dated news of Maungdaw Township on August 12, 2012

Sub Inspector Aye Tun Sein and its group arrested Enayet Ullah son of Fazal, hailed from Nurrullah para and other four persons, while they were going to market today morning, said a trader from Maungdaw.

“The police officers kept the Rohingya inside the Superstar Boarding near the clock tower junction, to extort money from them.The police officers demand 500,000 kyat per head to release. But, the Rohingyas escaped from the bordering while the police officers were out the spot. This is a new place to extort money from Rohingya by police officers who stationed near the clock tower junctions.”
Ayub (42), son of Abdu Soban, hailed from Pawet Chaung village of Nasaka area No.5 of Maungdaw Township was arrested by the Nasaka personnel of Powet Chaung Nasaka out-post while he was going to a Rohingya village nearby a Rakhine village,today at about 10:00am.  He was arrested with the cooperation of Rakhine villagers and kept him in the Rakhine village.  He was not released till writing the report. He did not commit any crime, said a trader from the village.
Besides, today, at about 10:30 am, Hluntin (riot police) stationed at old cinema hall, beat severely Mohamed Hakim (60), of Italia village of Maungdaw Town, while he was returning home from Maungdaw Town market with foodstuffs for his home. Seeing the event, some of villagers rushed to the spot and rescued him and sent to nearby clinic for medical treatment, said a villager on condition of anonymity.
Most of the police personnel, Hluntin (riot police) and Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) are from Rakhine community, so they do not think anything to commit any crime against the Rohingya community, when they get any chance. The violence between two communities is a good chance for them to extort money from Rohingya community by arresting and torturing.
A youth from Maungdaw said, “Police and Hluntin are very happy as they are able to extort money from Rohingya community as earlier they have no power to arrest and extort money from villagers.  Nasaka has all power.

Sub Inspector Aye Tun Sein and its group arrested Enayet Ullah son of Fazal, hailed from Nurrullah para and other four persons, while they were going to market today morning, said a trader from Maungdaw.

“The police officers kept the Rohingya inside the Superstar Boarding near the clock tower junction, to extort money from them.The police officers demand 500,000 kyat per head to release. But, the Rohingyas escaped from the bordering while the police officers were out the spot. This is a new place to extort money from Rohingya by police officers who stationed near the clock tower junctions.”
Ayub (42), son of Abdu Soban, hailed from Pawet Chaung village of Nasaka area No.5 of Maungdaw Township was arrested by the Nasaka personnel of Powet Chaung Nasaka out-post while he was going to a Rohingya village nearby a Rakhine village,today at about 10:00am.  He was arrested with the cooperation of Rakhine villagers and kept him in the Rakhine village.  He was not released till writing the report. He did not commit any crime, said a trader from the village.
Besides, today, at about 10:30 am, Hluntin (riot police) stationed at old cinema hall, beat severely Mohamed Hakim (60), of Italia village of Maungdaw Town, while he was returning home from Maungdaw Town market with foodstuffs for his home. Seeing the event, some of villagers rushed to the spot and rescued him and sent to nearby clinic for medical treatment, said a villager on condition of anonymity.
Most of the police personnel, Hluntin (riot police) and Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) are from Rakhine community, so they do not think anything to commit any crime against the Rohingya community, when they get any chance. The violence between two communities is a good chance for them to extort money from Rohingya community by arresting and torturing.
A youth from Maungdaw said, “Police and Hluntin are very happy as they are able to extort money from Rohingya community as earlier they have no power to arrest and extort money from villagers.  Nasaka has all power.

16 guns, huge explosives seized at Kyauktaw

Kyauktaw, Arakan State:  Burmese Army seized 14 automatic rifles, two pistols and huge of exclusives from Rakhine villages of Kyauktaw Township, about five miles away from Kyauktaw Town on August 9, said a villager elder from. Kyauktaw Township on condition of anonymity

“The arms and explosives were seized by the Mrauk-U Battalion No. 378 led by Commander Major Myint Hpou.”
Regarding the above news, on August 8, one Rohingya youth named Noor Mohamed, hailed from Radana Bon (Rohingya village) went to nearby the bottom of a Mountain for grazing his buffaloes, but, the cowboy did not return to his home in the evening. As a result, some of the relatives of the cowboy and some villagers went to look whereabouts Noor and his buffalo herd. They did not find him, but saw that buffalo flock was at the Taung Bwe ( Rakhine) village.
The following day, the relatives and villagers went to the said Mountain bottom to search again Noor, but found his dead body. He was shot dead.  After carrying the dead body, villagers went to the army  Battalion  number 378 and raised the issue in detail.
Being informed, at about 2:00 pm, a group of army, immediately went to the Taung Bwe Rakhine village and searched the village and seized five automatic rifles, two pistols and a huge amount of explosives. Regarding this, six Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP members including one female were arrested.
After that, the armies continuously searched two other Rakhine villagers and seized seven automatic rifles from Way Si Daung Rakhine village and another two automatic rifles from Ngathan Pha village. But the army did not arrest anyone regarding this as the RNDP members fled away who involved in the arms keeping matter.
According to a villager, RNDP had already provided 10-gun per village in Kyauktaw Township without taking money. If any village wants extra guns, money will be paid by villagers.
This plan has been implemented by Dr. Htay Aye, U Hla Maung, U Tun Way, U Kyaw Sein Aung and U Kyaw Sein. They are the patron of RNDP and Wathanu Rakita Organization, said another villager from Kyauktaw Township.
The international and internal media and even the government announced that the going violence between Rakine and Rohingya is a sectarian violence. But, it is not a sectarian violence. It is government sponsored violence. Rakhines (Moghs) have been supported by the concerned authorities — police, Hluntin (riot police), Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) and army. Rohingya villages were torched by the mobs of Moghs while the security forces were standing in front of the Rohingya villagers and firing to the Rohingya villagers while trying to extinguish their houses, said a school teacher.
Government accompanied by RNDP members created this problem between two communities—Rakhine and Rohingya communities. Still Nasaka police and Hluntin harass the Rohingya community. They arrest, torture and extort money from Rohingya villagers without any reason.

Myanmar Government Translator and His Distortions of Words in Broad Daylight

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his group visited Arakan state on 10th August 2012 to observe the vulnerable situation resulted from the genocides against not only Rohingya Muslims but also other Muslims in the state. Regardless of race or religion, they made donations not only to Rohingya Muslims but also to Rakhine Buddhists. 

He was accompanied to the refugee camps by Minister of Border Affairs, Lieutenant General Thein Htay and his group and a translator provided by the government. By the time Turkish FM and his group got to a Rohingya refugee camp, a Rohingya victim broke into tears and cried out “We Muslims have been severely oppressed here.” But the translator provided the government distorted the words and interpreted to Turkish FM as “We need assistances.” When the victims dishearteningly said “Help us,” again he interpreted as “We would like to have your assistances.” Why would the Rohingya victim waste once in a life-time chance uttering “we need assistances” again and again? Once again, when the victim said “We all Muslims are happy that you came here,” the interpretation was “We all are happy that you came here.” The video of the incident can be watched on youtube here

Therefore, regarding his deliberate distortions of a victim’s voice, the following questions are on our minds and we would like to have the answers from the concerned quarters. 

1) Why did he twist and omit the words of the victim? 

2) What was the motive behind his lying to Turkish Foreign Minister? 

3) Why was his interpretation censored? 

4) Who ordered him to hide the real and vulnerable situation of Rohingyas from Turkish FM? 

5) Who is he afraid of? 

6) What kind of punishments should be given to him for his to lying to a respected and honored guest of the Burmese government and distortion of the victim voice? 

7) Can we trust such kind of government who is claiming that they are helping Rohingyas? 

By now, it has become obvious that this genocide against Rohingyas was instigated and facilitated by the government for their political gains, in collaboration with extremist Rakhine Buddhists such as the members of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP). To cover up the crimes against Rohingyas, the state and other local media have been hiding the real situation on the ground and deceiving the world by turning the situation upside down. The government itself also has left no stone unturned to deceive all the foreign visitors and observers in the region including UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana and this time Turkish FM. 

Those who think that Burmese government and its media are sincere will know what they actually are through this obvious distortion of this government vetted translator. If they are really sincere, they should accept the proposals of International Media and Humanitarian Aids. In fact, government and extremist Rakhines have been systematically carrying out genocides and ethnic cleansing by keeping the world in the dark by spreading lies through their media. Therefore, we plead to UN, Human Rights Organizations and International Communities: 

1) To provide Rohingya victims critically required aids such as foods, clean water, medical assistances and shelters resulting from the genocide against them and the blockage of food rations by Rakhine extremists and the Monks. 

2) To pressure Burmese government to free all innocent Rohingyas arrested by the authorities for wrong reason. 

3) To send International Media, Independent Observers, Reliable Investigations to Arakan. 

4) To bring all those who are responsible for Rohingya genocides into International Criminal Court of Justice (ICCJ) at Hague and prosecute them for committing war crimes. 

5) To help Rohingyas restore their lost citizenship in Burma. 

6) To send International Peacekeeping Force to help to stabilize the situation in Arakan. 

It no longer needs to tell the world what Rohingyas are. They are one of world’s most persecuted people according to United Nation. Now, they are on the verge of extinction due to Burmese regime’s systematic atrocities. They have become friendless in a predominantly Buddhist country. Most of Buddhist members are brainwashed and taught hatred towards other people by different regimes through Burmese history. Rohingyas could easily be targeted because they look different from the mainstream mongoloid people of Burma. Rohingyas are time and again made political scapegoats. 

The world took oath to not let any genocides take place after the holocaust of more than six million Jews at the hands of Nazi Germans during WWII. It happened and is happening now. The Burmese regime and a section of Burmese society who are heavily influenced by Nazi Ideology of Racial Purification are committing holocaust against Rohingyas, while the world is watching on. Therefore, we plead to not let Rohingyas face the same fate faced by Jews during WWII. Please save Rohingyas and do a favor to humanity. 

Written by Snowy and MS Anwar

Rohingya: Allegations and Refutations (Part 1) | M.S.Anwar

Rohingya, the Muslim minority group in Arakan state of Burma, have been under systematic persecutions of tyrannical regimes of Burma since 1962. At present, there is a pre-planned genocide against them being carried on in Arakan by the Burmese regime and Rakhine extremists. Therefore, Rohingyas’ outcry and persecutions and discriminations against them are no longer new to the international communities and the world. According to United Nation, they are one of most persecuted minorities in the world. Human Rights Watch describes them as a minority group which has high possibility of extinction. Who are Rohingyas? Different allegations have been made against them by many Rakhine Bigotry Scholars, Burmese Regime and some of ultra-nationalist Burmese. Some of the allegations are mentioned below together with refutations. 

Allegation #1 

The name Rohingya didn’t exist in the history. Therefore, Rohingyas are not of citizens of Burma or not one of the Burmese ethnic communities. 

Refutation 

Well. The name “Rohingyas” didn’t exist in the history. Did the name “Rakhine” exist in the history? British have recorded Muslims in Arakan as Mohammedans or Chittagonians. So, British were right to do so. What term did British use for the Buddhists in Arakan? Rakhine? Obviously not! If yes, is there any evidence for the fact that British referred Buddhists in Arakan as Rakhines? British were right and honest because they referred Muslims in Arakan as Mohammedans or Chittagonians. The same British were wrong and dishonest because they referred Buddhists in Arakan as “MAGHS.” Why double standard? 

Yet, the use of the term “Rohingya” in the form “Rooinga” existed in 17th century. A dialect was spoken by Muslims in Arakan of Western Burma who had long been settled in Arakan and who called themselves “Rooinga” or “Natives” of Arakan. (Buchanan, 1799) The document can be reached at here

Besides, the word "Rohingya" might be a slight variation of the word "Ruahonga" (in Rakhine meaning "from old village") because the place where Rohingyas used to live was called Ruahong. Rohingyas have the habit of calling someone by the place name where they live. For example, if somebody is from Man-Aung, he will be called as Man-Aunggya, if from RatheThaung, then RatheThaungya and if from ButhiTaung, then Buthi-Thaungya etc. The word Rohingya has formed exactly the way Rakhine has formed from Rakkhasha. 

Allegation #2 

Rohingyas can’t be nationals of Burma because they don’t look like other ethnic minorities of Burma but look like Bengalis or Indians. 

Refutation 

Bangladesh, today’s India, Pakistan, Nepal etc were one nation or empire used to be ruled by same rulers in the history. People in all these countries are generally called Indians or South Asians. People in these nations are mainly of two human stocks, Indo-Aryans and Dravidians, which can hardly be differentiated. Similarly, according to historians, Chittagong region of Bangladesh and Arakan region of Burma were once one nation used to be ruled by the same rulers. Dating back to before Christian (BC) era, there have been highly Indian influences on Arakan religiously, racially and culturally. It can’t, further, be denied by anyone that the earliest Kingdoms of Arakan such as Dhannyawadi and Vaisali were founded by Indians whose Kings had the titles of Gupta and Chandra respectively. 

Indo-Aryan people have been living in Arakan since B.C. 3323. (San-Kyaw-Tun-(Mahawizza), 2010) Who were these Indo-Aryans? Were not they forefathers of the people called Rohingya today? Are Rakhines descendants of Indo-Aryan race? In which group of human stocks did Rakhines fall, Indo-Aryan or Mongoloid? Think and answer! 

Put aside both religions, Islam and Buddhism, and both names, Rakhine and Rohingya for a while. Let us put some logical arguments. Everyone will agree if we say that there were the periods called Dhannyawadi and Vesali in the history of Arakan. No one will deny this. OK, then. Can anybody tell us that the kings or rulers in these two historical periods, which dated back to more than 2000 years, belonged to which stocks of human race, Indo-Aryan (i.e. Indian-look-alike people) or Mongoloid (Mongolian look-alike people)? What are the meanings of terms Dhannyawadi and Vesali (Vaishali)? From which language these terms were derived from? In which stock of human race did Siddartha Gautama Buddha and most of earliest followers, because of whom Buddhism had spread throughout the region, belong to? 

In Arakan history, there were a people called Rakkhasha (in Pali meaning Cannibals) who used to eat even human beings who are strangers to them. The word has varied through historical periods from Rakkhasha to Rakkha to Rakkuain now to Rakhine. According some other people, Rakhine was derived from Pali word Rakkhita (meaning people who look after and take care of their race). Yet, it doesn't matter to us. According to the historians, the place was called Rakkhapura (again in Pali). (Arakanland.com, 2012) Has the whole region of Arakan including Chittagong area been called so? Have the cannibals used to live throughout the whole region? 

How did these Rakkhasha people look alike, mongoloid, aryan, caucasians, negroid? Why was a Pali word "Rakkhasha" used to address cannibals? Who named these cannibals as Rakkhasha by using a Pali word? Weren’t there be a parallel people to Rakkasha, who named them so using Pali word? Or have they named them "Rakkhasha" (cannibals) by theirselves using a Pali word? Was Pali the language of cannibals? Wasn't Pali an Indian literature and language? Isn't it originated to India? Arakan was the name of a land, not that of people or race. The word Arakan is the plural form of the Arabic word "Rukn" as well. But I don't mean that Arakan was derived from the Arabic word. It might or might not be. 

Mohammed Sheikh Anwar is an activist, studying Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies at Westminster International College in Malaysia.