Democracy or Hypocrisy | Qutub Shah

Democracy or hypocrisy?

Although a normal person like me doesn’t deserve to point to a person recognized by the world as ‘peace icon’ and called ‘Mother’ by a nation of 60 million sometimes and ‘aunt’ sometimes, I believe the situation of rapes of hundreds of virgins, killing of thousands of innocents, being refugee of about 100,000 person in their own homeland and burning of thousands of houses, mosques and properties into ashes justifies my writing here few words.
Here is a NLD membership card signed by the Lady. Let me translate it first for non-Burmese speakers.

This card is issued by NLD to a Rohingya member where NLD recognized his race a ‘Rohingya’ and his religion as ‘Islam’. After she had signed this card, where will she will hide the face with which she said, “I don’t know’’ when asked in her Europe trip about the world most persecuted minority of her country? If it means anything, it means nothing except that this people is weakened during 70 years of systematic persecution to the extent, as she might think, that they can’t protest if said the Sun rises from the west.

She has been making the world fool for five month by her deceiving words bearing double meaning. Also her answer to the question regarding Rohingya was ‘Rule of Law’. Do you, Dear Aunt, mean the democratic law that is enjoyed by your son in USA, that made the ragged child of African dessert lead the most powerful nation of the world, or you mean the law that you suffered from as a home arrestee in Burma? Really if you meant true democratic law, those human lives, bloods and dignities would not be so cheap in Arakan, the tears would not be so fruitless. As an icon of democracy, If you had uttered few words abiding by UDHR, we wouldn’t see the tragedies in Arakan.

Let me know what would be the attitude of the Martyr of freedom Mr. Aung San if his daughter was being raped by evils like Rakhines who are practicing all crimes against Muslim women in Arakan.

"I am urging tolerance but I do not think one should use one's moral leadership, if you want to call it that, to promote a particular cause without really looking at the sources of the problems," Suu Kyi told the BBC. The genocidal atrocities have been ongoing for five month. Perhaps after eradicating Muslim existence fully you will look at the sources of the problem. When will you move to calm the situation down? Rohingya don’t demand your moral leadership. Just speak out in favor of either side you see the truth with. Let me know what are these in your sight: hundreds of Rohingya women are raped, sometimes into death (not only a claim, but we have full databases) ; Muslims are swept out of tens villages; thousands of youth are arrested for no reason and sentenced to 10 to 20 years of jail; thousands of innocents are killed; more than 100,000 are displaced?

How ill-luck this Rohingya is who have to become Refugee in his own homeland!
There is also no stronger proof of government support for Rakhines in the current riots than its failure to stop the so-called sectarian riots for five months, while it cracked down in few days the nationwide anti-government uprisings like 2007 Saffron Revolution and 1988 student uprising, while it has been defending its country against all minority arm rebel like KNU, ALP, etc. for about seven decades.

Is it democracy or hypocrisy?
You should be deceived neither by the thinking that your Burmanization plan will sooner or later come to exist nor the thinking that the Rakhines will leave you without making next target after they get rid of Rohingyas in the cause of fulfilling their dream of founding alleged Rakhine kingdom.

In conclusion, I want to call you ‘The Daughter’ while people call you ‘the Lady’. Because the first massacre committed by these Rakhines against the Rohingyas occurred in the time of General Aung San in 1942 that left a bitter scar in the hearts of Rohingyas. Before having been healed, the current bloodshed is the next bloody aggression that occurs in your time. 

Qutub Shah is a student of 'Master of Comparative Religion' in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

Six IDP refugees in Pauktaw were arrested

Six Rohingyas (Internal Displaced Persons) of Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu Township, were detained by the police from the refugee camp of Thantet Maw (Sandama), Paotow Township on 11th November, 2012. The detainees name and detail are as;

No. Name Father Name Age Address

1 U Kyaw Oo U Kyaw Daing 40 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

2 U Tauyub U Faroque 40 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

3 U Hla Phyu Chay U Nazumuddin 28 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

4 U Maung Maug Chay U Nazumuddin 30 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

5 U Jalarl U Nazumuddin 35 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

6 U Ba Pu U Nazumuddin 37 Paik Seik, Kyauk Phyu

Polices neither show summon nor give reason to detainees. There, all police staffs are Rakhine nationals and RNDP supporters. Polices, Paramilitaries, NaSaKa Staffs, and all Rakhines are above the law. To enforce rule of law, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called to Rakhines and Rakhine State Government. Though, colorful atrocities have been happening in every day in every township of Rakhine State.

Brussels, Belgium based ICG urged to President U Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, not to be broken out crisis again in Rakhine State on 10th November, 2012. Eleven Diplomatic Commissions urges on 9th November, 2012 to Rakhines and Governments to stop violence, to enforce rule of law in that region and to uproot all hindrances, to provide humanitarian aids to all needy persons.

The UN High Commissioner for the Human Rights asked to Myanmar Government to give Citizenship to Rohingya Muslims, said to reporters by Commissioner for Human Rights, Nabi Pillay on 11th November, 2012. The main root cause of the crisis is discriminations and local sanctions against Rohingya.

Rohingya Refuse to Register as ‘Bengali’ | Chris Lewa

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Pauktaw Township, Arakan (Rakhine) State, have refused to sign government-issued registration forms in order to push for recognition as an official minority.

Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project humanitarian group which works for Rohingya rights, told The Irrawaddythat local people are not happy that the authorities erased the term “Rohingya” from completed forms and instead replaced it with “Bengali.”

Almost all members of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Pauktaw Township have since refused to cooperate with the fortnight-old registration process which was ostensibly initiated to get accurate numbers for the different communities present there.

Local people feared that they would be declared illegal migrants and deported if they registered under the loaded term “Bengali,” which used by many Burmese in the belief that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. This claim is vehemently denied by the Rohinyga who highlight that many of their community have lived in Burma for generations.

Border authorities, Burmese soldiers, immigration officials, police and Arakanese politicians from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) have been attempting a house-to-house registration procedure to check personal details.

A field report from the Arakan Project revealed that from the very first day those who refused to use the term “Bengali” were removed from the survey.

On Saturday, Rohingya in Set Kyi Pyin Village informed the local authorities that they would only sign the forms if United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations representatives were present as witnesses, according to the Arakan Project.

Meanwhile, Thet Tun, a MP for the RNDP in the Arakan State Parliament, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the term “Rohingya” was invented. “They are Bengali, but they do not accept it any more now and they only accepted the term Rohingya,” he said.

Thet Tun added that around 1,800 displaced people at a refugee camp In Nget Chaung Village refused to cooperate with the authorities and register unless they were allowed to be called Rohingya.

The Arakan Project accused the local authorities of forcing people to sign the registration form by threatening that they otherwise would not receive clothes for their children or help rebuilding burned houses.

The Arakan State government formed a committee last month to register every township in its boundaries. From this body, 15 separate groups attempted the village-to-village registration process in Pauktaw Township.

Individuals being surveyed were presented with a four-page form. The first details name, age, village, occupation, education, marital status, race and possessed documents. The second has ancestral details, grandparents, great-grandparents and immigration information. The third includes criminal convictions or proceedings, while the final page is for a signature or fingerprint. There are 135 official ethnic groups in Burma according to the widely-condemned 1982 citizenship law enacted by former dictator Gen Ne Win. The Rohingya are not included amongst this number and have faced restrictions on travel, marriage and reproduction as a consequence.

Arakan News Updates: A New Method for Expulsion of Rohingyas in Process

12th November 2012,Pauktaw, Arakan- Yesterday (i.e. on 11th November 2012), Six Educated Rohingyas from the refugee camp of Thantet Maw (Sandama), Pauktaw Township, were arrested by Police. These internally displaced people were the victims of the recent violence in Kyauk-Phyu Township who sought refuge in Pauktaw. The details of the arrestees are given below.

No. Name Father’s Name Age Address in Kyauk Phyu

1 U Kyaw Oo U Kyaw Daing 40 Paik Seik

2 U Tauyub U Farooque 40 Paik Seik

3 U Hla Phyu Chay U Nazumuddin 28 Paik Seik

4 U Maung Maung Chay U Nazumuddin 30 Paik Seik

5 U Jalal U Nazumuddin 35 Paik Seik

6 U Ba Phu U Nazumuddin 37 Paik Seik

Though Police did not give any reason why they have arrested these people, according to other Rohingyas, they were arrested because they refused to sign on the paper terming themselves (Rohingyas) as Bengalis. Besides, the similar process is being carried out against Rohingyas in the village of Anauk Rai, Pauktaw Tsp as well. Authority is forcing Rohingyas to sign on the papers on which it is written that they (Rohingyas) are not Rohingyas but Bengalis. Those who refuse are being inhumanely tortured and detained.

Recently, Burmese government has formed a commission consist of Military, NaSaKa (Border Security Affairs), Immigration and Rakhine extremists in response to the call of the UN High Commissioner for the Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay, to give Citizenship to Rohingyas. But what actually Burmese government doing is the re-implementation of a black law established by the late dictator Gen. Ne Win. This 1982 Citizenship Law of Burma was coined and specifically designed to expulse Rohingyas out of Myanmar. The law clearly violates Article 15, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ALP attacks Engineer Crop (GE) in Maungdaw : Nasaka

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: Burma border security force (Nasaka) accused the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP)- a Rakhine armed groups - for the attack  to GE personnel on November 7, said Lieutenant Colonel Mahabubur Rahman, the 15 BGB battalion commander, Naikonchari, Bangladesh, according to Nasaka’s letter to BGB.

“The Nasaka sent a letter to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on November 10, for the help in rescuing three GE personnel who were kidnapped on November 7, after attacking near Bandoullah camp, the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.”

“Nasaka sent this second letter again for rescuing their three GE personnel on November 9 after holding a bilateral flag meeting on November 8 between Nasaka and BGB”.

“Nasaka had sent the letter to BGB in the morning seeking BGB’s cooperation in rescuing three GE personnel of Myanmar.”

BGB personnel launched a search in some suspected areas inside Bangladesh, but were yet to trace those kidnapped Myanmar citizens,  said  BGB official from Naikonchari.

Nasaka said that an armed group with in black uniforms fired onto GE Personnel who were working on the fence, near Bandoullah camp on November 7, morning, leaving one dead. The group later picked up three GE personnel.

Meanwhile, a flag meeting between BGB and Nasaka was held on November 8 at Lemochari BGB outpost under Nikkongchari upon request from Nasaka.

The Burmese army arrested 17 Rakhines with arms and ammunition with this connection and kept in the Nasaka headquarters, but, the authority didn’t expose about the arrestees, according to a reliable source from Nasaka headquarters.

Nasaka arrests four villagers in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma’s border security force (Nasaka ) arrested four villagers in Maungdaw south, over the allegation  that they were holding Bangladeshi mobile setts, said a local villager on condition of anonymity. 

“The arrestees are identified as--- Abdullah, son of Noor Mohamed, Maulvi Sona Ullah, son of Ahmedu, Kefayat Ullah, son of Ullah Meah, and Karim Ullah. They all belong to Aley Than Kyaw village of Maungdaw south.” 

“However, they were released on that day after taking Kyat 100,000 per each.”

“They were arrested by the Nasaka personnel led by Captain Aung Kyaw San of Nasaka area No.7 under the Maungdaw Township on November 3, in the evening.”

The victims were arrested by the captain with false and fabricated allegations. The Nasaka did not find any mobile sets from them, said a close relative from the locality.

The Rohingya villagers are not released without paying any money to the Nasaka officers if they are arrested by Nasaka or police or army by any means.  It is not necessary, whether it is true or false; the authority wants only money from Rohingya villagers which put them dire poverty, said a businessman from Maungdaw Town. 

The Governt’s main policy is to uproot the Rohingya community from Arakan soil and to drive them into awful poverty. At present, the Rohingya community is being kept in their villages and houses across the Arakan state, and has no access to do anything for their survival. Some villagers have no houses and become homeless and shelter less.  Many Rohingyas across the Arakan state are starving, now.    Government and local extremist Rakhines are still blocking aids donated by foreign NGOs and other organizations for refugees, according to a local schoolteacher who did not mention his name for security reason. 

A villager elder said, “When we are free from the repression and oppression of Government and local authorities.”

Foreign aid workers burned by Myanmar’s ethnic fires

BANGKOK, Thailand — Myanmar’s coastal Rakhine State is stricken with just the sort of mess certain international aid groups are designed to relieve.

Roiling conflict between the region’s native Buddhists and a stateless Muslim ethnicity, the Rohingya, has brought on mob killings, torched villages, mass displacement and even bow-and-arrow wounds.

The remote state is cursed with poor public services. With tens of thousands now living in makeshift camps, malaria and tuberculosis outbreaks are worsening. Yet the international aid groups who flock towards such disaster zones — Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations among them — are encountering furious resistance from bands of local Buddhists.

Foreign aid to the Rohingya, who’ve reportedly suffered the brunt of the violence, is interpreted by some as lending aid and comfort to Islamic terrorists.

“In their view, even medical attention constitutes a kind of support,” said Joe Belliveau, operations manager with Doctors Without Borders, the Switzerland-based group also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres.

A wave of death threats — conveyed face-to-face, in pamphlets and on Facebook — has convinced Doctors Without Borders to temporarily shrink its force of 300 or so down to a few dozen staffers. “Luckily, nobody has been the object of a direct attack. The threats are vague but strong enough to scare our staff ... and they tend to very clear in saying, ‘Stop what you’re doing.’”

The upshot: providing foreign aid to the estimated 28,000 people displaced by recent mob raids, perpetrated by both Muslims and Buddhists, is now deemed too hazardous in the region’s most desperate zones. The international groups that remain in force, such as the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees office, or UNHCR, must travel with armed police or soldiers.

“It’s tense,” said Vivian Tan, a UNHCR information officer. “There are anti-UN, anti-NGO sentiments on the ground. For us to go anywhere, to assess the situation or provide relief, we need to be escorted by the authorities, police or soldiers. Staff are concerned for their safety, quite rightly.”

Among certain factions of Rakhine Buddhists, hatred for the Rohingya runs so hot that almost any overture of sympathy towards the displaced Muslims causes hatred to spill over onto the sympathizer. In their eyes, the Rohingya are invaders run amok from neighboring Bangladesh. They are commonly described by their detractors as “black” or “cruel” or “devilish.”
Myanmar denies citizenship to the estimated 800,000 Rohingya living within its borders. The UN has scoffed at Myanmar President Thein Sein’s contention that they should be moved to UN camps in a “third country.”

Offering citizenship to the Rohingya who’ve lived in Myanmar for generations would be a politically unpopular decision by the government. Few expect such a move: Thein Sein affirmed via his website that it would be “impossible to accept the illegally entered Rohingya, who are not our ethnicity.”

Contrast this sentiment to that of the UN, which asserts that the Rohingya are among the world’s most persecuted minorities. Anti-Rohingya groups in two major Myanmar cities, Mandalay and Yangon, have marched in large, monk-led street rallies condemning UN intervention. There are also smaller protests against international interference, such as the one in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, against a new Doctors Without Borders clinic. That rally, staged several weeks ago, halted the opening of a health facility in a largely Buddhist neighborhood.

“We’d been in intense discussions with the local community and had a high degree of buy in,” Belliveau said. “Then, at the last minute, a small group demonstrated and threatened our staff ... This event was very confusing. We didn’t realize [the extent] to which there are small groups determined to stop us from operating.”

A UN special rapporteur who has toured the coastal destruction, Tomas Ojea Quintana, has become the anti-Rohingya set’s main lightning rod after stating publicly that Rohingya suffer “long-standing endemic discrimination,” and that those driven from their homes are overwhelmingly Rohingya, not local Buddhists.

These groups are perhaps further convinced of UN biases when Rohingya political wings, such as the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, repeatedly issue requests for multi-national forces to descend on Myanmar and defend their homes. A late October statement urges the UN to “intervene in the matter on grounds of humanitarianism for the purpose of preventing further death, killing, rape and destruction of the Muslims ... and to urgently send UN peace-keeping forces.”

Evidence and eyewitness accounts suggest that, in the tit-for-tat arson sprees waged between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, the Rohingya side has seen far more of its shanties and shops burned to ash. Imagery analyzed and published by Human Rights Watch shows a predominately Muslim quarter of Kyauk Pyu, a seaside city in Rakhine, turned to grey cinders.

“We have seen all types of groups, including the Rakhine, who’ve been displaced,” Belliveau said. “The majority are Rohingya Muslims. They camp wherever they can. It’s not organized. Some are on beaches, or the high points in rice paddies or they’re hosted by other communities. They don’t have enough materials to build makeshift shelters and they need food and water.”

Living on the run, in camps thrown together in muddy fields, invites a variety of potentially fatal medical conditions, he said. Doctors Without Borders crews have contended with malnourished kids, malaria scares and pregnant women in dire conditions. “There was one woman who described how, on the boat they were living on, her pregnant sister hemorrhaged,” he said. “There was no one to provide medical assistance. They lost her.”

“We’ve also seen burn victims,” he said, “as well as wounds from arrows, daggers and, occasionally, gunshots.”

Teams dispatched by the UN focus on hauling in food, blankets, water and health services, Tan said, but they’re largely limited to government-sanctioned camps. “We’re not really authorized to work in unofficial sites,” she said.

After the violence kicked off in June, the local courts locked up three UN workers, all Myanmar nationals, on charges ranging from inciting violence to arson. The government has since softened up, Tan said, and even sought help from the UN in managing relief camps.

“When we ask for access, we get it,” she said. “They’re understaffed and have limited capacity ... so we’re trying to work with the authorities to find some balance and convince everyone we’re not there to just help one community.”

“It’s always tricky,” Tan said. “If we’re too visible, if we stick our necks out too much, you never know.”