Presidential amnesty use as tool to extort money in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Burma border security force (Nasaka) had been using the recent presidential amnesty as a tool to extort money from Rohingya community in Maungdaw, said a politician from Maungdaw.

“The Nasaka recalled the Rohingya who flee from their village for fear of arrest with false allegation of linking or connecting with foreign organizations (Taliban) on March 1 and later.”

“The all Rohingya are hailed from Kamaung Seik (Fokira Bazaar) Village Tract of Maungdaw.”

Colonel Aung Gyi, the director of Nasaka instructed his collaborator Zubir from Maungnama to communicate the flee Rohingya from Kamaung Seik (Fokira Bazaar) Village tract who are able to pay money from 500,000 to 2 million kyats, said a family members of arrested with false allegation of linking or connecting with foreign organizations (Taliban) and sentenced by District court of Maungdaw on September 6.

“Zubir organized 16 Rohingya to come back to their village and able to stay with their family but had to pay money to the Nasaka director.”

Zubir collected from 500,000 to 2 million kyats per person to come back to their village where the Nasaka had extort huge amount of money from Rohingya community from Kamaung Seik (Fokira Bazaar) village, said an elder from village.

“The Nasaka who were posting in the area had made mark on the family list as “absconded” while the authority checked the family list at the night time where most of the villagers were avoided to face authority for fear of arrest.”

After announcement of presidential amnesty, the Nasaka used this as tool to extort money from Rohingya community and planned with their collaborator to organize and recall the Rohingya who flee from Kamaung Seik, said a member of village administration office from Maungdaw.

During the last week of February of this year, two persons entered Maungdaw North from Bangladesh where they gathered some local villagers in hopes of forming an understanding between the Union Solidarity and Development Party, or USDP and National Democratic Party for Development, or NDPD groups—two groups that clashed during the national elections held on November 7, 2010. Most villagers supported the NDPD candidates, so the local authorities and Nasaka collaborators were very angry with the supporters of NDPD candidates.

“But one of the Nasaka collaborators informed the Nasaka that a group of insurgents had entered Burma and held a meeting with local villagers. Taking this opportunity, the Nasaka arbitrarily arrested people, tortured them, and forced them to admit that they had links to insurgents,” according to Kaladan news “Linking Taliban is a creation: Nasaka director.”

“There is no evidence to suggest that the Arakanese Rohingya community consented to the discussion with insurgents. It is just an excuse for the Nasaka to charge, harass, and extort money from the Arakanese Rohingya community.”

MARGINALIZATION OF THE ROHINGYA IN ARAKAN STATE OF WESTERN BURMA

The Rohingya of Burma are the world's most persecuted and vulnerable ethnic minority. Due to
their racial and religious differences with the Burman Buddhist-majority, they have been officially
declared by Burma’s ruling military regime as non-citizens of Burma, making them legally stateless
people. They are treated not only as aliens, but also modern-day slaves in their ancestral homeland
of Arakan.
Arakan (also known as Rakhine) State is a state of the Union of Myanmar. Situated on the
western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway, Bago, and Ayeyarwady Divisions
to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the
west, and the Chittagong Division of
Bangladesh to the north- west. It is
located between latitudes 17°30'
north and 21°30' north, and
longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50'
east. The Arakan Yoma mountain
range, which reaches to 3,063 meters
at Victoria Peak, separates Arakan
(Rakhine) State from Burma (or
‘Myanmar’) proper. Its area is 36,762
km² (14,194 sq. miles), and its capital
is Sittwe (or ‘Site-tway’, formerly
Akyab). Arakan (Rakhine) State
consists of four districts: Sittwe,
Maungdaw, Kyaukphyu and Thandwe.
Combined, these districts contain a
total of 17 townships and 1,164
village-tracts. 1
The official population in 2007 was
3,744,976, and in 2010 the population
was estimated to be 3.83 million.2 The
state is inhabited primarily by two
major groups of people, the Rakhine
ethnic group and the Rohingya ethnic
group. According to Government
Divisional Administration estimates,
10,33,212 Rohingya live in Northern
Arakan State. The majority of the
people of Arakan State are Buddhists,
with the second-largest group being
Muslims.

Burma Heading Towards the Worst

Burma's national icon of democracy, peace and liberty, Daw Aung San Suu Kyie has
cautioned the people of
Burma to prepare for the
worst, during a rare meeting
with the members of her
party, the National League
for Democracy on Jan
30.2008, after she was
allowed a rare respite from
house arrest. She criticized
the series of meetings she has
held with the military junta's
Liaison Minister, Aung Kyi
for failing to yield any
tangible result towards the
achievement of any political
reform. So, it is clear that Burma is heading to witness another grim showbiz of blood-bath
which may be the worst in the history of Burma, if the military rulers stick to their hard-line
stance to grind the hopes of the people of Burma under their despotic wheel and thus to defy
the international outcry to restore peace and democracy in Burma.
During the long 46 years of unbroken military rule since 1962, Burma has witnessed many
episodes of brutalities and tyranny of the army who have always treated the guns as not for
shooting upwards, but to shoot directly at those who raise their voice against the military
rule.
On July 7.1962, the army has indiscriminately massacred more than 100 students of Rangoon
University, wounded many others and arrested about 3000 students, simply because they
raised their protest against some rules and regulations which were imposed upon them by the
regime restricting their usual movement same as those in the military barracks, prohibiting
students coming in or going out after 8 pm and signing the register book to ascertain that they
were in. Such rules sent students to bed hungry because the dinner provided by the hall was
served from 4.30 to 6.30 pm and supper was not provided by the hall and the students had to
manage it according to their convenience. However, in the morning of the 7th July 1962, the

The Rohingya community of Arakan, Burma

The Rohingya community of Arakan, Burma (Myanmar) is one of the most down-trodden ethnic
minorities of the world. They are victims of political oppression, economic exploitation and cultural
slavery in their ancestral land - Arakan - where they have been living for centuries.
Since the beginning of the 20th century the Rohingyas have been groaning under the crushing wheels of
tyranny decades after decades. Ignoring all the irrefutable historical evidences of Rohingyas’ glorious past
in Arakan, the Rohingyas have been suddenly made an illegal immigrant community in Arakan by the
Burmese military regime through an amendment to the Burma citizenship law in 1982.
With the loss of their legitimate right as the bonafide citizens of Burma, the Rohingyas have become
homeless in their own home. The authority has been subjecting them to severe persecutions including
serious restrictions of their movement even from village to village, ban on their marriage without
government permission, religious persecution, extortion, land confiscation and restrictions on access to
education. Arakan State is a closed zone for the media and so there is no scope for the world media to
cover what is going on with the Rohingyas inside Arakan.
A life with fear – is the life of Rohingyas. They pass their life in sub-human condition with half naked
body full of hunger and grief. Tears are their permanent companions. They cry in corners and eventually
die in silence.
Rohingyas want peace. They want their legitimate right as the ethnic community of Arakan. They want a
society which would be free from political oppression, economic exploitation, social anarchy and cultural
slavery through the restoration of democracy in Burma. They are in quest of justice and peace. They want
to achieve their goals through all peaceful and lawful means.
Rohingyas: Tears Down the Cheeks is a collection of some of my articles which have been published by
different news media. Despite my limited knowledge and linguistic limitations, I have tried to tell the
stories of agonies of the oppressed Rohingyas. I have also tried to tell the stories of agonies of the people
of Burma who have been groaning under the military rule decades after decades.
I strongly believe that the Rohingyas, with some 3.5 million population, whose historical presence in
Arakan started nearly a millennium ago, will never disappear from the world, simply because they have a
language of their own which they will never forget and start using a different language as their mother
tongue. As long as they exist in the world, they will speak in their Rohingya language and so their history
will run for all the time to come.
Finally, I take my hat off to all the brilliant sons of the Rohingya Mother for all their contributions and
sacrifices for the peace and human rights of their oppressed community in the past, present and also in the
future. I also take my hat off to all those who struggle through all lawful and peaceful means to bring a
smile to the distressed humanity.
From the core of my heart all that I wish and pray is a peaceful life for the groaning Rohingyas, a peaceful
life for the suffering people of Burma and a peaceful life for the distressed humanity around the world.

Ahmedur Rahman Farooq
2975, Vang I Valdres, Norway

Gold Coin minted in the early period of Maruk-U Empire with Muslim KALIMA

AFK JILANI
According to Daulat Kazi," The
king made Ashraf Khan his Chief
Minister and the commander of his
army. One day the king Thiri
Thudama (Salim Shah 11) went on
hunting expedition with his army.
The king with his army stayed there
for four months. The chief minister
returned to his court with the
permission of the king. When Ashraf
Khan sat in the court the Mughal, the
Pathans and numerous Hindus sat in
rows. Asharaf Khan was like full
moon in its sixteen parts." Asharaf
Khan was virtually in charge of
conducting all state affairs.(Missing
Links in Arakan History By S.N.
Goshal P-258.)Sri Bara Thakur was
the Lasker Wazir or war minister or
defence minister of the king
Narapatigyi (1638-1645 A.D.) The war
minister Sri Bara Thakur was blessed
with a son by praying to God.
MAGAN Thakur was the son of
Sri Bara Thakur. Alaol Writes,’ He
was the famous Magan who
possessed excellent qualities, he
was extremely handsome, and there
is no end of his virtues. His generosity
was known throughout the
country, he was born in the family of
Siddiq and he was a Sheik and he
was well known in the world by his
good birth and good deeds. He was
an Alim himself and was learned and
he recognized merit. He brought
learned men of his country and
honored them." Sri Bara Thakur was
the war minister of the king. By
begging to God he got the offspring
in the morning. Because he was
obtained by praying or begging, he
was given the name as
Magan. "Thakur” was the official title
given by the king. “The princess was
extremely pretty and polite, the king
brought up his daughter with great
care.
Seeing the tender age of the
princess the king was thinking as to
whom the guardianship of the
princess was to be given. The king
made Magan Thakur the guardian of
princess because he was a great
virtuous man When the king died the
princess became the chief queen.
She appointed her guardian the
prime minister of the kingdom."
The fact is that the king Narapatigyi
had no son, but only a daughter.
When the king became old, he
appointed Magan Thakur, who was a
minister, and who belonged to a good
Arab family, guardian of his daughter.
After the king’s death she was married
to Thado Minthara, the nephew of the
king, i.e. the king`s daughter was
married to her cousin. Thado Minthara
became king and the king`s daughter
became the chief queen of the
kingdom. Magan Thakur became the
chief or prime minister of the
kingdom. But the king Thado Minthara
died in 1652 and was succeed by his
minor son Sanda Thudama (1652-
1684).Sanda Thudama was a minor
and the queen ruled the country as
regent. She gave her guardian Magan
Thakur the authority to rule the country
on her and her son’s behalf and he
was promoted to be the chief minister
or Prime Minister of the kingdom.
Magan Thakur ordered Alaol to compose
epic work Padmavati, which the
poet completed in 1651 during the
reign of Thado Minthara. Magan
Thakur later ordered to compose Saiful
Mulk Badiujjamal. Alaol began the
work, but before completing the book
Magan Thakur died and the
composition of the book remained
incomplete.
After the death of Magan Thakur
Sayyid Musa was appointed Prime
Minister of Arakan.Sayyid Musa
remained in this office for about a
decade under the king Sanda
Thudama. Alaol received patronage
from him and at his order completed
the composition of Saiful Mulk
Badiujjamal. He completed the book in
1669-70A.D.
Thee next Muslim prime minister
of Arakan was Nabaraj Majalis. He
Nizami Ganjabi. According to Shah
Alaol`s Sikandernama, Srimata
Majlis became a Mahamaintya or
Chief or Prime Minister of Roshang
(Arakan) after the death of Prime
Minister Sayyid Musa. Hearing the
name and fame of Alaol, Nabaraj
Mujlis called the poet to his court
and gave him much support, so
much so that Shah Alaol was able to
clear the state dues. Once the Prime
Minister sat in the assembly of
learned men, arranged foods and
drinks for the guests. Those present
in the assembly praised the Prime
Minister for his good deeds,
particularly the construction of
Mosques and excavation of tanks.
In reply Nabaraj Majlis said that
mosques and tanks were not
permanent. In old days great men
did these beneficial works, but they
did not last. Only books have lasted,
books pleased the readers, books
impart education. Illiterate people
became learned by reading books;
books and poets are honored not
only in their own country but also
out side, and books last until the
day of resurrection. The book
Sikandernama was completed by
Shah Alaol in 1673AD.
Nabaraj Majlis was so important
a personality that he administered
the coronation oath to the king
Sanda Thudama. Shah Alaol says
about this:” The great religious king
had a Prime Minister known as
Nabaraj MAJLIS. Now I will tell
something about Majlis. When the
king died, the crown prince came to
sit on the throne. Outside the
throne, he stood facing the east.

Brother Shabbir Hussein was
born on 18 April 1941 in a respectable
Rohingya family at Ponyolic
village under Buthidaung township,
Arakan,Burma. His father was late
Master Ahamadur Rahman and the
mother was late Salima Khatun.
Late Shabbir Hussein had his early
schooling at his native village, and
had his middle and high school
education at Buthidaung and Akyab
(Sittwe). Having matriculated from
Akyab Government High School in
1959 he joined Intermediate College
at Kyauk Pru; then he continued his
studies in Arts and Science
University of Rangoon from 1962
until he secured his B.A degree with
economics and political science in
1965. With a vision he attended the
Basic Military Training of the
University Training Crops (UTC) in
1962-65.
In his student life he participated
in various social welfare and
cultural activities and joined many
socio-political Organisations. He
was a Central Executive Committee
member of Muslim Students
Association (MSA) and Danya
Waddy Students Association (DSA)
at Kyauk Pru College from 1959-
1962. Late Shabbir Hussein was
General Secretary of the Rangoon
University Rohingya Students
Organisation from 1961 to 1964 as
well as Central Committee member of
the Rangoon University Muslim
Students Association (RUMSA) from
1962 to 1964.
After his graduation, Shabbir
Hussein joined the Ministry of Trade
Corporation in Burma and worked as
township trade manager until he
joined the underground freedom
movement of Rohingya Independence
Force (RIF) in 1969. He actively played
a key role when the members of the
RIF and Rohingya National Liberation
Party (RNLP) were working together in
the interest of the Rohingya people.
In 1973 the name of the Organisation
was changed to Rohingya
Patriotic Front (RPF), under the leadership
of late Mohammed Jafar Habib;
and served as a Central Committee
member in his various capacities,
including In-charge of Training
Centre, Secretary for Publicity and
Information and Secretary for Foreign
Affairs. In 1975 when substantial
quantity of youths and educated
Rohingyas who joined RPF went underground,
it was he who successfully
imparted them basic military training.
Almost all present day Rohingya
leaders got basic military training
from him. It will remain as a milestone
in the history of Rohingya freedom
movement.
In 1984 Shabbir Hussain became the
President of RPF. When RPF and a
faction of Rohingya Solidarity
Organisation (RSO) led by Nurul
Islam merged into a broad based
organization of the Arakan Rohingya
Islamic Front (ARIF), he was elected
as its Chairman, in the first Rohingya
National Council (RNC) convened in
1987; and he was elected Vice-
President in the next term.

It recalled me one instance from the history of Burma:
While the Burmese king Anawrahta(1044 - 1077)was ruling the Burmese people from Pagan the Mon king
Manuha was ruling the Mon people from Thaton, the than port city. An Arab ship was wrecked. And two young Muslim
brothers escaped from the jaws of the death with the help of broken planks. The abbot of the royal Buddhist monastery
found them at the seashore, took them to the monastery and adopted them. They were Byawi and Byatta. One day the
monk and the two Muslim brothers found a death body of a Muslim saint in the deep forest. The monk was furious
when he came to know that the death body of the saint [zawzi] was eaten by the two brothers. They grew up mighty with
the strength of fighting the elephants. The king was afraid of their strength and looking for a chance to kill them. He
had trapped Byawi as the daughter of the king’s Prime Minister was found in the arms of Byawi, Byatta escaped
to Pagan and took shelter at the court of the King Anawrahta. With the help of Byatta, King Anawrahta conquered
Thaton and Manuha was taken as prisoner of war. Byatta was married to a woman of Popa from where he had to carry
magnolia [sagawa] flowers seven times a day to the Palace at Pagan. He had two sons in the service of the king. With
their help the king won the battle with Chinese. On their returning journey from China, the two sons of Byatta, Shwe
Pyine Gyi and Shwe Pying Ngay were beheaded by the king Anawrahta because they refused to put bricks on the
construction of a Buddhist Pagoda as they were Muslims. It shows that from the very beginning the Burmese were
ungrateful toward Muslims.Anawrahta was killed by a mysterious mad buffalo.

AN ABSURD ACT OF DISCRIMINATION

Not a single Rohingya minister was inducted in the nine
member minister of Arakan State government though half of the
population of Arakan is Rohingya. It is an open insult to the
Muslims of Arakan.This is the new government’s new crime
committed to the Rohingyas of Arakan.Therefore we regret for
it.Morever we condemned for it. Before and during the elections
they promised many things and now they are doing nothing.
Sayagyi U Razzak was education minister in the cabinet of
Bogyoke Aung San`s provisional government. He was
assassinated along with Aung San. In U Nu`s government there
were always two Muslim ministers. They were U Rachid and U
Khin Maung Latt (Abdul Latif). During the Nu Tin government or
AFPFL (Clean) government U Rachid and Mr. Sultan Mahmud
were the Muslim ministers. And Mr. Sultan Ahmed, Mr. Abdul
Gaffer and Mr. Abul Basher were parliamentary secretaries
with the power of deputy ministers. Mr. Sultan Mahmud was
from Akyab (Sittwe) township of Arakan and was Health
Minister. Mr. Sultan Ahmed was a native of Maungdaw
township of Arakan, and served as parliamentary secretary from
1947 to 1958.Mr Abdul Gaffer and Mr. Abul Basher were from
Buthidaung township of Arakan. Sayagyi U Ka was Education
Minister of the Caretaker Government of Gen. Ne Win.
The British Burma Municipal Act was extended to Akyab on
1st October 1874. The committee was consisted of six officials
and five non- officials. This body was responsible for and
managed police, roads, hospital, conservancy, beggars and
water supply within the limit of the town. The committee as
newly constituted in 1882 was relieved of charges for police
and was entrusted with additional responsibilities and powers
in respect of schools, hospital, vaccination and similar charges.
The committee consisted of three officers - the Deputy
Commissioner was president, the Civil Surgeon was vice
president and the Executive Engineer - two members nominated
by the government and twelve members elected from the public:
European-2, Muslim-4, Buddhist-4 and Hindu-2. Thus the
British had given equal right to Muslims and Buddhists of
Arakan.
In the history of Arakan there were many Muslim prime
ministers, ministers, judges and high officials appointed by the
kings of Arakan. But the Muslims were neglected and ignored
by the Burmese military governments since 1962. They are
ungrateful toward the Muslims of Arakan in particular and the
Muslims of Burma in general.