Rohingya: Unfinished Business from WWII?

M.S. Anwar
RB Article

September 6, 2017

(The Myanmar) Army commander Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s remarks on Friday (Sept 1) suggest it won’t ease off its campaign (against Rohingya), describing it as “unfinished business” dating back to World War II. -- Wall Street Journal

Yes, you read it right. That is straight from the horse's mouth. This is what the Commander In-Chief of the Myanmar army said in regard to the ongoing ethnic cleansing (many call it Genocide) against the Rohingya population in Arakan, the western-most state of Myanmar. Before looking into what could be his intention behind the statement, let me point out an unintentional but positive aspect of it.
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Saying that the (Rohingya) issue is an unfinished business dating back to WWII, he has indirectly admitted that the Rohingya existence in Arakan state dates back to 'at least' to the British colonial time in Burma (now Myanmar). It further negates the infamous label against the 'Rohingya people' (by some Bama officials; racist sections of Bama and Rakhine Buddhist societies) that they (i.e. Rohingya) are some modern-day illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. [Note: Bama = Burmese]

But that's not all. The Myanmar state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi claimed, during her visit to Brussels on May 2, that the (Rohingya) problem dated back to 18th Century and couldn't be solved overnight. She, thereby, had admitted that ‘the Rohingya existence’ dates even further back to an era what Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing later claimed.

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There are tons of historical evidences that prove that the Rohingyas are sons of soils of Arakan. In fact, the ancient Arakan kingdoms and populations were Indo-Aryan (or Indian Vedic people), who are forefathers of the today's Rohingya people, unlike the Rakhine people who are descendants of the Mongoloid Tibeto-Burmans who invaded and settled in Arakan in 10th Century. [Note: Islam was introduced to these ancient Indo-Aryan people in 8th Century even before the arrivals of the forefathers of today’s Rakhines.]

Even disregarding all these historical evidences, the statements by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the two most powerful people in Myanmar, should be sufficient evidences to the racist naysayers to understand that the Rohingya are indeed a native people of Arakan.

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Coming back to the point, what could Snr. Gen Min Aung Hlaing mean by 'the Unfinished Business from WWII?'

What happened in Arakan during WWII?
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In 1942, the Rakhine Buddhist extremists backed by Bama ultranationalists slaughtered, executed and massacred over 100,000 Rohingya people in Arakan state, a violence considered to have taken place on a much bigger scale than what you are witnessing today. [Some eyewitnesses that could have passed away by now have personally narrated many such horror accounts to me.]

Before 1942, both Rohingya and Rakhine populations are more or less evenly distributed in all over 17 townships of Arakan state. During the 1942 violence, most of the Rohingya population in the South were pushed towards the North and thereby, making the Rohingya population a majority in the region especially Mayu (Maungdaw) district; and a minority in the south or all other 15 townships in the state. There are 5 Townships -- Taung Gote, Ann, Man Aung, Rambre and Gwa -- in Arakan that have now become entirely Rohingya-free zones.

[Note: Both Rohingya and Rakhine accuse each other for the violence and killings. But going by the demography and distributions of populations of Rohingya and Rakhine before and after 1942 violence, the ratio of number of deaths between Rohingya and Rakhine could highly likely be 70:30 (70 Rohingyas dead & 30 Rakhines dead). Rohingyas were deceived, massacred and heavily defeated by Bama and Rakhines in Southern Arakan, whereas the Rohingyas got an upper-hand in the Mayu district in the later phase of the violence as they became a huge majority by merging with those who fled from the Southern Arakan. Exact figures of deaths could be available at British and Japanese history archives and libraries.]
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So, what triggered the violence against Rohingya?
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In 1942, the fascist Japanese forces invaded Burma upon the invitations by Thakin Aung San and his comrades fighting for the liberation of the country from the British colonial empire. Hence, Bamas and their next kins, Rakhines, took side with the Japanese forces, whereas the Rohingyas took the side of the British. That estranged Rohingyas from Rakhines and drew a clear communal line separating the two communities.

Eventually, the Japanese forces took over Burma from the British. During the process, there was an administrative vacuum created in Arakan state after the British forces had left and before Japanese could establish their administrative bodies. By taking advantage of the situation, the Bama Buddhist ultranationalists incited their Rakhine kins to turn against the Rohingya Muslims; and backed them to commit massacres against Rohingyas and expel them from their homes/lands. That should well be the first step towards Rohingya genocide which you are witnessing today. The large-scale massacres of Rohingya people eventually died down but silently continued on small-scales throughout the Japanese administrations in Burma till 1945.

The British Responsibility
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The Rohingyas remained supportive and loyal towards British and their forces and helped them in re-occupying Burma from the Japanese forces. The British promised to give the Rohingya people an autonomous region in northern Arakan in return to their loyalty and supports. Nevertheless, the British has never fulfilled the promise given to the Rohingya. Rather, the British deserted them; and handed their destiny and future over into the hands of the very racist and ultranationalist Bamas and Rakhines.

For leaving behind the Rohingya people in a socio-political mess, avoidance to reveal the history of the Rohingya and Burma at this very critical point today; for their immoral and insensitive stand in the crisis for geopolitical and economic gains in the country, the British will, if not wholly, partially be held responsible for the genocide against the Rohingya. The British will go down in the history for their complicity in the Rohingya genocide.

Burma Independence and Rohingya
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Burma got independence from the British in 1948. Since then, the different Burmese governments carried out an operation after an operation with intentions of destroying the Rohingya community; and grab their ancestral lands and resources until this very day.
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Credit: Dr. Maung Zarni

Therefore, the intention that the Sept 1 statement by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing (reported in the Wall Street Journal) highly indicates is: Continuation of Ethnic Cleansing/ Genocide! This is an unfinished business for the Bama and Rakhine ultranationalists dating back to WWII. Thus, Rohingya is an unfinished people that need to be eradicated at any cost.
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Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing could have said it intentionally or unintentionally but revealed that they were the Bama ultranationalists (like him) who implemented and sowed the plans of ethnic cleansing/genocide against the minority Rohingya right the from the time of WWII. Because this is an unfinished business (project) for the Bama ultranationalists and the Rakhine extremists that demands to be finished, they will be committing atrocity crimes and crimes of genocide against the minority, under this pretext or the other, until and unless they are forced to stop by the international powers and authoritative bodies through effective interferences.

The statement by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing as alarming and dangerous in reality as it sounds.

M.S. Anwar is an activist and journalist born and brought up in Arakan, Burma. He’s currently News Editor at Rohingya Blogger. He can be reached at: editor@rohingyablogger.com

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