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Dr Habib Siddiqui
RB Article
December 11, 2016

A genocide is taking place against the Rohingyas of Myanmar. It has been an on-going ethnic cleansing national program in this Buddhist-majority country to erase Muslim presence soon after Burma emerged as an independent state. 

After General Ne Win took power in 1962 in a military coup, the status of Rohingya further deteriorated. His military junta adopted a policy of "Myanmarisation", which was an ultra-nationalist ideology based on the racial purity of the Myanma (or more properly Bama) ethnicity and its Buddhist faith. 

By 1977, the Rohingyas had witnessed at least 13 pogroms. Their condition turned worse in 1978 when the Naga Min or King Dragon Operation started on February 6 from the biggest Muslim village of Sakkipara in Akyab (now called Sittwe). The purpose of this operation was to scrutinize each individual within the state as either a citizen or alleged "illegal immigrant". It sent shock waves over the whole region within a short time. The news of mass arrest of Muslims, male and female, young and old, torture, rape and killing in Akyab panicked Muslims greatly in other towns of North Arakan (now called the Rakhine state). 

In March 1978 the operation reached Buthidaung and Maungdaw (close to the border with Bangladesh). Hundreds of Muslim men and women were thrown into the jail and many of them were tortured and killed. Muslim women were raped freely in the detention centers. Terrified by the utter ferocity and ruthlessness of the operation and total uncertainty of their life, property, honor and dignity, a large number Rohingya Muslims left their homes to cross the Burma-Bangladesh border. Within 3 months nearly a quarter million Rohingyas took shelter in makeshift camps erected by Bangladesh Government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognized them as genuine refugees and started relief operations. Many of the refugees were later repatriated to Myanmar where they faced further torture, rape, jail and death.

To justify the on-going ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, the Burma Citizenship Law (1982), co-authored by a wicked Rakhine academic Aye Kyaw, was passed during the Ne Win era. The Rohingyas were not listed as one of the country’s 135 “national races” entitled to Burmese citizenship, effectively making them a people without a state — even after living for generations in Arakan. They became the most persecuted people in our planet. 

“Stripped officially of their citizenship, the Rohingya found their lives in limbo: prohibited from the right to own land or property, barred from travelling outside their villages, repairing their decaying places of worship, receiving an education in any language or even marrying and having children without rarely granted government permission. The Rohingya have also been subjected to modern-day slavery, forced to work on infrastructure projects, such as constructing ‘model villages’ to house the Myanmar settlers intended to displace them, reminiscent of their treatment at the hands of the Burmese kings of history,” Professor Akbar Ahmed observes.

To further terrorize the already marginalized Rohingya people, the Pyi Thaya Operation (or Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation) was launched by the military in July 1991. This major pogrom lasting for nearly a year resulted in the exodus of some 268,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh. The United Nations Refugee Agency referred to those operations as “ethnic cleansing campaigns led by the military junta itself.”

Dr. Michael W. Charney, a University of London scholar who specializes in South East Asian studies, wrote in his paper Buddhism in Arakan: Theory and Historiography of the Religious Basis of the Ethnonym that the “Rohingya […] are compelled to thrive under really testing conditions where even their personal lives are under strict state scrutiny. Whatever property they inherited from their ancestors have been forcefully taken away from them, and granted to the Buddhist majority under the banner of different national schemes that served to institutionalize and hence legitimize racist discrimination of Rohingya”.

Benjamin Zawacki, Senior Legal Advisor for Southeast Asia at the International Commission of Jurists, in his article Defining Myanmar’s “Rohingya Problem,” this is “a political, social, and economic system – manifested in law, policy, and practice – designed to discriminate against this ethnic and religious minority [which] makes such direct violence against the Rohingya far more possible and likely than it would be otherwise”.

In spite of murderous activities of the junta and their henchmen, the Rohingyas of Arakan refused to vanish from the Mogher Mulluk of Burma. So, the military junta come with a new program, no less sinister than the previous ones. 

NaSaKa (Nay-Sat Kut-kwey Ye), a border security/military force, was create in 1992 to terrorize the Rohingyas of Arakan on a daily basis. It was to be found only in North Arakan (Rakhine) state, where they became the main perpetrators of human rights abuse against the Rohingya. The day-to-day lives of the Rohingya took a dramatic turn for the worse. They faced severe restrictions on their movement and were subjected to forced labor and arbitrary land seizure and forced displacement, and endured excessive taxes and extortion. Since 1994, it has been illegal for married Rohingya to have more than two children. In the words of Pulitzer-winning journalist and photographer Greg Constantine “almost all aspects of their lives in North Rakhine are controlled or exploited by NaSaKa.”

The persecution and abuses of power by the NaSaKa, terrorizing the Rohingya, continued unabated for decades until it was disbanded with the advent of a so-called reform government that was led by Thein Sein, an ex-military general. He promised democracy and opened the doors of Myanmar for foreign investment. The gesture was reciprocated by the West by withdrawing its economic and military sanctions against the once-pariah government. During Thein Sein’s time, the old IDs and national cards were all seized from the Rohingya people who were also banned from participating in the general elections. What is worse, his regime empowered Buddhist terrorist monks who through popular religio-fascist organizations like the MaBaTha continued to spread hate crimes and prepare the groundwork for the latest genocidal crimes against all Muslims, esp. the Rohingyas of Arakan. The latter were falsely portrayed as ‘illegals’ from nearby Bangladesh who are’ threatening’ the Buddhist identity of the country through ‘high birth rates’. Deliberately omitted in such narratives was the mere fact that the percentage of Muslims have been declining since Burma won independence from Britain. 


It was in this highly poisonous environment that the 2012 genocidal campaigns against the Rohingya was unleashed. Within weeks in June nearly a quarter million Muslims were internally displaced inside Myanmar in an orgy of Buddhist violence that was participated from top to bottom, enjoying full support from the government, politicians and the Buddhist monks. It was Rwanda all over again in this genocidal crime against the Muslims, esp. the Rohingyas, of Myanmar. 

And I am not alone when I state that the Rohingyas are victims of genocide. From the Human Rights Watch to the academic experts on genocide concur. Phil Robertson, Asia director for Humans Right Watch, wrote nearly four years ago that “the Burmese government engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya that continues today”. Professor William Schabas, former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, went a step further and cautioned, “we’re moving into a zone where the [genocide] word can be used.” 

Whatever doubt, if any, against the use of the term ‘genocide’ have to be shelved after October 9 of this year (2016) when the Myanmar security forces attacked Rohingya villages, ethnically cleansing these. According to ARNO, more than 500 innocent Rohingya civilians were killed, many hundreds of women raped, about 3,500 houses were burned down, unknown number of people arrested and involuntarily disappeared, and at least 40,000 internally displaced, in addition to systematic destruction of rice, paddy and food products. About 10,000 people had also fled to Bangladesh. Regular humanitarian assistance has been disrupted for many weeks, putting at risk over 150,000 vulnerable people. Reports indicate a marked deterioration of the human rights situation in northern Rakhine State. And yet, Suu Kyi remains nonchalant by such gross violations of her security forces. Like a sly politician who is more interested in solidifying her hold to power, she seems approving of the war crimes of her murderous military who continues to use her as a pawn to carry out their religio-fascist Myanmarism. 

The Rohingya predicament underlines a paradox for Buddhism, which emphasizes compassion and kindness and yet, we see little evidence of this in its dealings with the Rohingya people.

Will our generation ever see the end of this monstrous crime? I simply don’t know the answer. And yet, like many other well-wishers of the persecuted peoples in our planet, I would like to see a quick end to this shameful event. The sooner the better!

Sayeda Khatun with two of her four children and another child (centre). Photograph: Sayed Ullah/The Guardian

Dr Habib Siddiqui
RB Article
December 11, 2016

On Saturday, December 10, 2016, the Guardian ran a story on two Rohingya women, Noor Ayesha and Sayeda Khatun. 

“Noor Ayesha held her last surviving daughter tight as their boat crossed into Bangladeshi waters. She left behind a firebombed home, a dead husband, seven slain children and the soldiers who raped her,” wrote the Guardian.

“A group of about 20 of them appeared in front of my house,” the 40-year-old Rohingya woman recalled of the morning in mid-October when her village was invaded by hundreds of Burmese government troops. “They ordered all of us to come out in the courtyard. They separated five of our children and forced them into one of our rooms and put on the latch from outside. Then they fired a 'gun-bomb' on that room and set it on fire. Five of my children were burnt to death by the soldiers. They killed my two daughters after raping them. They also killed my husband and raped me.”

Sayeda Khatun was more than five months pregnant, but said that did not deter the soldiers who arrived at her house in the village around noon on October 11. “They carried me at gunpoint to a large courtyard in the village where they had gathered around 30 other Rohingya women,” the 32-year-old said. “From among us the soldiers separated around 15 younger ‘good-looking’ women and took them away to an unknown place. I was in the group of about 15 older women who were raped in that courtyard by the soldiers. Fearing that they would shoot and kill us, all of us took off our clothing as the soldiers ordered.”

She considers herself lucky: she lost no family members and eventually found a way to escape to Cox’s Bazar (in southern tip of Bangladesh) with her husband, Oli Mohammad. But the violence has fractured their relationship, Mohammad believing the men who raped Khatun are also her baby’s fathers, “at least partly”.

Noor Hossain, a resident of a neighboring village, Ngasaku, told the Guardian by phone that the Burmese soldiers had arrived in Kyet Yoe Pyin on October 11 accompanied by Buddhist settlers known as Natala. 

More than half the Rohingya community’s 850 houses were razed over the next two days and soldiers killed at least 265 people, he claims. “At least 100 women were raped and 25 of them were killed during the attack in Karyiprang. At least 40 Rohingyas were burnt alive in the village. Apart from killing people with gunshots and burning them, the soldiers also slaughtered many with knife. They also took away about 150 Rohingya men who have not returned as yet,” Hossain said.

The accounts of Ayesha, Sayeda and Noor are three of several such eye-witness reports of extra-judicial crimes in Suu Kyi’s Myanmar government that is committing genocide and is using rape as a weapon of war against the Rohingyas of Arakan (Rakhine) state, bordering Bangladesh. As a result of the latest pogroms since October 9, at least another 30,000 Rohingyas are now internally displaced. [According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, as many as 500,000 Rohingya are already internally displaced.] Rohingya males - old and young - are shot on site, while women – young and old – are raped by the Myanmar military to terrorize the community. To finish the job, the military is burning homes and villages. 

Human Rights Watch has analyzed satellite imagery that shows more than 1,250 buildings in northern Rakhine state that have been destroyed, mostly by arson attacks. 

At a rally in Kuala Lumpur last weekend, Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, likened the persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar to a genocide.

Penny Green, a professor of law at the University of London, led a 12-month investigation into the Burmese military’s campaign against the Rohingya and concluded that the military was “engaged in a genocidal process” against the minority group. “It’s important to understand genocide as a process which may evolve over many years, beginning with the stigmatization of the target community and moving into physical violence, forced isolation, systematic weakening and finally mass annihilation,” she said. 

“For four years now the Rohingya have suffered state-sponsored denial of access to healthcare, livelihood, food and civic life as well as debilitating restrictions on their freedom of movement. 

“And now, since 9 October this year, the Rohingya in northern Rakhine state are facing a terrifying new phase in the genocide: mass killings, rapes, village clearings and the razing of whole communities, committed with impunity by the Myanmar military and security forces,” she said.

Many Rohingyas are finding it very difficult to trust Myanmar government for their safety and security and, in utter despair, are trying to flee to Bangladesh where they face push-back from Bangladesh Navy and the Border Guard (BGB). [As I write this essay, another 166 Rohingyas have been pushed back by the BGB.] Hundreds of Rohingyas have also been detained on both sides in the last two months attempting to illegally travel across the Naf River, which separates Myanmar and Bangladesh. And yet, some 22,000 Rohingya refugees have managed to pour into Cox’s Bazar. Every week, thousands continue to make the journey in spite of such obstacles. 

Suu Kyi’s government is still in denial of such gruesome crimes of her military (Tatmadaw), and has not allowed international media and aid agencies to visit the northern Rakhine state to either verify the charges against the military or provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingyas. 

The Kofi Annan commission is proving to be jawless. The former UN Secretary General was recently permitted to visit the Rakhine (Arakan) state for the first time since the crisis erupted. He was greeted by Buddhist protesters holding signs reading "Ban the Kofi Annan commission". [Obviously, they are opposed to any investigation of the Buddhist crimes against the Rohingya minority.] Mr. Annan interviewed villagers in Kyet Yoe Pyin on December 3. He told a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday (December 6) that his committee was deeply concerned by reports of “human rights abuses” in the Rakhine state and urged Burmese security forces to act within the law. [Obviously, Mr. Annan needs a History 101 lesson on Tatmadaw that has perfected the art of committing war crimes under the pretext of securing law and order in this apartheid country.]

The Myanmar government does not want the international community to learn of its genocidal crimes, and, thus, those interviewed by Mr. Annan were later arrested by security forces. The move was meant to discourage Rohingya victims to speak out. Worse yet, Burmese soldiers resumed operations in Rohingya villages two days after Annan’s visit, and at least 50 women were raped and four killed in last week in the village of Kyauk Chaung in northern Arakan. 

As part of another very calculated ploy to deflect international backlash, Suu Kyi has recently formed a 13-member commission, which, not surprisingly, again, in this den of hatred and intolerance included no Muslim and is led by Vice President Myint Swe, a retired army general, formerly blacklisted by the United States. The commission is created with the sole purpose of parroting government propaganda. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said the new commission "doesn't look like it's independent or impartial". 

According to the UNHCR data, since 2014 an estimated 94,000 asylum seekers have fled to neighboring countries by means of deadly sea journeys. The commonly preferred destination is Malaysia, which hosts approximately 142,000 people. Indonesia currently has approximately 1,000 Rohingya refugees, excluding unregistered asylum seekers, mainly based in Aceh. 

The Rohingyas need unpretentious international help, esp. from the ASEAN countries and Bangladesh. The push-back, a familiar tactic employed by Bangladesh government, simply cannot be an option. It is both criminal and morally repugnant, let alone being inexcusable for a country that had witnessed ten million of its own people become refugees in neighboring India during the liberation war of 1971. The push-back policy blemishes the spirit of liberation! 

The Bali Process, an international high-level forum on people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes, which aims to push for more practical arrangements including the implementation of burden-sharing and collective-responsibility principles, however, has proven to be a failure because of its non-binding nature and no consequences for non-adherence. Bangladesh, for instance, has failed to uphold its commitment made during the 2016 Bali Declaration.

It is clear that Bangladesh and ASEAN member states have miserably failed to sober Myanmar - their rogue neighbor. If the current crisis lingers without restoring Rohingya rights, all these countries should be prepared to receive more Rohingya refugees and provide protection and necessary humanitarian assistance to them. 

As noted by Shaffira Gayatri of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), there is no existing legal framework in ASEAN to deal with refugees and forced migration. [In the Southeast Asian region, only the Philippines, Cambodia and Timor Leste (East Timor) are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention.] ASEAN has preferred to focus on its economic functions, while turning a blind eye to more pressing political and human rights issue like the Rohingya crisis. This morally indefensible non-interference principle needs serious reevaluation. Ms. Gayatri opines that “ASEAN has to step up pressure on the Myanmar government to stop the persecution of and discrimination against the Rohingya people through persistent diplomacy. A stronger diplomacy is also needed to allow and ensure the admission of humanitarian aid agencies into the Rohingya area.” 

My personal opinion is that a pariah state like Myanmar cannot be sobered by carrots; i.e., its decades of criminal habits cannot be reformed by diplomacy, and surely not be rewarded with trades and investment. It needs sticks, biting sanctions and trials of its leadership in The Hague for its crimes against humanity. The decision to lift economic and other sanctions was simply premature and foolish. 

In recent weeks, protesters across South and South-east Asia have turned out for demonstrations against the genocidal violence, particularly in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia. They demanded their governments to stand up for the Rohingyas who are running away from state-sponsored extermination campaigns, acting in the name of race and religion. 

Sadly, the powerful western countries, busy with the rise of ultra-nationalist populist parties in their midst, seem least concerned with gross violations of human rights in apartheid Myanmar. They seem more interested in opening up business with the new regime, which has a Nobel Peace Prize winner as its de-facto leader, no matter how she had disgraced the award. Lost in that transaction is the fact that the situation of minorities like the Rohingya has simply worsened under her rule. 

Recently, a cross-party group of 70 British parliamentarians have urged the UK government to “intensify pressure” on the Myanmar government to allow full humanitarian access to Rohingya Muslims in the North Rakhine State of Myanmar. “Together with the international community, the UK government must intensify its pressure on the Myanmar government to allow full humanitarian access to the Rohingya,” the British parliamentarians, including co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Burma Rushan Ara Ali (MP), said in a letter to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. They called on the British government to do all in its power to help those fleeing the violence to find a safe passage home. “We condemn any reprisal attacks that have followed the recent incidents of violence on the Myanmar border and call for an immediate end to the targeted use of violence of an already persecuted religious minority,” the parliamentarians wrote.

We need serious initiatives all across the globe urging governments and the UN Security Council to intensify pressure on Suu Kyi to stop war crimes of her Tatmadaw. 

Truly, it is high time for the world community to demand a total halt to the on-going genocidal crimes of Suu Kyi’s government against the Rohingyas of Myanmar. Must the Rohingya people wander in the wilderness for two millennia and suffer repeated persecution, humiliation and genocide to qualify for our support for their existence? Do they need to be ‘children’ of a ‘higher’ God to qualify?



Ro Mayyu Ali
RB Article
October 21, 2016

Maungdaw is a border trading town in Rakhine State, situated in south-west of Myanmar. It is home to more than 500,000 inhabitants from varying backgrounds such as Rohingya, Rakhine, Hindu, Thet, Dai-net Mro, Kamee and Marmagyi.

Among the people, Rohingya are historically the most indigenous and documented as the richest people in the township. In population, approximately 80 percent are Rohingya, 15 percent Buddhists and five percent are Hindus. Most of the land, forests and lakes are owned by native Rohingya. Religiously, Rohingya are the only group who believes in Islam and all the rest except Hindus are Buddhists who enjoy full freedom of all legal rights. The fate of most Rohingya is so perilous and their ethnic identities in Myanmar have been denied as well as they have been suffering Civil and Human Rights violation and even genocide today.

In other townships in Rakhine State, Buddhist nationalists and anti-Muslim chauvinists who play a role in the Union and State governments have been bringing their attention on the population and influence to the wealth of Rohingya in three townships: Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathidaung in Northern Rakhine State. They have been focusing their racial and religious concerns in those townships.

Firstly, they chose to filter the township of Maungdaw where there is the most Rohingya population in. Because they foresee that other two townships would be easier if they could damage the livelhoods of Rohingya intiailly in Maungdaw by implementing several kinds of profound schemes and deep-running strategies.

In these regards, over the last two decades, they have been installing two new risky groups like an anti virus to monitor bona fide Rohingya in the township. One are the Natala (local term) who are taken from Upper Myanmar and provided with facilities of a bungalow, some acres of paddy land which was taken from native Rohingya, a couple of cows and some other religious accesses per a family. Strategically, the village tracts of Natala people are set up in the middle of Rohingya villages and where there are easy accesses of transportation, education, medical assistance and marketing services.

The second risky group are Bangali Rakhines whom are taken from the border of Bangladesh. They fit better than Natala people because they are from the same feather. Usually, they receive Myanmar National Scrutiny Card like other Rakhines whose births are in the township. Their children can enjoy education initially in monasteries and Buddhists orphan houses. Moreover, after 2012 communal violence, hundreds of Bangali Rakhines including Thet and Myo have been taken significantly three times to Maungdaw Township.

But today, both groups enjoy in the luxuries of wealth, education, transportation, medical assistance and other facilities much more than native Rohingya and even the roads to their model villages are specially made of cement which will last a long time, as is found in southern Maungdaw Township.

Now, they take pride in themselves that they are Thaiyinthar (local term for indigenous people). To use a common phrase, they come to exile native Rohingya whose rice and water they survived on, using the offending terms (Kalas and Bangalis) that other Rakhines in the township use for Rohingya people.

Nevertheless, the local authorities have been setting up several kinds of snares for Rohingya in the township such as, trading hindrance from one township to another, extortion large sums of money, arbitrary arrests, long time incarceration , accusations of illegal activity, etc.

Incidentally, the fire of 2012-June communal violence began in Maungdaw Township and spread to other townships in Rakhine State. In 2013, the fire was resumed again in Du Cheer Tan Village, in southern Maungdaw. During that violence, Maungdaw is, in fact the most hidden of the affected townships in Rakhine State, where the result of losing more than 50 Rohingya innocent souls, a loss of 100 Rohingya houses, looting millions from properties of Rohingya, incarceration of more than (100) young Rohingya men and the fleeing thousands of vulnerable Rohingya to their neighbor countries such as, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Bangladesh. The worst is many Rohingya lives have been lost drowing in the sea while trying to reach, on rickety boats, a safe shore for a refuge. These reported tolls are only for Maungdaw Township. At the time, they have targeted and cleared whatever they could particularly in downtown and south of Maungdaw Township.

Now, northern Maungdaw is still fresh and green, but their hunger sees no bounds., and the appetite of their greed and lust are keener. They gear up to a higher level with their many ill-talents what they can be as the followers of Gautama.

It is very tense as their racial divisions and prejudice become stronger and more aggregated. After the 2012-June precarious violence, their movement is much more operative than before. In the township, along the border are iron-fences. Hundreds of Border Guard Police check points are installed. A leader of 969 anti-Muslim movements from each Rakhine Village tract is locally organized. The supply of INGOs and Agencies humanitarian aids are remarkably limited and the approval of their activities are delayed for a long time and often denied, as well. The services of medical assistance of the Township Medical Department is limited and the immunization process is limited and this has led to suffering of polio by a couple of Rohingya children during the last year in township. The techniques and methods of Schools for Rohingya students are unbelievably separated and discriminated. And the twists and propaganda of Myanmar Social Medias are in the headlines against Rohingya. For sure, it is then in dangerous with their racially multi-sectarian currents to attack the dwellings and lives of those native Rahingyas who have a long existence in the township. Would the Buddhist chauvinists take full aim in northern of Maungdaw at this time? 

Unfortunately, at the predawn of 9 of October, 2016, Border Guard Police Head Quarter No.1 in Kyi Kan Pyin Village and a check outpost in Nga Khu Ya Village in Maungdaw Township as well as another check outpost in Ko Tan Kauk Village in Rathidaung Township were attacked by some militants. According to local authorities, 9 BGP Forces were killed and some weapons were taken away by the attackers who were holding rods, swords and pistols. As two of three attacks were in northern Maungdaw Township the township became again like a well-blocked dam to catch fish and they may whatever eat whatever they like. What a moment comes for them!

On 10 of October, 2016 in the early morning, 7 innocent Rohingyas including Mohammed Ayas son of Kamaal, 13 year old, a grade-8 student in Myo Thu Gyi Village track (located in 6-miles away to BGP HQ where there was attack that of the previous night) were shot to death in cold blood by military personals. At noon on the same day, a mass grave of three Rohingya men, shot by military forces, was discovered in Kyauk Pyin Saik Village, northern Maungdaw and the hamlet of Wapaik in Kyi Kan Pyin was set on fire by the military. Before the statement of the Myanmar President‘s Office, consecutively the village tracks of northern Maungdaw such as, Kyet Yoe Pyin, Nga Sar Kyu, Oo Shan Kyar, Phur Wet Chaung, Ngan Chaung, Kyauk Pyin Saik were already cleansed by Myanmar army.

On 14 of October, 2016, Myanmar President Office released a statement regarding the terror attack in Maungdaw. It stated that the name of the attacking group is Aquamul Mujahidin, the leaders of the group are outsiders who entered through Bangladesh and the leaders convinced around (400) young Rohingyas, particularly in the villages of Oo Shan Kyar, Ngar Khu Ya, Kyauk Pyin Saik and other neighbor where military forces have already burned down, shot dozens of Rohingya to death and looted the properties. In facts, what I mention about the statement in there is just brief. However, the statement intentionally described events beyond the abilities of the attackers. But also, it has a purpose pointing out a location and a type and amount of Rohingya in the township. It is a statement that can worsen the lives of Rohingya much more than previous schemes on them. But still the questions remain to ask: Why did Bangladeshi government let the attackers to jump to Myanmar through their country when they could hand over catching up the attackers during coming back? What did thousands of Myanmar Border Guard Police forces stand for in West Gate? 

However, the process of Myanmar military’s clearance operation for those sectors is officially launched. And the forces have started to play with fire. Under the process, military personals have killed more than (100) Rohingyas including children and old women, set fire to more than (1000) Rohingya homes, looted billions Kyat of Rohingya’s properties, raped some Rohingya girls and women and displaced internally more than (30000) Rohingya people.

Is it enough for those hungry schemes? Not at all, still tthose mentioned by the President’s office’s statement are wanted. Are they only seeking the men who are wanted for these crimes? No, they have to practice how to kill the birds while targeting the eggs in the nest of Rohingya. It is the target to the nest, not only to the eggs.

Though there was no more shooting nor setting fire in Maungdaw for the past couple of days, some strange actions are taking place against Rohingya in northern Maungdaw. On the 18th of October, 2016, Karim Ullah, 58 years old, a senior humanitarian Rohingya, was tortured to death while in Maungdaw Police Custody. On the 19th of October, 2016, two prominent Rohingya men, Jenna Khan and Ludeya were killed in Maungdaw Police Custody while they were being interrogated. Dozens of Rohingya are detained and still in custody. Moreover, in some hamlets, many men and young boys pass their nights in nearby the fields, toddy gardens and embankments of the lakes and lagoons. Just the women and young girls are staying at home. It is because of this that the Myanmar military forces who have a reputation for using rape as a weapon in war are raping young Rohinya girls and some have been taken away as sex-slaves. This is the update as of the 20th of October, 2016.

Indeed, today the township becomes the third Ghetto. However the brutality is, no Rohingya can move and flee to other neighboring countries like before. Bangladeshi government has choosen to hand over any Rohingya who flee to their country while most of Rakhine people have been taken to Sittwe city for safety. Would they also move them to safety at the first sign of a soft rain as well? Aung San Suu Kyi shows no interest in finding a good resolution of its Rohingya issue. The international community remains unmoved to act in the face of human rights violations continuing against the Rohingya, but have spoken up periodically. This has moved for hidden movements against the Rohingya where crimes can be hidden or ignored. 

The worst possible outcome is that the supremacists will get what they want, and Rohingya will be wiped away from the land. The Lady of Myanmar herself bears responsibility as well for the killing of old Rohingya ladies, gang rape of young Rohingya girls, displacement of Rohingya pregnant women and heart-break of long-suffering Rohingya mothers. Does her heart have any sympathy for the persecuted Rohingya people in her country? What is most painful is that under the first democratic Government of Myanmar Rohingya suffer more than ever before.

(Photo: Adam Jones)


 By Ro Mayyu Ali
RB Article
September 13, 2016

My Higher Education in Sittway University (Part-1)

Parents were cheerful. Siblings were proud. Friends were joyful and neighbors were pleased. All the teachers as well were glad with us because only we 8, out of 236 students, had passed the matriculation examination in the 2008 academic year in the Basic Education High School in Kyein Chaung Village. The school, situated in northern 24-miles away from Maungdaw Township. My eldest brother living abroad, really proud of my success, encouraged me to continue my study and promised that he would give me all the allowances when I go to study higher education in Sittway University, situated in Sittway City, Rakhine State, Myanmar.

I’m from a less-afforded family who lives from hand to mouth. My father is a fisherman, an anchor for us. So, for me, my eldest brother is the only one who can provide for me the means of higher education if my fortune sees the bound. So, being the second ranked matriculated student as well as being the only one with an English major as a specialization subject for the academic program made me celebrated in our school. Perhaps, I was too delighted to be. Everyone was enthralling. A new academic year of 2009 was knocking. Then, it was the time to prepare towards heading to it.

First of all, I had to apply for a White Card because without it, no Rohingya, even a student, is allowed to move from one place to another. For that regard, I had to take the following recommendations;

(1) A Village Authorization Form, locally called Ywa Twar Hla Mat (that should have an attached photo of the holder certified that the one is going to the downtown area. (Administration Office Clerk charges 1000 kyats for it + a copy of passport sized photo costs 200 kyats).

(2) A recommendation letter (It certifies that the holder is a resident of the relevant village and his or her character is good as well. (Village Administrator charges 2000 kyats for it.)

(3) Two copies (It costs 100 kyats per page.) and the original of my family list together.

On next day of 14th of November, 2008 at 7:45 am, I was in a Jeep car heading towards downtown in the Maungdaw Township. It was my second trip downtown. In our area, riding in a car is like frog-dancing that makes all the passengers easily tired and sleepy, but not my sharp mind. Hours later, the car stopped and the conductor sounded us to get off. When I looked up, I realized it was in front of Border Immigration Head Quarter in Kyi Kan Pyin. No sooner I got out of the car I remembered the word of in-charge Nasaka (an immigration personal) in that check point when I was going to sit for my matric exam in Maungdaw High School. “I’m not your class teacher. Why do you provide me your student ID?” he shouted me when I gave him mine. He asked for my White Card but he forgot my age and that was not eligible to hold it. However, I fortunately got on again though I saw myself through some extortions at the check point.

Almost 3 hours later, the car reached downtown. Getting out of the car, I went directly to the Township Immigration Office with my file to apply before having my lunch. By the time I entered the office, a staff said to me that the Immigration Officer had gone to Sittway and that I had to go back. Indeed, it’s my common fate as a Rohingya in Northern Rakhine State!

A couple of weeks later, I went to there again. I received a White Card to apply for my higher education costing 19500 kyats. On the same day, thinking myself that everything was ready enough, I was submitting my file to go study in Sittway University. Then my file was rejected as my name had different spellings between my family list and what was listed in school. No wonder! It’s a common discrepancy that Immigration personals misspelled whilst writing our name in family lists. That is most likely the bane of our student life when we go to the Immigration Office with our files. When I asked what I had to do, the recipient advised me to have another recommendation from the Village Administrator regarding the issue. So, I had to go back again to take it.

I explained everything to Village Administrator and he gave me a recommendation and certified that the holder is the same person even though he has two different names in the different lists. Then, I was confident that there were no more flaws in my file. Finally I submitted my application. Even though it had to cost more money as a student to submit a file, it seemed like things were going easily. I came to realize that I was going to see Sittway University very soon. Then, I felt I would become like a prince who would enjoy studying in Sittway University. Just a dream! What a joy it was!

For me, everything seemed quite simple and possible. All University students were preparing to leave. My elder sister invited me for a special dinner because I was leaving soon and she gave me some pocket money too. Then all students from our village fixed the 26th of December, 2008 to leave together. Everything was readily packed up and prepared.

It was the 24th of December, 2008. A man came to my home in the early morning and told us that there was a call for my father from Saudi Arabia. Hearing the man, I felt myself that I was in a paradise thinking my eldest brother was going to inform my father about my money to go to Sittway. “Mom, I’m really proud of my eldest”, I surprised my mom hugging suddenly. Then, my father and I went together with a great pleasure. It was the first time that I have ever walked in front of my father with a blooming smile. However, when my father held the call, it was a friend of my eldest brother in Saudi Arabia. He said that my brother was arrested and detained last night by Police. My father was shocked. Then, I was broken. He hugged and encouraged me that I might go anyway to study. It was my tear in the middle of the joy! However, my hope had the same acceleration. 

In the evening of the same day, one of my friends came to inform me that my file was launched and the clerk of Immigration Office was asking about me. My mother shared with him what had happened. When the fixed day came, everyone left to University. I however, remained in my home and my file was in the Immigration Office. I understood that my brother was still detained. My siblings whose hearts were more broken than me as I couldn’t go to study. My first year was gone. My first hope was lost.

So, my parents started to convince me that I was going to join in next academic year. I therefore, came to realize that the release of my brother was more important than my dream. I was praying for his release. My family was trying to find the resources to educate me. We sharpened the blade of our hope again for next academic year.

However, my fate is that the time passed by so fast. 2010, a new academic year was quickly coming up. My brother had not yet been released. I could not find another source to go to study. The second year was also over. My second hope for the same thing was lost too.

Two academic years were already passed. Then, I had to turn my hope back to the release of my eldest brother. On the other hand, for two years I had taught a private English class for Grade-10 students in my village and I could save some money that was quite enough to live for one month in Sittway City. Then, my mind was finally made up to join University of Distance Education in Sittway University. By the help of a friend, I had a contact with a clerk who makes doing everything for Distance Students in Sittway University if she gets money. I was transferred and enrolled in it, costing more than 50000 kyats. Then, she sent all text books and assignment papers to me. So, I started my self-study reading my texts and assignment at home.

It was 12th of October, 2011. Everything was again packed up and I was leaving. Although it was the procedure for us to go to Sittway University were the same as before. Aziz (one of my friends, also going to attend Distance University) and I went to Immigration Office in downtown and received our files that included the following documents;

(1) A Form-4 certified that the holder is a resident of the relevant village, going to cross over township. (It costs 3000 kyats including the costs of photos.)

(2) The approval of Township Immigration Office. (Immigration Office clerk charges 1500 kyats per a student.)

(3) The approval of District Immigration Office (No charge for it)

(4) The approval of State Immigration Office (No charge for it)

(5) The approval of Township Administration Office (No charge for it)

(6) Ten copies of Form-4, to give in every check points on the way. (It costs total 1000 kyats as 100 kyats per page.)

After lunch, we were heading by car to Buthidaung Township. While we were in the car, we both poor, were brain-storming about the extortion of the NASAKA at the 3-Mile check point. Aziz is a relative of U Aung Myo Myint, a Parliament Member of Rakhine State in 2010. “U Aung Myo Myint told me that he has already been made aware of every check points and not to ask for money from students.”, he encouraged me and I was a bit relieved.

When we were in there, we had to get out to be checked. Before signing the the original of our Form-4, the in-charge Nasaka of check point asked for 1000 kyats per one. We handed two copies. So, we looked at one another. “This is check point, not Parliament”, the in-charge NASAKA fired us when Aziz tried to explain him. Then we had to pay 2000 kyats.

It was 5:35 pm when we reached Buthidaung's downtown. We decided to stay the night in Ko Kyaw Gyi Guesthouse. After showering, we had our dinner in a restaurant. We then telephoned Mostafa Kamaal (a friend from our village in Sittway City) to pick up us from the Sittway jetty where we would reach the next evening. When we tried to go to bed, we found that the beds were set up from East to West that is forbidden for us in Islam to sleep. We both thought then to turn the beds to the right way ourselves. “Aziz, how about NASAKA in jetty”, I asked him. He was silent for a while. So, I had to make him shaking his body when his mood was melt down. We justly prepared and planned something. It was an exciting moment. The night was so long. Suddenly, we both sank into sleep.

When the day broke, we woke up and quickly prepared ourselves after performing our prayers. Then, we had our breakfast. We took a packet of fried sticky-rice (Shwe Tamin) and purchased two tickets for the slow boat as the price of 3500 kyats per one. We were in limited expenditure then as we were heading towards the boat. Soon, we were in line. We saw that some were under checking up and some were not. We both were only those whom were asking for 1000 kyats per one among the group of around a hundred. It was my talk against extortion in jetty of Buthidaung!

I (A Rohingya) : “Why do I need to pay money?”

A Nasaka : “You don’t know. We are Nasaka!”

I (A Rohingya) : “Why do we only two need to pay when all the others don’t?”

A Nasaka: “Because they are Taiyinthar (indigenous) and you both are Kalars (illegal immigrants), understand?”

No sooner than Nasaka’s finger touched my face than the bell of boat suddenly rang up for passengers to get on then we had to pay 1000 kyats per each for the Buthidaung jetty too. It was the boat, Danyawaddy-7 that we were on. By the time the boat started, all people on the jetty were waving their hands to the boat. We both were those poor two in the boat whose parents were not able to wave their hands to us. It was a time of double-wounds for our young innocent hearts, indeed.

Our seats were in the middle and we put down our bodies. I had the Philosophy that however we have tried and whatever we have planned for, it was nothing better than useless in front of those merciless Nasakas. It is like asking for pity from chicken to a hungry fox. Suddenly, a mixed laughter of passengers made me wake up. It was a joking dialogue of a Myanmar film that made them laugh on the boat. Then, I looked at the face of my friend and joined in the end of their laughter. And soon, we had our lunch on boat.

It was 4:45 pm when we reached to the jetty in Sittway. We were looking for Mostafa Kamaal whom we had requested to pick up us from jetty. We saw that he was waiting for us in gateway where there is another Nasaka check point and we waved our hands at him. “We are going to get off first because we both are new and we’ll have more things to do”, Aziz, my clever friend reminded me. We both got off first and handed some copies and the original of our travel authorization of form-4 to in-charge of Nasaka in check point. He took it and kept it in his hand without signing the original. “I’m responsible for this check point”, the Nasaka replied Mostafa Kamaal when he tried to introduce us to the Nasaka saying that we both were students. We had to wait in there for more than 15 minutes until all were others were gone. We saw ourselves that all people were passing over check point even without even being checked. We both were made to wait for a signature in form-4 despite checking everything of us from A-to-Z. Finally, we had it without extortion as it is the jetty of Sittway.

Then, we got on a taxi heading to Mow Lai Quarter in Sittway. At 5:15 pm, we reached the lodging of Payami then we got off. We had rooms on the ground floor as the upstairs was full. It was later than 5:30 pm that we were readily set up with our materials in our room. So, we have planned to go to the Immigration Office the next day in order to have our arrival approval in Sittway. Then, we took our shower and had our dinner in a nearby restaurant, Old Lady’s Restaurant by the local name. It was a very exciting day for us. As we got tired and weary, we went early to our bad. For sure, it was the first night for us in Sittway City.

TO BE CONTINUED…


Aman Ullah
RB Article
August 12, 2016

“Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to one of the indigenous races of Burma, which you represent. In fact, there are no pure indigenous races in Burma and that if you do not belong to indigenous races Burma; we also cannot be taken as indigenous races of Burma.” President Saw Shwe Thaik,

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, celebrated each year on 9 August, marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

This year, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is devoted to indigenous peoples' right to education, given the persistent gaps between indigenous and non -indigenous students in terms of access to education, school retention and graduation rates in all regions of the world. 

“On this International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, I call on Governments everywhere ... to improve access to education for indigenous peoples and to reflect their experiences and culture in places of learning," said United Nations Secretary -General Ban Ki -moon, adding, "Let us commit to ensuring indigenous peoples are not left behind as we pursue the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals.” 

The right of indigenous peoples to education is protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which in Article 14 states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.” 

The adjective indigenous is derived from the two Ancient Greek words indo= endo/ "ενδό(ς)", meaning inside/within, and genous= (γέννoυς), meaning birth/born and also race, etymology meaning "native" or "born within".

James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, has defined indigenous peoples as "living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others. They are culturally distinct groups that find themselves engulfed by other settler societies born of forces of empire and conquest". 

They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system. 

In 1972 the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) accepted as a preliminary definition a formulation put forward by Mr. José R. Martínez-Cobo, Special Rapporteur on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. This definition has some limitations, because the definition applies mainly to pre-colonial populations, and would likely exclude other isolated or marginal societies.

“Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those that, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems.”

Thus, Indigenous peoples were the descendants of those peoples that inhabited a territory prior to colonization or formation of the present state.

The Rohingyas are Muslims who are living in Arakan generation after generation for centuries after centuries. They are nationals as well as an indigenous community of Burma. They are equal in every way with other communities of the country. Their arrival in Arakan has pre-dated the arrival of many other peoples and races now residing in Arakan and other parts of Burma. They developed from different stocks of peoples and concentrated in a common geographical location forming their own society with a consolidated population in Arakan well before the Burman invasion in 1784.

Mr. M.A. Gaffer, from Buthidaung, was a member of 1947 Constitutional Assembly, an Upper House MP from 1951 to 1960 and also a Parliamentary Secretary in Health Ministry. 

He wrote, in his Memorandum, which was presented to the Regional Autonomy Enquiry Commission dated the 24th May, 1949, that,

“We the Rohingyas of Arakan are a nation. We maintain and hold that Rohingyas and Arakanse are two major nations in Arakan. We are a nation of nearly nine lakhs more than enough population for a nation; and what is more we are a nation according to any definition of a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, legal laws and moral codes, customs and calendar, history and traditions aptitude and ambitions, in short, we have our distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law the Rohingyas are a nation in Arakan." 

Mr. Sultan Ahmed, from Maung Daw, was a member of 1947 Constitutional Assembly, a Member of Parliament from 1951 to 1960 and was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Minorities, Ministry of Relief and Resettlement, and the Ministry of Social and Religious Affairs, with the status of Deputy Minister. He was one of the longest serving parliamentary secretaries. 

According to him, “when section 11 of the constitution of the Union of Burma was being framed, a doubt as to whether the Muslims of North Arakan fell under the section of sub-clauses (I) (II) and (III), arose. In effect an objection was put in to have the doubt cleared in respect of the term ‘indigenous’ as used in the constitution. But it was ithdrawn on the understanding and assurance of the President of the Constitutional Assembly, at present His Excellency the President of the Union of Burma, who, when approached for clarification with this question, said, ‘Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to one of the indigenous races of Burma, which you represent. In fact, there are no pure indigenous races in Burma and that if you do not belong to indigenous races Burma; we also cannot be taken as indigenous races of Burma.’ Being satisfied with his kind explanation, the objection put in was withdrawn.”

Being indigenous peoples, they have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, economic, social and cultural characteristics, as well as their legal systems, while retaining their rights to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of State. Not only have they had the right to a nationality but also the rights to their lands, territories and resources, which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spirituals traditions, histories and philosophies. 

Under any cannons of international law and human civilization the Rohingyas are much more than a national minority. They are a nation with a population of more than 3 million (both home and abroad), having a supporting history, separate culture, civilization, language and literature, historically settled territory and reasonable size of population and area. They share a public culture different from the public culture of those around them. They are determined not only to preserve and develop their public culture, but also to transmit to future generations as the basis of their continued existence as people, in accordance with their own cultural pattern, social institution and legal system. 

Being indigenous peoples, they have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, economic, social and cultural characteristics, as well as their legal systems, while retaining their rights to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of State. Not only have they had the right to a nationality but also the rights to their lands, territories and resources, which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spirituals traditions, histories and philosophies. 

Thus, during the colonial rule the British recognized the separate identity of the Rohingyas and declared north Arakan as the Muslim Region. Again there are instances that Prime Minister U Nu, Prime Minister U Ba Swe, other ministers and high- ranking civil and military official, stated that the Rohingyas people like the Shan, Kachin, Karen, Kaya, Mon and Rakhine. They have the same rights and privileges as the other nationals of Burma regardless of their religious beliefs or ethnic background.

Being one of the indigenous communities of Burma, the Rohingyas were enfranchised in all the national and local elections of Burma. Their representatives were in the Legislative Assembly, in the Constituent Assembly and in the Parliament. As members of the new Parliament, their representatives took the oath of allegiance to the Union of Burma on the 4thJanuary 1948. Their representatives were appointed as cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries. They had their own political, cultural, social organizations and had their programme in their own language in the official Burma Broadcasting Services (BSS). As a Burma’s racial groups, they participated in the official “Union Day’ celebration in Burma’s capital, Rangoon, every year. To satisfy part of their demand, the government granted them limited local autonomy and declared establishment of Mayu Frontier Administration (MFA) in early 60s, a special frontier district to be ruled directly by the central government.

In spite of that the Rohingya are the worst victims of human rights violations in Burma. They were displaced. Their identity was polluted. Their population was diluted. Their right to nationality was arbitrarily deprived. Since 1948, expelling the Rohingyas from their ancestral land and properties has become almost a recurring phenomenon. About 2 million uprooted Rohingyas have taken shelters in many countries of the world since the anti-Muslim pogrom of 1942 in Arakan. 

Since 1942, the Rakhine Buddhists pushed the Muslims from the southern Arakan to the northern Arakan. 

Since 1962, successive military regimes denied their citizenship right by labeling that they are illegal immigrants from Bangaladesh.

Since 1982, the regimes completely denied the citizenship rights of the Rohingyas by enacting the most controversial Citizenship Law -1982.

Since 2012, the Thein Sein regime rejected their identity and forcefully making them Bengali. 

Since then, the Rohingya have been backed into a corner, their lives made so intolerable that tens of thousands have fled by sea, seeking safety and a sense of dignity elsewhere. Surviving the perilous journey to Bangladesh, Thailand or Malaysia is, too often, seen as the only way to finally be free from persecution. 

Campaigns of terror, crimes against humanity and extermination have been perpetrated against the Rohingya in a systematic and planned way. The restrictions on freedom of movement, marriage and education have dashed any future hope of development for the Rohingya, including forming families, all while they live in subhuman conditions amidst abject poverty. Humiliating restrictions on movement—even on travel from place to place within the same locality—have affected all normal activities in all fields, crippling the Rohingya socially, economically and educationally. The Rohingya have been singled out for systematic destruction.

Today, this group is increasingly jobless, homeless, without land of their own and the most illiterate section of Burma’s population. They are not tolerated and are systematically excluded and rendered ‘stateless’ in their own homeland because of their religious belief and ethnicity. They are not only denied their nationality but also their citizenships rights. They are now a people without a country dying alive and facing ‘slow-burning genocide’.

Aman Ullah 
RB Article
August 10, 2016

“If we want the nation to prosper, we must pool our resources, manpower, waelth, skill, and work together.’ General Aung San

We live in a time of great change, a time of new beginnings. We live in a time when many things are coming to an end.

In the evolution of democracy we are coming to the end of that phase of democracy that we think of as representative democracy. For centuries we have elected people to represent us, to give us voice in far-off forums, and then we have judged how well they represented us. Now the world is shifting from the long period of representative democracy to the direct democracy.

The world today is about the individual, not the state. It is about self-organization, just business has experienced the shift to self-management. The world is being run by the collective judgments and actions of individuals. The deployment of power is shifting from state to individual, from vertical to horizontal. Politics will reemerge as the engine of individualism. 

The world’s trends point overwhelmingly toward political independence and self-rule. The new era is an ear of self-rule for the peoples around the world. Self-rule is the pillar of democracy. People all over world are beginning to seize that opportunity. Many people of the world today want self-rule and everyday they see others getting self-rule, or moving toward it.

The Union of Burma was born on 4th January 1948 out of the joint efforts of all peoples of the country, on the basis of the Panglong Agreement signed on 12th February 1947 between General Aung San and leaders of ethnic nationalities to take independence together. The effort and contribution of every people, big or small, was equally important and great. Thus, the spirit of Panglong is very important for the perpetuation of a strong and stable Union of Burma. The Panglong Agreement was a Union Treaty to build an independent Burma — a Federal Union based on the agreed upon principle of “unity in diversity”. Unity in diversity means the people are different from one another. Their languages are different, their cultures are different, their religions are different, and their lifestyles are different. But they are all united to establish a union for a common purpose, for the common good, for sustainable development, and, above all, for the future of their people. “This Panglong Agreement assured the people of Burma of federal democracy, human rights, and equality. 

Unfortunately, a few months before Burma’s independence, General Aung San and almost all of his cabinet members were assassinated. Then, the Union of Burma was formed on the foundation of the 1947 semi-federal Constitution. And the rights the ethnic states which were granted were nominal than real. 

The identities and equality of the ethnic people were slowly eroded away. Nationalism, Burman control, and Buddhism have continued to be essential elements of political legitimacy and the endeavor to create national identity under all regimes. Almost immediately upon the independence, Burma was thrown into a series of brutal ethnic wars that have continued with varying intensity to this day. Thus, the Union of Burma today is facing unprecedented crisis- economic, social and political. Even the survival of the Union is also at stake.

The crisis in the Union of Burma today is rooted in political problem, specially a constitutional one that rooted in question of self-determination for non-Burman nationalities. Thus, these differences can be resolved through political means and through political process, i.e. through political dialogue, negotiations and compromise, and through establishing a genuine Federal Union of Burma, which will guarantee democratic rights for all citizens, political equality for all nationalities and the rights of self-determination for all member states of the Union. A federal system that combines and balances between “self-rule” for ethnic national homelands and a “shared-rule” for the Union is federal system.

General Aung San was a visionary leader who fully understood and accepted the aspirations of all the peoples of Burma including non-Burmans. The Union of Burma would not have been created without him. However, his assassination ended the vision he had. Now his daughter Daw Aung San Suu Kyi caught his vision and has said that we need a 3rd Panglong Conference. Now she is going to convene the 3rd Panglong conference which she terms as 21st Century Panglong Convention.

We, the Rohingya people warmly welcome this Convention and believe that in order to establish a stable, peaceful and prosperous nation, the process of rebuilding the Union must be based on a democratic process. We also believe that all political and democratic processes in Burma should be all-inclusive, and the Rohingya should be part of it. Time has come to practically revive and strengthen the Panglong spirit of ‘unity in diversity’ and diversity is strength not weakness. 

We, the Rohingyas, firmly believe that: 

  1. The Rohingyas are an indigenous people characterized by objective criteria, such as historical continuity, and subjective factors including self-identification, which need to define an indigenous people, and entitled to have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Being indigenous peoples, they have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, economic, social and cultural characteristics, as well as their legal systems, while retaining their rights to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of State. They have not only the right to a nationality but also have the right to their lands, territories and resources, which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spirituals traditions, histories and philosophies. 
  2. The Rohingyas are much more than a national minority. They are a nation with a population of 3.5 million (both home and abroad), having a supporting history, separate culture, civilization, language and literature, historically settled territory and reasonable size of population and area – they consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the society. They are determined not only to preserve and develop their ancestral history and their ethnic identity, but also to transmit to future generations as the basis of their continued existence as people, in accordance with their own cultural pattern, social institution and legal system. 
  3. The individual rights is not enough for us; we need our collective rights as a people, as an ethnic group, as a nationality who speak different language, who practice different culture, who worship different religion and who also has different historical background and, above all, all of us have territorially clearly defined homelands and nations since time immemorial. 
  4. We want to rule our homeland by ourselves. 
  5. We have to find a political and legal system which will allow us to rule our respective homelands by ourselves, and at same time living peacefully together with others who practice different religions and cultures and speak different languages. In other words, we have to find a political system which can combine and balance between “self-rule” for different ethnic groups and “shared-rule” for all the peoples in the Union of Burma. 
The ethnic Rohingya is one of the many nationalities of the union of Burma. They are fighting for their very survival as a people. They are struggling for their “ Rights of self-determination”: which will guarantees their collective rights; the right to rule their homeland by themselves, the right to practice their religious teaching and culture freely, the right to teach, learn and promote their language freely, and the right to up-hold their identity without fear and live peacefully together with others.

We, therefore, claims that the ultimate goal of our struggle is to establish a genuine Federal Union of Burma, which will guarantee democratic rights for all citizens, political equality for all nationalities and the rights of self-determination for all member states of the Union including the ethnic Rohingya. 

1990 Multi-Party Democracy General Elections And

The Rohingyas’ Enfranchisement 


Aman Ullah
RB Article
August 7, 2016

“The elections of 1990 are an important landmark in the modern history of Burma. After three decades... almost three decades...of military dictatorship, finally the people of Burma were going to be able to vote for a government of their choice. The elections of 1990 were free and fair. It was one of the freest and fairest that had taken place in this region at that time. But unfortunately, the results of the elections were not honoured”.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 

1990 Multi-Party Democracy General Elections, contested by 93 political parties, was sponsored by the military junta on 27 May 1990 after it took over the power of state on 18 September 1988. The people of Burma voted overwhelmingly for a democratic Parliament. It was free and fair and affirmed as such by the Burmese people and the world.

The people exercised their right to freely choose candidates to represent them in a Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament)in keeping with the democratic principles that “sovereign power lies with the people which is transferred by way of elections “.

In accordance with Article 2 (a) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law (State Law and Order Restoration Council, Law No.14/89 of 31 May 1989), the elections held on 27 May 1990, is for the Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament) and not for a Constituent Assembly.

The Article 21 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that, “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”. The will of the Burmese people has been obviously expressed in the May 1990 elections in Burma.

In this election, among the 492 constituencies election was held in 485 constituencies where more than two thousand candidates participated. There were 20,818,313 eligible voters in 485 constituencies and 15, 112,524 votes casted where 13,253,606 votes were valid.

In this election the Rohingyas were not only allowed to vote but also, in their exercise of franchise, elected four Rohingya members of Parliament. U Chit Lwin (a) Ebrahim, Mr. Fazal Ahmed, U Kyaw Min (a) Shomshul Anwarul Haque, and U Tin Maung (a) Nur Ahmed have been elected as members of the Parliament.

National League for Democracy fielded 447 candidates. Of them, 392 got elected. There were altogether 485 constituencies. Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) won 23 seats. Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) won eleven. National Unity Party (NUP) won ten. Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) won five and National Democratic Party for Human Rights won 4 seats. 

In Arakan State NLD won in 9 seats; Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) won 11 seats; National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR) won 4, Kamans National League for Democracy and Mro or Khami National Solidarity Organization won 1 seat each. The total votes for NLD winners were 1,77, 999; the total votes for ALD and othe Rakhine Parties were 1,97,536; the total votes for NDPHR and other Rohingya parties including Kamans one were 2,05,367, and The Mro get 28,500 votes.

The candidates who won in 1990 election from the National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR) are as follows : -

1. U Kyaw Min

U Kyaw Min (aka) Shamsul Anowarul Hoque was elected from Buthidaung (1) Constituency with 30,997 valid votes from 41,668 valid votes, where 58, 449 eligible voters and 46, 065 voters were casted in the 1990 elections. The SLORC banned the NDPHR under order No. 8/92 on 18 March 1992, and at the time U Kyaw Min was a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee.

U Kyaw Min, son of Fazar Rahman, was born in the village "Mikyanzay" under Buthidaung Township in Arakan State of Burma in 1944. He was graduated from the Rangoon Institute of Economics in 1968 with a Bachelor of Economics degree and in 1983; he received a Diploma in Education from the Institute of Education Rangoon.

He joined to the Education Department of Burma in 1969 and served there as a Senior Assistant Teacher (SAT) up to 1985 in various state schools in Arakan. He was promoted to Headmaster of State Middle School in TanBazaar, Buthidaung, in 1985. However, he was dismissed from his post in 1989 due to his involvement in the August 1988 uprising. 

He joined the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) in 1998 at the invitation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to represent the Rohingya ethnic minority. The National Unity Party (UNP) also invited him to join NUP to support military backed national convention after resigning from CRPP. But he did not agree and this has caused serious wrath of the military rulers and the ultimate consequence was the handing of 47 years imprisonment. 

In 1992, he was put in detention for 3 months in the custody of the military intelligence during operation Pye Thaya. In 1994, then the military intelligence again put him in detention for 45 days. Finally, in March 2005, he was arrested from his residence in Rangoon and was charged under Section 18 Citizenship Law 1982 and section 5(j) Anti State Emergency Law. He has been sentenced to 47 years imprisonment and at the same time his wife Daw Tiza, his two daughters Kin Kin Nu and Way Way Nu and his son Maung Aung Naing have also been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment respectively. 

2. U Tin Maung (aka) Nur Ahmed

U Tin Maung (aka) Nur Ahmed was elected from Buthidaung (2) Constituency with 20,045 valid votes from 40,143 valid votes, where 55,095 eligible voters and 46,037 voters were casted in the 1990 elections. U Tin Maung was the Chairman of the NDPHR when the SLORC banned the party in 1992.

U Ting Maung, son of U Saiful Mulluk , was born in 1928 in Phone Nyo Lake village of Buthidaung. His early education was at Buthidaung State High School. After matriculation he attended to the two years Health Assistant Training Course in Insein, Rangoon from 1954-1956. After the training he joined to the department Anti-Malaria Unit in Buthidaung as Unit Head. Later he served as a Health Assistance Officer in Buthidaung and Sandoway Township till 1968. Then he abandoned his job and joined to the Rohinya Independent Force (RIF) as a full time member but back to Buthidaung 1n 1978. 

3. U Chit Lwin (aka) Ibrahim

U Chit Lwin (aka) Ibbrahim was elected from Maungdaw (1) Constituency with 20,045 valid votes from 64,019 valid votes; where 87,174 eligible voters and 73,633 voters were casted in the 1990 elections. U Chit Lwin was Vice-Chairman of the NDPHR when the SLORC banned the party in 1992.

U Chit Lwin, son of Master Siddique Ahmed, was born in 1946 in Myuthugyi village of Maungdaw. His early education was at State High School Maungdaw. He was graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Rangoon Institute of Economic, in 1967. He also received a Post-Graduate Diploma of Economic Planning in 1977 from the Institute of Economics in Rangoon. Later he pursued Register of Account and Register of Law (RL) also. He is a certified accountant and auditor also.

He joined t the Ministry of Planning and Finance and served there from 1967-1983. Since 1984, he practices law as an advocate at the High Court.

4. U Fazal Ahmed 

U Fazal Ahmed was elected from Maungdaw (2) Constituency with 24,881 valid votes from 58,230 valid votes; where 84,166 eligible voters and 58,230 voters were casted in the 1990 elections. . He was a Central Executive Committee member of the NDPHR when the SLORC banned the party in 1992.

U Fazal Ahmed, son of U Mohammed Kalu, was born in 1941 in Basuba village of Maungdaw. His early education was at State High School Maungdaw. After finishing his High School education, in 1960, he joined to Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Maungdaw as a clerk and he served in various offices in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Kyauk Taw, Kaukpyu, Taungup, and Sittwe in Arakan State. Later he passed the higher grade pleader (HGP) examination and he started working as a private lawyer.

KAMANS NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY (KNLD)

U Shwe Ya

U Shwe Ya was elected from Akyab / Sittway (1) Constituency with 9,821 valid votes from 30,332 valid votes; where 49,899 eligible voters and 36,441 voters were casted in the 1990 elections. The SLORC banned the KNLD on 11 March 1992. Following the 1990 election, the ALD candidate for Sittwe 1, U Maung Thazan, accused U Shwe Ya of cheating in the election. The Election Commission subsequently launched an investigation into the matter but the case was dismissed.

U Shwe Ya, son of U Shwe Maung, was born in Akyab town in 1955. He is a Kaman Muslim. His early Education was at State High School Kyaukpyu. After Matriculation he joined in the General Administrative Department in Myebon , Arakan State, in 1974. Later he pursued his L.L.B degree as a correspondent student from Rangoon Art and Science University. After obtaining his LLB degree he joined to the court as a lawyer. 

The elections of 1990 were free and fair. It was one of the freest and fairest that had taken place in this region at that time. But unfortunately, the results of the elections were not honoured. The people exercised their right to freely choose candidates to represent them in a Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament)in keeping with the democratic principles that “sovereign power lies with the people which is transferred by way of elections“.

The Rohingyas were not only permitted to vote but also to form their own political parties during the May 1990 election. Two parties were formed the Students and Youth League for Mayu Development and the National Democratic and Human Rights (NDPHR).The NDPHR won all four seats in Maung Daw and Buthidaung constituencies, and in each constituency votes for the two parties counted for 80 per cent of the total votes cast. Moreover, the turnout in both constituencies equaled the national average, at 70 per cent of eligible voters. The NDPHR also fielded candidates in four other constituencies; Kyuk Taw-1, Minbya-1, Mrauk U -2 and Sittwe -2, and they gained an average of 17 per cent of the votes while the Government- backed National Unity Party got only 13 per cent. 

Although the name of Rohingya was not permitted to use in the party title, the NDPHR was allowed to produce a booklet in Burmese called ‘Arakan and the Rohingya people: a short History’ on August 31, 1991. According to the NDPHR sources, the permission to print this booklet was rescinded two months later. 

This election was held under the Constitution of 1974 and according 1982 Citizenship Law. Under the1989 election law ‘all citizens, associate citizens and naturalized citizens are permitted to vote, but only the citizens are allowed to stand for election. No foreign residents were allowed to vote.’ Thus, allowing taking part in the national elections was clearly indicated that these people were eligible voters and full citizens. In other words we can say that the then government clearly recognized these Rohingyas as citizens till 1990 in accordance with the Constitution of 1974 and 1982 Citizenship Law. 


    • Rohingya Exodus