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How do you feel when you see rows of stern-looking Buddhist monks marching through the streets in full force to call for violent treatment of the downtrodden?

That was what thousands of Myanmar monks did when they took to the streets in temple-studded Mandalay on Sunday to support the government's brutal persecution of stateless Muslim Rohingya.

What were they thinking?

The world is full of injustice. But isn't it the business of monks to advise against it, and not to be supportive of any form of prejudice and human cruelty?

Aren't empathy and non-exploitation the key words in Buddhism? Aren't monks supposed to devote their lives to deepening spiritual practice in order to see through the different layers of we-they prejudice so that compassion prevails in their hearts, words, and actions?

Many people outside Myanmar were asking these questions because the anti-Rohingya monks were the same ones who dared challenge the government in 2007 to champion the people's cause, and who themselves faced a violent crackdown by the military junta.

If the Buddha's words were not important to them when they took to the streets, then what was?

The answer is quite simple _ racist nationalism. The monks do want justice for people, but just for their own kind.

As part of the dominant ethnic Bama Buddhists, they believe deeply the dark-skinned Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, aggressive outsiders who will steal land from the Buddhist folk. The monks therefore feel that it is just to support the government to eliminate the perceived threats to their motherland, their ethnicity, and their religion.

Call it patriotism, ultra-nationalism, ethnic prejudice, or racism. Whichever the label, it is mired in the we-they prejudice that divides people, fosters hatred, and triggers violence _ everything Buddhism cautions against.

But should people who live in glass houses throw stones?

Our monks may still stop short of marching in the streets to call for the elimination of Malay Muslim separatists, but they have done so several times to call for a law which will help them retain supremacy over other religions.

Every time I cover their Buddhism-for-national-religion campaigns, I never fail to hear their deep suspicions of Islam. Meanwhile, bombs have blasted and killed people for eight years running in the restive South, yet we never hear our monks mentioning any concern about justice for the locals, nor for the need to open political space for Malay Muslims to voice their needs, address inequalities, and to extinguish the root causes of ethnic frustration and violence.

Instead, we see monks taking the defensive and dangerous route of ordaining soldiers to increase their number while allowing temples to be used as barracks.

Like their peers in Myanmar, our monks are in full support of the military to maintain the supremacy of the Buddhist majority. If violence must be used in this suppression, so be it.

But Thailand is also witnessing a rapid growth of lay Buddhism which focuses on meditation retreats and core Buddhist teachings. Can this movement act as a voice of sensibility when the country is mired in political divisiveness? If that's your expectation, be prepared to be disappointed.

For its members, too, generally share the belief that the elimination of perceived threats is necessary, like the need to eliminate germs and diseases to restore one's health. When this is your mindset _ left or right, red or yellow, pro-or anti-establishment _ you'll believe the use of hate speech, half truths, and violence by your camp is perfectly all right.

No, we are not Buddhists. We may pray to the Buddha and close our eyes to meditate, but what shapes our thoughts, words, and actions is ideological extremism of all different shades.

The Buddha's path leads to peaceful co-existence and sharing. Ideological extremism leads to control, suppression, and winner-takes-all.

If left to fester, ideological extremism and race-based nationalism will breed more violence. The country's goal of regional integration will be sheer nonsense. And for both monks and lay Buddhists, all those longs hours of meditation will be simply wasted.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.

Source here 

In Myanmar, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims had their homes burnt  down and scores have been killed. Nearly 60 thousand Muslims used to live  in Myanmar, but now the area is a wasteland. The Myanmar government and  much of the world media would merely have the public believe that this  is merely a fight between two ethnic groups. Myanmar is notorious for  being one of the most closed and repressive countries in the world. The  government claims to have sent in the army to stop what it called ethnic  violence. This edition of INfocus uncovers evidences that the  governments are involved

Part (1)



Part (2)





Thai PBS Interview with Rohingya Experts



Hot on the heels of the divergence over the South China Sea conflict, Asean is facing a new dilemma over how best to deal with the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar, without tearing apart the already fragile solidarity or further damaging the principle of non-interference.

For nearly three months after the violence between the Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, when at least 80 people were killed and more than 60,000 displaced, Asean remained mute. The grouping was careful not to make comment and initiate any action that could stir up religious elements and politicize the issue. That could render a negative impact on the ongoing democratization and reform process in the country. After all, Asean leaders had given the green light in Bali last November for Myanmar's chair in 2014, providing an impetus to its rapid reforms and diminishing trade sanctions.

As the situation deteriorated, international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), stood up and expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan, which is still under an emergency law.

While outside pressure continued to grow unabated over the fate of the Rohingya, Asean foreign ministers were still preoccupied with their annual meeting in early July. As it turned out, the event was overwhelmingly dominated by the debate over the South China Sea disputes and the failure of Asean to issue a joint communique due to the claimants' different positions. As international efforts intensified to assist Myanmar, Asean still was working on a compromise statement on the South China Sea.

The absence of an Asean response prompted OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to write to his Asean colleague, Surin Pitsuwan, urging the grouping to respond to the dire situation in the Myanmar state. For its part, the OIC wanted to see a common Asean position on this sensitive issue ahead of the special OIC summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Without an Asean consensus on the issue, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei — the Asean members of OIC — jointly pushed for international access to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya and displaced people at the OIC summit, which was later reflected in the final statement.

The issue took center stage only after Asean issued the six principles on the South China Sea on July 20 as a face-saving exercise by reiterating the commonly held Asean positions. Later in the same month, a visit by UN special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana to Rakhine further stepped up pressure on Asean and Myanmar to bridge their perception gap. After the joint press conference with Quintana, Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin refuted the reports on the excessive use of force and vowed to do everything to restore calm. It was only then that Asean ministers felt a bit more at ease to address the issue.

Initial discussions among Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Surin during the Asean Day celebrations at the Asean Secretariat in Phnom Penh indicated that the time had come for Asean ministers to call a special meeting to address the problem. On Aug 10, the Asean chair wrote to all his colleagues, requesting them to meet in Phnom Penh on August 14. In his letter, Hor Namhong depicted the situation in Rakhine as a humanitarian crisis as well as a cultural and religious issue.

The description immediately met with a fierce rebuttal on the same day from Myanmar's Wunna Maung Lwin, who quickly turned down the invitation, pointing out that the chair had not engaged in prior consultations. The Rohingya, he reiterated, was an internal issue in which Asean should not intervene. Following Myanmar's strong reaction, within hours the chair called off the plan, even though Indonesia and Thailand were positive, and if there was a consensus others would go along.

Marty was the first leader to take up the chair's idea as he was preparing to attend the OIC summit. Asean, he argued, needed a timely statement on the matter in order to shape the international community's perspective and response. In anticipation, he even prepared a draft statement on the Rohingya on behalf of his Asean colleagues. A week later, Asean foreign ministers released the Indonesian-proposed draft as their own, with minute amendments.

For the time being, Myanmar prefers to engage international organizations to avoid the issue of the Islamisation of Rohingya at all costs. This is a very tricky situation. At the moment, Indonesia and Malaysia, the grouping's leading Muslim-dominated countries, are also mindful of this dangerous entrapment. They are using their own approaches.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed former vice-president Jusuf Kalla as his special envoy on the issue. Malaysia has hosted international conferences and will do more in the future. Demonstrations against Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya were held in both countries' capitals. In Jakarta, protesters threatened to storm the Asean Secretariat. They also called for a boycott of the upcoming Southeast Asia Games hosted by Myanmar and demanded the country's expulsion from Asean.

Other Asean members such as Thailand and the Philippines have their own problems related to Muslim minorities, so their hands are tied. As the OIC involvement increases, there will be greater pressure on the Muslim-majority Asean members to do more, which could turn into an Islamic-centric undertaking.

There is no clear signal from Naypyidaw. Asean is well aware of the sensitivities over the national reconciliation process, especially when it involves relations with various nationalities. The dialogue and reconciliation process under Myanmar President Thein Sein with seven nationalities at the moment have made progress.

However, that is not the case for the Rohingya. In the long run, the issue would be best dealt with through an Asean-wide approach in the context of human rights and democracy, which is considered an Asean issue. The Asean Charter and the blueprint of political and security cooperation provide the mandate to tackle the matter.

Indeed, Asean can use as a model the experience of the Cyclone Nargis humanitarian engagement, which was considered a success. Throughout the 2 and a half years of assistance, Asean and Myanmar have benefited a great deal in terms of profile and efficacy. At the time, strong leadership and stern warnings from Singapore and Indonesia convinced Myanmar to cooperate with Asean. Indeed, with the current situation, Asean can help Myanmar mobilize resources from all around the world, including civil society groups.

Myanmar has nothing to fear. As it is going through an important democratization and reform process, the best way forward for Asean and Myanmar would be to engage each other on the Rohingya issue.

The writer is assistant group editor of Nation Media Group in Thailand, which publishes the English-language daily The Nation.

Sources Here:
U.S Congressman  Keith Ellison ( (DFL-MN) and Nay San Oo, Founder of (Free Rohingya Campaign) & Information Secretary of BRANA at ISNA convention at Washington DC  

Rohingya issue was top priority at ISNA 49 annual session

Rohingya issue was the top priority for 49 session of ISNA Convention which is the largest gathering of Muslims in North America. This Convention brings together more than 40,000 attendees that include individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and people of other faiths. People are reminded not to forget the plight of Rohingya until they achieved permanent solution which is the right to be treated equally as a fellow Human Being.

Congressman Keith Ellison(D-MN) has advised American Muslim to be advocate of Rohingya by using twitter, facebook, and other form of social media to reach out as people as they can, until the lost rights of Rohingya are fully restored. He also spoke with Nay San Oo privately about the hearing that is going to take place at the US congress.

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed is the National Director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), urged US Government to act before it is too late as the impact of Holocaust in Germany might be much smaller had America reacted on time.

More than 200 speakers at various events highlighted the responsibility of US Muslim towards the plight of Rohingya Muslim who are victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Exhibition Booth No# 235 at 49 ISNA Convention, Washington DC


ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid at Rohingya Booth

More than ten thousand visitors were at Boot#235 during three days convention to show their support for the plight of Rohingya who are the most persecuted people in the world.

More than twenty thousand flyers and booklets were distributed and more than three thousand signature were collected to send them to US secretary of State to appeal to engage actively until Permanent solution of Rohingya is achieved and Rohingya will not vulnerable for another genocide.

Many reputable Islamic authors, respectable person form State department Sameer Hossain, Imam Mohammed Hag Magid president of ISNA, the delegation from Tunia other diplomats from various countries stop by and showed their concern about Rohingya Muslim.

Free Rohingya campaign was introduced by recruiting new membership which well received by many young Muslim such as college students and ect.







Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Nasaka Commander of Nasaka area No. 6, with the collaboration of Ayas, son of Dil Mohamed, hailed from Paun Zaar village of Maungdaw Township and Shah Alam, son of Issaque, hailed from Labbor Zaar village arbitrary arrested many villagers from Labor Zaar village since the sectarian violence backed by concerned authorities that occurred in northern Arakan on June 8, according to a local elder from the locality who did not mention his name.

“Later, the arrestees were released after taking huge money. The following are some of the arrestees during the riot period (within one month) for only extorting money over the allegation that they were involved in the riot occurred on June 8.”

“Some arrestees are identified as Mohamed Rashid, son of Abu Siddik, (Kyat 3.5 million had paid for his release), Moulvi Habib Salam, son of Abdu Salam (Kyat 2.8 million), Fayas Ahmed son of Abu Siddik (Kyat 2.2 million), Hafez Iddris son of Moulvi Amir Hussain (Kyat 1.7 million), Ziabul Haque son of Boshar (Kyat 1.5 million), Mohibullah son of Nuruz Zaman (Kyat 2.5 million), Hafez Ziaur Rahaman son of Rahshid Ahamed and his younger brother Afzur Rahaman (Kyat 4.5 million), Moulvi Mohamed Sayed son of Amir Bokshu (Kyat 2-million), Moulvi Mohamed Khan son of Abdu Salam (Kyat 3.2 million), Hafez Ali Hussain son of Hamid Hussain and his younger brother Ali Boktu (Kyat 2.5 million), Mohamed Juhar son of Mohamed Hussain (Kyat one million), Moulvi Abu Siddik son of Abdu Sukkur (Kyat one million), Hafez Mohamed Tareq son of Usman Goni (Kyat 0.7 million), Moulvi Sona Meah son of Lal Meah (Kyat 3.5 million), Mohamed Jubair son Gura Meah (Kyat 0.8 million), Ms Ayesha, mother of Ismat Ara Begum ( Kyat 0.4 million), Mohamed Esaque, son of Nazir Ahmed (alias) Khalu ( Kyat 0.2 million, Moulvi Mohamed Nozum, son of Khobir Ahmed ( Kyat 5 .4 million), Hafez Kamal( Ali Akber( Kyat 0.8 million), Noor Alam, son of Queila Meah and his son ( Kyat 2.5 million), Moulvi Idris son of Mohamed Hussain (Kyat 1.5 million) and Mohamed Yousuf son of Mohamed Hussain (Kyat 0.7 million). They all belong to Labbor Zaar (Kayin Taw) Village of Maungdaw Township.”

Besides, Nasaka personnel also arrested Moulvi Mohamed Meah, son of Hamid Hussain, hailed from Lobba Zaar village. At first, he paid Kyat one million for his release, but Nasaka again demanded Kyat one million, so he is going into hiding as he was unable to fulfill Nasaka’s demand, said a local trader from the village.

“Another villager Kolim Ullah, son of Abul Hashim is also going into hiding because he was not able to pay the Nasaka’s extra demand. At first, he paid Kyat 0.8 million to the Nasaka for his release, but after release, Nasaka personnel again demanded extra 0.8 million money.”

“Abdur Rahim son-in-law of Yasin, hailed from Labbor Zaar village was also arrested by Nasaka personnel and was released after paying Kyat one million. He was detained for 10 days in the camp. After release, Nasaka demanded extra another Kyat one million to avoid arrest again. But, he was unable to pay the money, so he was arrested again.”

“Mohamed Harun son of Nazir Ahamed, hailed from Labbor Zaar village was arrested by Nasaka personnel and released after paying Kyat 0.3 million. However, the Nasaka again asked him to pay another Kyat 0.3 million. But, he is unable to pay the money and is going into hiding.”

“Kabir Ahamed son of Noor Mohamed and his younger brother were arrested by Nasaka personnel. He is a shopkeeper of Maungdaw municipal market. At present, he lives at Ali Para of Ward No.1 of Maungdaw town. Both of them were released after paying Kyat five million.”

The concerned authorities continues commit serious human rights abuses against the Rohingya community in northern Arakan State, including arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings ( it is not unknown to public) because of Rohingya community has been keeping in the houses since the riot was broken out in June 8, rape and restrictions on religious freedom.

On august 7, the Home Affairs Minister Lt General Ko Ko said authorities were “tightening “restriction on Rohingya.

On August 21, Border Affars Minister Lt General Thein Htay said that only 987 people were arrested involved in the riots. .But, according to local information, more people were arrested by the concerned authorities.
Source : KPN
 Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin speaking at the ISNA Convention ,Mr. Mehmet Kalyonku (OIC), Mr. William Aiken (SGI Buddhist movement), Dr. Sayyid Syeed (ISNA).  Mr. Sameer Hossain (US State Department)






THE 49TH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA (ISNA) IN WASHINGTON; DISTINGUISHED PANEL SPEAKS AT THE EXTRAORDINARY ROHINGYA EVENT AND BOOTHS DISPLAYED PLIGHTS OF ROHINGYA APPEALING THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION

A Rohingya event titled “Oppression in Myanmar: Taking Actions to Save Rohingya Muslims” was held at the 49th Annual ISNA Convention in Washington, D.C., that was convened August 31- September 3, 2012 at the Walter Convention Center in Downtown Washington. Dr. Sayed Syeed, National Director of ISNA’s Interfaith and Community Alliance, presided the event with a keynote opening speech. Six distinguished speakers gave presentations on political and human rights issues facing Rohingya Muslims in Arakan state in Burma/Myanmar. 

The speakers were Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, Chairman of the Burmese Rohingya Association of North America (BRANA) and Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU), Dr. T. Kumar, Director of International Advocacy for Amnesty International, USA, Mr. Mehmet Kalyonku, Political Advisor at Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Sameer Hossain, Foreign Affairs Officer at U.S. State Department, Mr. William Aiken, Director General of Public Affairs for Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist movement, and Dr. Nora Rowley, formerly a field medical doctor with Medicins Sans Frontieres in Northern Arakan state, and currently a human right advocate for Burma. Specializing in Rohingya. 

Dr. Syeed heighted the importance of collective engagement and support for Rohingya cause from Muslim Ummah, Interfaith communities, and the international community at large. Dr. Uddin provided the detailed accounts of the roots of Rohingya indigenous population in Rohang region in Northern Arakan state dating back to 9th century and the genocide of Rohingya in Arakan which is over 60 years in the making. Dr. Uddin appealed the Muslims in North America to take part aggressively in the worldwide mobilization efforts to save Rohingya Muslims from extermination by the ultranationalist and racist elements in Myanmar. Dr. T. Kumar underscored the importance of respect of human rights for Rohingya during the period of so-called democratic reform in Myanmar. He sent a strong message to democratic reformers in Myanmar as how they were protected by international community when their rights were violated by the Burmese military regime, yet they are not respecting human rights for Rohingya. OIC’s Political Advisor Mr. Kalyonku described the role of OIC in garnering the supports for Rohingya cause from OIC member states, OIC’s extraordinary efforts in bringing the Rohingya issue as one of the top priorities in the Makkah Summit of 57 heads of OIC member countries convened by HRH King Abdullah. Current OIC’s engagement with Government of Myanmar on Rohingya issues were also highlighted by Mr. Kalyonku. Mr. Sameer Hossain of U.S. State Department provided extensive reports on the U.S. Government’s efforts on resolving the Rohingya political and human right issues from various fronts, plus the urgently needed humanitarian aid. Mr. Hossain stressed the U.S. Government’s commitment to a permanent solution of Rohingya political and human right issues in Burma. Mr. William Aiken, a devoted and highly respected community leader of the Buddhist SGI organization, expressed unequivocal supports for Rohingya victims as he was personally touched by the recent gruesome killing of Rohingya. Mr Aiken called on all the peace loving Buddhist people in the world to show solidarity with Rohingya people in their struggle for regaining their political and human rights with dignity in Myanmar. Mr. Aiken had emphasized that the violence by Buddhist Rakhine against Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar is deplorable and such ideology of hate must be rejected by all members of the peace loving community of the world. Dr. Crowley provided valuable insights to Rohingya ethnic cleansing in Myanmar from historical/geopolitical perspectives and ultranationalist ideology based on the concept of racial “purity” maintained by the racist elements in Myanmar. 

There were three exhibition booths on Rohingya history, human rights, and current violence by Rakhine and Burmese police against Rohingya. The exhibitions were presented by Burma Task Force USA (Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid and Nadia Malik), Dr. Nora Crowley, Yusuf Iqbal (Oregon), Nay San Oo , and Jahangir Sultan (New York). Additionally, there were brochures and flyers on Rohingya plights made available to convention attendees at the booths. Mr. Enamul Huq and Mr. Syed Hussain from New York, and two groups of Rohingya participants (from Wisconsin and Illinois) distributed the flyers at the ISNA bazaar.




Interview with Assoc. Prof. Selçuk Çolakoğlu, Head of USAK Center for Asia-Pacific Studies

What does the current situation in Myanmar imply?

First reports of the trouble in Myanmar (Burma) may have given the impression that this was another routine ethnic or inter-communal dispute of the kind commonly encountered in places like Asia and Africa. But when details of the events became clearer, it became apparent that the drama through which the Arakan (Rohingya) Muslims are living is not a simple communal conflict but a process extending much further, towards genocide and even ethnic cleansing. The situation’s gravity is increased by the fact that the Myanmar authorities seem to be inflaming the troubles.

Consequently it does not seem to be limited just to an attack by Buddhists on Muslims but rather a policy enjoying state supports. Myanmar’s ambassador in Cambodia has even announced openly that the Muslims do not belong to Myanmar and they should leave the country.

Even more important, the Myanmar head of state, Thein Sein, has declared that the only responsibility which the United Nations (UN) should assume in regard to the Muslims is to collect them into concentration camps and have them sent to other countries. The political meaning of such a declaration by a head of state is to make the Muslims target for all state institutions, the security forces, and the Buddhist majority. It was almost the start rocket for genocide. This approach is reminiscent of the genocides in Bosnia Herzegovina and Ruanda in the first half of the 1990s. Just as the Serbs and Croats in Bosnia Herzegovina tried to exterminate the Muslim Bosniacs and the Hutus tried to wipe out the Tutsis in Ruanda, so now the Burmese Buddhists in Myanmar view the Arakan Muslims as people who must be got rid of. The message going out to the Arakan Muslims is for all of them to depart from the country or be killed.

Does the international context help to marginalize and intimidate the Burmese government to stop the ethnic cleansing?

Another misfortune for the Arakan Muslims is that the international conjuncture is completely against them. Myanmar has long had very close relations with its neighbor China. Its other large neighbor India is also developing its relations with Myanmar in order to counter-balance China. Myanmar has been a member of ASEAN since 1997 but because that organization’s other members all have problems with their own minorities, it does not ask questions about Myanmar’s policies towards minorities. The Western countries have normalized their relations with Myanmar following various reforms which it carried out after 2010. The USA established diplomatic relations with Myanmar at the start of this year and the countries of the EU have lifted the economic sanctions which they had applied to it. Myanmar is very strategically important for the eastern Indian Ocean and at a time when all countries seem to want to get on well with it, its authorities have been emboldened sufficiently to try and liquidate the Muslim community.

What steps can be taken to put an end to the persecution of these people in Myanmar?

First and foremost, the Arakan Muslims live under threat to their lives. The first step has to be to end violence incidents against the Muslims here. The government of Myanmar may claim that they are just part of an inter-communal dispute between Muslims and Buddhists but the situation is clearly reminiscent of state-supported ethnic cleansing.

It is not because of the weakness of the state in Myanmar that the Muslims are exposed to violence: they are being directly targeted by state-supported Buddhist militias. Consequently the Arakan region must be opened up to the rest of the world and seen more clearly. Independent international media organizations and international human rights organizations need to be able to operate freely in the region.

The second step is to get humanitarian assistance to the Arakan Muslims, both those in Myanmar itself and those in Bangladesh. International aid organizations must urgently go into action in the Arakan region under the supervision of the United Nations. The fundamental problem for humanitarian aid there is that the Myanmar government is not opening up the Arakan region to the rest of the world, while the government of Bangladesh is not permitting aid to reach the camps where the Arakan refugees live because it fears that this might cause an influx of more refugees.

Thirdly, the Myanmar government has to be convinced that basic rights, including citizenship, must be given to the Arakan Muslims. It seems that the Myanmar government does not want the Muslims to live in the province of Arakan which is of great strategic importance for the western coast of Myanmar. Furthermore this appears to be the common view held not just by the military government but by all Burmese Buddhists. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of the opposition has remained silent about the tragedy of the Muslims and this is an indication that even if there is a transition to democracy, not very much will change in the situation of Myanmar’s Muslims.

What role can Turkey bear regarding the preservation of the basic rights of these people in Myanmar?

It would appear difficult to get the Myanmar government to abandon its policies of trying to wipe out the Muslims until a strong country exerts direct political pressure on Myanmar or there is an effective international intervention. Turkey’s relations with Myanmar are virtually non-existent. Until now there have been virtually no political or economic relations between Turkey and Myanmar. Ankara only opened its embassy in Myanmar in March 2012 as part of its new Asian strategy. Myanmar still does not have an embassy in Ankara. Consequently the role which Turkey might be able to assume regarding this topic is one of leadership in mobilizing international organizations and efforts to have this tragedy stopped.

The priority must be to mobilize bodies such as the UN, the EU, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and ASEAN. International human rights organizations such as Amnesty International could take a more active role in the process. Beyond that, there could be one on one discussions with state officials of countries which are capable of exerting pressure on Myanmar, notably the members of the UN Security Council and they could be asked to go into action to halt this human tragedy. Despite all that is happening, Turkey should use constructive language with the Myanmar government and should only try to force that country to take positive steps by going through international organizations.

Is it possible that growing public awareness worldwide on the severity of the tragedy taking place in Myanmar may indeed compel the international community and organizations to take action at last?

Public opinion and the support of the media for the Arakan Muslims are very important in this process. In today’s media world and communications age, the social media influence even the foreign policies of governments. Countries like the USA, China, and India may be forced into action by the pressure of international public opinion. Turkish support is very important for media activities which will boost international public opinion and publicize the problems of the Arakan Muslims through the publications of English-language news, broadcasts reports, and books. At present there is very little information on the market about the problems of the Arakan Muslims, something which makes it necessary to support the media and broadcasters in creating international public opinion on the matter.

How is that possible to inspire the global public, including Muslims and non-Muslims as well for the sake of the humanitarian aspect of the issue, to exert pressure on Burmese government?

When seeking the support of international public opinion, objective legal language must be used, taking human rights as its reference point. Muslim solidarity may be invoked in order to boost the support of public opinion in Islamic countries. But if discourse of this kind is used internationally and as a result the problem is perceived as a clash between Buddhists and Muslims, there can be no doubt that the non-Muslim world will sympathize with the Buddhists. It is sadly a fact that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks Muslims have had an image problem in many parts of the world. Furthermore in many of the countries which could put pressure on Myanmar such as China, India, and the USA, Islam is a minority religion. If radical organizations linkwith terrorist connections such as al Qaeda, were to launch attacks in Myanmar, then all the sympathy now felt for the Arakan Muslims would evaporate and they would be left to their fate vis-à-vis the central government.

Because the problems which the Arakan Muslims have to ensure are sufficiently tragic in terms of basic human values, all that is necessary is to get the support of international opinion is to bring to attention the human dimension of the problem. In order to dispel the perception that this is a clash between Buddhists and Muslims, there needs to be dialogue with the world’s leading Buddhist religious figures and provocative anti-Buddhist expressions need to be carefully avoided. Calls from Buddhist religious leaders to the Burmese Buddhists to show moderation will be much more effective in stopping the violence against the Muslims than any reaction coming from the Muslim world.

For how long will the persecution last, or to rephrase, is there any light at the end of the tunnel for Rohingya Muslims?

Unfortunately, it does not look likely that there is an instant overnight solution to the problems of the Arakan Muslims. Reaching a solution may take months or even years. What is important in this situation is to keep the support of international public opinion alive. So some sort of institutional follow-up mechanism needs to be created to keep the problems of the Arakan Muslims firmly on the agenda. Otherwise when international interest has abated, the Myanmar government may resume its oppression against the Muslims. So a platform or initiative for the Arakan Muslims needs to be established at the United Nationals or at least within the framework of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.


Source here 


Demonstrators and monks march in support of a plan to deport the country’s Rohingya population in Mandalay on 2 September 2012. (DVB)

As a Mandalay-born dissident with deep roots in Buddhism, I find it revolting that thousands of Buddhist monks, human rights dissidents and the public in my hometown of Mandalay staged an anti-Rohingya rally this past weekend.

They mimicked the regime’s discourse that promotes “national security” and “national sovereignty”, while espousing an anachronistic view of blood-based citizenship as opposed to the notions of multicultural citizenship.

Where has the vociferous human rights rhetoric gone when it comes to the persecuted Rohingyas?

We listened in vain for the metronomic chants of the saffron-robed monks who defied threats and flooded the streets of Rangoon and other towns proclaiming their “loving kindness” for all sentient beings in 2007. Now the very same monks chant mantras supporting exclusive citizenship. When a mob protests against an ethnic group then, it is no longer a citizens’ protest. It is a Nazi rally.

Around the world supporters of democracy in Burma have been shocked by the “ethnic cleansing” of the Muslim Rohingyas in the impoverished settlements of western Arakan (Rakhine) state. These are the latest killing fields in a troubled land. Both perpetrators and victims tell of hundreds of Rohingyas, including women and children, being killed, raped, assaulted, detained and driven out by Burmese security forces.

In a typical self-serving reaction, President Thein Sein characterized the events in June as “communal violence.” By focusing exclusively on tensions between the Rohingyas and ethnic Arakanese Buddhists, the government is deliberately trying to conceal the role its own security forces played in the violence.

But the findings of a damning new Human Rights Watch report reveal a different picture. The language is unambiguous: “Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists,” states the report.

Of course, this doesn’t sit well with the Burmese regime’s new “reformist” image. Moving quickly to quell the international furore, a presidential adviser claimed that the government responded to the violence as quickly as it could. Human Rights Watch speaks of a different reality — of government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community that have left “many of the more than 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.”

To make a bad situation worse, the authorities in neighboring Bangladesh have now told international humanitarian agencies to stop providing aid to Rohingya refugees who fled Burma. It is precisely these provisions of emergency food and medicine that local Arakanese Buddhists are violently opposed to. As far as Arakanese extremists are concerned, “these animals must not be fed or allowed to exist on Burmese soil.”

While the government tries to shed its pariah status, the violence meted out to the vulnerable, stateless Rohingyas — and the populist, racist venom it has unleashed — should give pause to the rest of the world as to the true nature of the Burmese regime. Underneath the trope of “democratic reform” lie some unpalatable truths. Not content with reserved military powers in government, parliament, and national budgets and untrammelled executive control of national security, the regime has mobilized the full arsenal of a self-serving repressive junta to deny ethnic minority communities not just their rights to self-determination but also to their fundamental humanity. Fascism and militarism are the enduring handmaidens of this “new era” of politics.

So what does the ongoing violence against the Rohingyas tell us about the nature of political power and the men who still rule the country?

And, in turn, what does it herald for the prospects for real change, the rule of law, the expansion and consolidation of human rights, and the quality of public life?

There’s no denying that ethnic and political cleavages have deep roots in our turbulent history. But it is equally true that the current resurgence of racism — both official and popular — is a direct result of a half-century of despotic military rule.

The regime’s iron fist policies and its systematic rule by terror are now well enough known, even though there is already selective amnesia about the recent past. Equally important has been the careful construction of an iron cage — a monolithic constellation of values, an ethos — that locks in and naturalises a singular view of what constitutes Burma’s “national” culture. For Burmese society as a whole remains illiberal and potently ethno-nationalist.
“Burma has always been multiethnic and multicultural over the course of the past millennium.”

Deeply troubling is how popular, everyday forms of racism and the state’s fascism seem to be mutually reinforcing. This serves the generals’ interest very well. They have fully grasped the atavistic fears and instincts that drive great fault lines into the heart of society and politics. The dominant Burmese worldview continues to rest on an enervating combination of pre-colonial feudalism, religious mysticism, belief in racial purity and statist militarism. This is a potent and poisonous combination.

The military rulers have effectively preyed on this ethno-religious conservatism of the public at large, most specifically in times of political and legitimation crises. And the same appears true today even as they are praised for their cautious “opening up” of the country.

A full quarter of a century since Aung San Suu Kyi called for the “revolution of the spirit,” nothing spiritually progressive has taken root in the popular Burmese psyche. Sadly, this is the case even among many of the country’s noble dissidents. Burmese human rights defenders who spent half their lives in military jails, mantra-reciting Buddhist monks and the Burmese Buddhist diaspora all sing from the same song sheet on issues of race and minority rights.

Ironically, ethno-religious mobilization offers the military junta and its allies the chance to refashion themselves as the “defenders of the faith” and “protectors of Buddhist communities”— at least in the eyes of most Buddhists.

Never mind that these ex-generals were part of the very ruling clique who, during the saffron revolt, slaughtered hundreds of Buddhist monks and raided thousands of monasteries across the country in military-style operations only five years ago. Ethnic minorities continue to be the age-old enemy within. As always the justification for their repression is couched in the jailer’s language of ethno-cultural chauvinism and national security.

Of course, Buddhist privilege and embedded ethnic chauvinism bears little semblance to the country’s historical reality. Like most modern nation states, Burma has always been multiethnic and multicultural over the course of the past millennium.

Lying along trade routes between the great Indian and Chinese civilizations, the country has attracted a steady flow of settlers throughout its history. Even our predominant belief system, Buddhism, was a settler religion, which arrived on our soil centuries ago. Our pre-colonial feudal courts, farming communities, merchant classes, cultural teachers and scholars have always come from many different cultural and ethnic groups, both indigenous and foreign.

There are pockets of Burmese citizens, of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds, who fully appreciate our cultural, religious and ethnic diversity and consider it a great strength. But the voices — both inside Burma and in the diaspora — calling for genuine ethnic peace and reconciliation are currently being drowned out by the loud chorus of ethnic fanaticism.

It is no surprise, of course, that this reactionary refrain is constantly articulated in state media and the presidential office in Naypyidaw. But it is equally pervasive in the Burmese and English language social media where the language of hatred has even fewer constraints.

These are troubling times. Despite the rush to embrace the “reform” process and the optimism surrounding a “new era” of politics, the deepening of sectarian strife is a very real possibility. The drumbeat of everyday forms of populist racism and the state’s carefully calibrated ideology of closeted fascism is becoming louder and louder. The direction in which the country is currently heading remains both uncertain and disquieting.

The time is opportune for progressive voices to speak out. Beyond the unequivocal denunciation of all forms of racism, chauvinism and violence that targets Burma’s minorities, far-reaching solutions are urgently needed. In part, this will entail the creation of civic educational initiatives that will help people unlearn their default acceptance of all forms of racism. Beyond this, peace and reconciliation talks with all ethnic minority groups must be put in motion. These must tackle longstanding grievances such as the crushing of legitimate claims to political autonomy, the territorial distribution of power, and people-centered socioeconomic development.

In other words, there is a need for developing a new “big tent” model of democratic politics —beyond the understandable focus on institutional and electoral reform — in order to create a genuinely multicultural democracy.

Burmese people have survived several historical periods of oppression and depredation. Burmese society will outlive the half-century of tin pot dictatorship. We need not fear national disintegration as the result of cultural and ethnic diversity. The only thing we, as citizens, ought to fear is presence of racism and intolerance in our society, deliberately modulated and whipped up by an unreformable state. Only a society that reimagines itself as an inclusive, multicultural democracy—in which diversity is celebrated as a strength — can escape the iron cage of oppression.


- Dr Maung Zarni is one of the veteran founders of the Free Burma Coalition and a Visiting Fellow (2011-13) with Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at the London School of Economics
Original Source here
What will happen when evils behave like saviours? What will happen when criminals play the role of saints? What will happen when people take them as their Demigods? Especially, when it happens in a country whose people have long been lived the lives under extreme poverty and of the salves, kept isolated from the rest of the world, made uneducated and ignorant and drown in the sea of extreme nationalism, what will be the ultimate outcomes? Look into Burma today. You will get the answers. General Burmese people who hardly have the chances to lead their lives with freedom and always been ruled under “Divide and Rule Policy,” who are brainwashed with ultra-nationalism or fanaticism and taught to see strangers as the threats on and on are today really showing the signs of extreme xenophobia. 

The extremists Buddhist Monks and the so-called democratic activists in Burma have played their respective roles to turn most Burmese into fanatics though the vital role that Burmese regime played in it can’t be denied. According to Buddha’s philosophy, everyone, Monks in particular, must show the loving kindness (Metta) towards all creatures irrespective to who or what they are. The edict NOT to KILL OR INFLICT PAINS on others (even on insects) is integral to Buddhist thought. Therefore, there are some people who argue that among the Buddhist Monks in Burma, there are some government’s spy agents in saffron who are instigating all the racial hatred towards the Xenos for the political gains. 

Look into the ongoing violence against Rohingyas in Arakan today, who are considered one of the world’s most persecuted people by United Nation and a people who have high possibility of extinction by Human Rights Watch (HRW). They are genealogically descendents of Indo-Aryans know to be the one of the earliest settlers of Arakan. Though they have been under systematic persecutions for decades, a major violence against them was prompted by the regime and Rakhine Extremists Politicians especially by the members of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) in last June and is still going on. Especially before the formation of RNDP, Rakhines and Rohingyas lived peacefully together though there were some minor problems between them. The regime and RNDP politicized all the differences between Rakhines and Rohingyas and made them a mountain out of a molehill to create the violence. 

Both the regime and RNDP have done it for their respective political gains. The regime has successfully diverted public attentions from the political and economic crises they were having, depopularized Daw Aung San Suu Kyi among some segments of Burmese society and international community, gained critically required public supports, discredited international media and eventually implemented their Nazi fascist policy of wiping out of Rohingya Muslims. As for RNDP, they are on their way to root out Rohingyas who have become the major barrier to achieving their long awaited dream of having an independent Arakan. Though they both are unanimously killing Rohingyas on the common hatred against Rohingyas, they have much dislikes against each other and are struggling for their different agendas. And not to forget that a unity based on someone’s hatred doesn’t last long. 

The regime and Rakhine extremists are leaving no stone unturned to cover up all their crimes against humanity in general and Rohingyas in particular. Knowing the degree of honour and importance given to Monks in the Burmese society, Regime and its allies are using them as the tool to discredit international media, UN organizations and NGOs. (UN organizations, NGOs and INGOs are some organizations that have been playing the crucial role in Burma to eradicate malnutrition, poverty and diseases and without them, millions of Burmese would have died). The radical Monks like Wirathu, abbot of the Damma-Thahaaya School of Mandalay New Masuyein Monastery are happily spreading anti-Muslim propaganda throughout Burma. Not to forget that Wirathu is the one who has led the killing of Muslim families and burning Muslim houses in Kyauk Se Township in central Burma. 

They are holding rallies against Rohingyas which is much like Nazi rally. Very recently, radical Monks protested against Rohingyas in Mandalay, the cultural centre of Burma. They condemned human rights organizations, NGOs etc and backed the President Thein Sein’s proposal to put all Rohingyas in the camps and subsequently send them to third countries as if Rohingyas have not been living there from the time of immemorial. They demanded that Nationalism must be given priority over humanism and human rights, which international community find hard to comprehend and is something that can’t be implemented in the time of great civilization today. To the radical Monks and extremist Buddhists, Rohingyas are inferior human beings. Buddhist Monks are not supposed to involve in the worldly affairs. Yet shockingly, they are involving, unlike before, in an affair which is against a people of about 3.5 million worldwide in particular and humanity in general. It is a slap to the face of Buddha and he would be much disgusted with them were he alive. 

Yet, there are few Buddhist Monks and some Burmese who think from the humanist point of view and say that Rohingyas must at least be given human rights which they have not been having under different regimes of Burma. Some of them are Zarganar (famous Burmese comedian), Dr. Maung Zarni (a research fellow at LSE), Ashin Gambira (a leader in 2007 saffron revolution) and so on. However, their voice hardly matters in a society which is almost full of fanatics. 

Nevertheless, who are behind all such Nazi-Styled rallies? They are undeniably the Burmese regime that has made Rohingyas as scapegoats like Chinese were made during anti-Chinese riot in 1967 throughout 1970s, the hypocritical Burmese democratic activists who define Democracy as “Of Burmese, By Burmese and For Burmese” and “Human Rights as Burmese Rights” and Rakhine politicians who want to separate Arakan from Burma. Awkwardly, the regime banned subsequent protests of the Monks. Why? The regime want to portray an image that they are not behind all such Nazi rallies and people are doing all that according their wish. The government is just preventing further violence to be taking place. Anyway, it is a good trick to deceive the international community. 

Rohingyas and the name “Rohingya” were unknown to most of the Burmese until 2010. When they came to know about them, it was in negative light. They are ill-informed about Rohingyas and their history. They are successfully branded as illegal Bengali invaders and threats to the existence of Buddhism. And the Military dictators who have been long known as evils in Burmese society have successfully portrayed them as the saviours of Buddhism, Sovereignty of the country and the protectors of purity of Burmese race. Therefore, it is not strange to see the various attacks coming against Rohingyas from the fanatic segment of Burmese society. In short, when the evils can behave like saviours and become dominant, goodness will cease to exist. 

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



 Saudi Arabia has donated $1 million to support rehabilitation programs of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State.

The Saudi Ambassador to Myanmar met the UNHCR official at his office in Yangon on Monday and handed over a check for $1 million to support the programs aimed at education and health of the Rohingya Muslims who were attacked by Buddhists resulting in several deaths and torching of their settlements.

The Saudi envoy and the UNHCR official discussed measures to stop violence against Rohingya Muslims and the Kingdom's efforts to alleviate their sufferings.

The UNHCR official appreciated the generous support and referred to a recent order by King Abdullah to provide assistance worth $50 million to Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Arab media reports said on Tuesday. 

by RTT Staff Writer

Sources Here :
September 3, 2012

Violence against the Rohingya reveals a deep-rooted xenophobia, William McGowan writes in an op-ed in The Wall Stret Journal.

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi extols Buddhism as a source of personal strength, allowing her to endure 15 years of house arrest at the hands of Burma's generals. Buddhist precepts such as loving kindness and compassion can also guide Burma's democratic transition, she says, by fostering reconciliation with the military.

Yet Burma's Buddhist tradition also has a nationalistic and at times hateful side, as the violence since June against Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine demonstrates. A sense of racial and religious superiority among majority Burman Buddhists has poisoned relations with the 40% of the population made up of non-Burman minorities.

This enmity has not only fueled civil war, it could pull the country's political reforms off course. The military is using the Rohingya issue to build its popularity with Burman and Rakhine Buddhists. This puts Ms. Suu Kyi in an increasingly difficult position.

Associated Press Buddhist monks protest against the Rohingya minority.
The anti-Rohingya violence, some of it committed by Buddhist mobs and some by the Buddhist-dominated security forces, led to scores of deaths, the burning of settlements and a refugee exodus of 90,000 into neighboring Bangladesh. There, up to 300,000 Rohingya refugees still languish in makeshift camps from the last anti-Rohingya pogrom 20 years ago—part of what the United Nations calls "one of the world's largest and most prominent groups of stateless people."

According to the U.N., the Rohingyas, who number about 800,000, are "virtually friendless," subject to forced labor, extortion, police harassment, restrictions on freedom of movement, land confiscation, inequitable marriage regulations, a de facto "one child" family policy, and limited access to jobs, education, and healthcare. A 1982 law denies them citizenship, based on the presumption that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many have lived in Burma for generations.

There's also their darker skin color, which makes them "ugly as ogres" by comparison to the "fair and soft" complexion of Burmans, according to the Burmese consul general in Hong Kong in 2009. Burmese President Thein Sein has said that the "solution" to the Rohingya problem is to put them into U.N.-administered internal camps, or expel them.

Many in Burma's pro-democracy community hold similar views, including leading figures in Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. Ko Ko Gyi, who was imprisoned for his strategic role in the 1988 student uprising and now functions as a mentor to younger democracy activists, called the Rohingya "terrorists" who infringed on the country's sovereignty. Like other opposition figures, Ko Ko Gyi denied that the Rohingya should be counted among the nation's 135 recognized "national groups." NLD spokesman Nyan Win simply said: "The Rohingya are not our citizens."

Monastic opposition to the government, which boiled over in the 2007 "Saffron Revolution," has posed a significant challenge to the military's popular legitimacy by depicting it as an enemy of Buddha sasana, or righteous moral rule. The regime has tried to deflect that challenge by finding outside enemies, stressing that Buddhism is the religion of "true Burmese" and its purity is under threat. The result is a Buddhist majority that might rally behind Ms. Suu Kyi and the monks for greater democratic rights, but is less keen about extending those same rights to others.

As the violence against the Rohingyas played out, the newly "liberated" Internet was filled with racist invective. Using a pejorative for dark-skinned foreigners, one commenter declared, "We should kill all the Kalars in Burma or banish them, otherwise Buddhism will cease to exist." A nationalist group set up a Facebook page entitled "Kalar Beheading Gang," which attracted 600 "likes" by mid-June.

In Europe to receive her belated Nobel Peace Prize when the Rohingya crisis peaked, Aung San Suu Kyi was like a deer caught in headlights. When asked if the Rohingya should be treated as citizens, she answered. "I do not know," followed by convoluted statements about citizenship laws and the need for border vigilance. Nowhere did she or the NLD denounce either the attacks or the racist vitriol that followed them, or express sympathy for the victims.

According to some analysts, Ms. Suu Kyi's reluctance to speak out reflected concern for her own parliamentary district, where anti-Rohingya feeling runs high. Others note the fierce racism of Buddhists in Rakhine, a state that plays a key role in the NLD's wider electoral strategy.

The pinched response left many observers downcast. Journalist Francis Wade, who has followed the democratic transition in Burma closely, wonders whether Western observers have "overromanticized" the struggle between the NLD and the junta and if the pro-democracy movement ever had the "wholesale commitment to the principle of tolerance" many presumed.

The stakes are high. If ethnic and religious tensions long held in check by military authoritarianism boil over, Burma could easily become another Yugoslavia. The specter of "disorder," which the military has long invoked to justify its heavy hand, could lead it to slow the pace of reform or even roll it back. In 1962, minority unrest, largely provoked by the establishment of Buddhism as the state religion, provided a pretext for the military coup that led to 50 years of isolation.

As Ms. Suu Kyi herself wrote in a 1985 monograph on the Burmese "racial psyche," Buddhism "represents the perfected philosophy. It therefore follows that there [is] no need to either to develop it further or to consider other philosophies." In trying to forge a sense of national identity in a nation that has never known one, that attitude is a huge obstacle.

Mr. McGowan is a New York-based writer.

Source here 


Maungdaw, Arakan State: Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) personnel arrest and harass the Rohingya Muslims in Maungdaw south constantly without any obstacles. Many Rohingyas were arrested over the allegation that they were involved in the recent communal violence occurred which was happened on June 8, said a local elder on condition of anonymity.
Recently, some Rohingya villagers were arrested by Nasaka personnel from Udaung village under the Nasaka area No. 8 of Maungdaw Township. After arrest, they were detained in the camp and severely tortured. 

“Of them, some have been identified as Moulvi. Abdul Motalob (40), son of Noor Ahamed, Salim Ullah (45), son of Boduran, Majiullah (20), son of Salim Ullah, Eliyas (43), son of Kasim, Noor Kamal (18), son of Ibrahim, Iqbal (16), son of Ibrahim, Rahamat Ullah (25), son of Lal Meah, Leta (30), son of Amin, Zahid Hussain, son of Fazal,, Moulvi Anwar (70), son of Ahamed Hussain, Noor Mohamed (55), son of Tazu Mulluk, Lal Meah (55) son of Abdu Karim, Azi Rahaman (50), son of Lal Meah, Leta (50), son of Taqgul and Azimali (60). They all hailed from Udaung village tract of Maundaung township. They have been detained and severely tortured in the Nasaka camp and demanded huge money for their release.” 

“However, of them, six Rohingya villagers were recently released after paying Kayt 200,000 to 450,000 per head.” 

Again, yesterday night, four Rohingya villagers were also arrested from Udaung Village Tract by the Nasaka personnel of Udaung out-post camp under the Nasaka area No. 8. They are detained in the Nasaka camp, so far, according to a village elder that declined to be named. 

The four arrested have been identified as Shamsu (25), son of Ismail, Imran (22), son of Moulvi Hashim, Moulvi Nazim Ullah (27), son of Abdullah and Afzu Rahaman (22). They all belong to Udaung village tract. The Nasaka demanded money from them for their release, but they refused to pay the money. So, they are detained and beaten up continuously in the camp. 

One of the recently released arrestees after paying money said, “The arrested villagers are severely tortured to extort money. Even the stools of Nasaka are applied to the bodies of arrestees.” 

The situation in north Arakan State remains extremely bad as the concerned authorities continuously arrest, torture and extort money from Rohingya villagers though there is international pressure to Burma. It seems that the Burmese government does not take any care to the international community. The concerned authorities are implementing their policies against the Rohingya community as they like, said a local leader from Maungdaw Town preferring not to be named.

Sources : KPN

Burma’s President Thein Sein (L) shakes hands with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen during the Asean Summit 2012 in Phnom Penh on April 2. (PHOTO: Reuters)

After Burma rejected the Asean chair’s call for an urgent meeting on Rohingya while it granted access to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and UN agencies, other Asean colleagues were left befuddled—trying to understand Naypyidaw’s attitude towards them. 

During the by-election in April, which brought about a near-total victory for the National League for Democracy, Burma shocked its Asean friends (including the Asean Secretariat) by inviting them to dispatch officials to join those from aboard in observing the country’s “free and fair” polls. 

Not all Asean members were happy about the move as they did not practice the kind of electoral process that engaged outside observers. Nonetheless, they cooperated in the spirit of Asean. 

In displaying further anachronistic attitude among the Asean ranks, Naypyidaw has also just lifted the blacklisted names of some 2,000 individuals barred entry into the country for decades; earlier it ended media censorship law as a show of the country’s readiness to open up further democratic space. 

In the coming months, new laws related to press freedom, public broadcasting, non-governmental organizations, promotion of the rule of law, accountability and transparency are in the pipeline. 

While the jury is still out, the rapid reform process is under close scrutiny by several of the bloc’s member states, especially the so-called CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam). 

So far, the government’s concerted efforts have dual objectives: ending all economic sanctions and decades of international isolation. The first objective was partially fulfilled during the past several months when the West suspended or lifted partial sanctions pending further progress at home. Further liberalization and democratic reforms would encourage the complete end of all economic discriminations. Second, after decades of isolation, Burma has returned to the embrace of the international community, actively participating in a myriad of activities. 

That much was clear. However, when it comes to its once troubled relations with Asean, Naypyidaw has sent mix signals to their colleagues. For instance, Burma has maintained a distance with their Asean colleagues on the South China Sea dispute and the Rohingya issue. 

While Naypyidaw adopted a low profile on the controversial maritime disputes, in the human rights and democracy arena, however, it has been the opposite. Within the Asean context, it has made a great leap forward. 

Indeed, several conservative Asean members are full of trepidation watching the unfolding events there—trying to figure out the contagion effects on the organization in the long run. 

Burma’s ongoing media reforms have upgraded the country from the bottom ranks of various international media freedom indexes ahead of over half of its Asean colleagues. 

Following the Phnom Penh incident, questions were frequently asked about how reliable the future rotational chair will be, especially from the bloc’s new members. 

Asean was unable to issue a joint communiqué for the the first time in its 45-year history. 

Burma will assume the Asean chair in 2014. For years, the country fought vigorously to earn the rights to host the grouping’s annual meeting. When the country decided to skip the chair in 2005 at the Asean Summit in Vientiane, it was done under mounting peer pressure coupled with domestic constraints. 

Until last November, Asean’s leaders were still ambivalent about the 2014 chair; that was the reason they chose to “support” Burma’s chairmanship rather than “endorse” their joint statement in Bali. In addition, the speed of US-Burma diplomatic normalization also caught the grouping by surprise. Indeed, it was not wrong to say Asean was playing a catch-up game. 

This anxiety still reigns deep in the Asean psyche. At a summit retreat in April in Phnom Penh, one Asean leader urged President Thein Sein to invite their colleagues to Naypyidaw to observe the country’s progress towards reforms and its readiness to host series of Asean summit meetings in 2014. He felt that all the international limelight on Burma lacked an Asean dimension. 

Worse, news headlines at the time credited the growing international recognition of Naypyidaw to their military-backed government, even the once reviled leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe who received some praise after decades of condemnation. 

However, the Asean chair recently decided to scuttle the plan to have a retreat in Burma after some delays, much to the chagrin of officials in the Burmese capital. 

It is interesting to note the latent rivalry among the new members such as Cambodia and Burma, which has intensified after the latter had embarked on a democratization and economic reform process—narratives that Phnom Penh, especially among the Cambodian political elite, used to monopolize following the UN-backed election in 1993. 

There were incidents of bluffing between the two countries, which were highly visible within the Asean circle. On Aug. 10, Burma’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin was taken aback after he received a letter from Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong calling for a special meeting on the Rohingya without prior consultation. He said it was “a total surprise” and quickly turned down the plan within hours after receiving the chair’s invitation. Indonesia and Thailand, which initially supported the idea, later backed down. A week later, Asean agreed to issue a joint statement on the situation in Arakan State without calling a special meeting. 

With different histories and political cultures, Cambodia and Burma exhibit their independent thinking and preponderances. Asean remembered well when the two countries were approached by Thailand ahead of the establishment of Asean in August 1967. King Norodom Sihanouk dismissed Asean’s invitation on grounds of his nation’s well-known “permanent neutrality,” while Gen Ne Win cited the country’s “strict neutrality” as the main reason. 

Such deep-rooted values are being felt at present among the Asean members as they have been put on display, with some modifications in the case of Cambodia due to the new regional political landscape. 

When Naypyidaw chairs Asean in 2014, nobody knows whether the Thein Sein government will opt for the same principle with additional new shifts. Beginning July, the country is serving as the coordinating country of US-Asean relations. His government’s stance and comments will be closely monitored. 

A series of liberal reforms in Burma have already rattled both new and old members, especially those related to human rights protection and democratic promotion. 

Last November, a national commission on human rights was set up in Burma even though it was not yet functioning properly. More than the officials would like to admit, it has prompted Vietnam to take up a further challenge on human rights by applying for a membership in the UN Human Rights Council. 

Will Burma advocate amendments in the terms of reference (TOR) on Asean human rights practices and standards when it comes under review in 2014 or even go further in encouraging Asean to come up with a convention on human rights? 

When the TOR was drafted in 2009, Burma followed the hardline approach pursued by Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. At recent meetings in Burma on the drafting of the Asean Declaration on Human Rights and the consultations with Asean-based civil groups in Kuala Lumpur, the Burmese delegation took up a much softer approach on rights protection. 

So far, despite the readiness of Asean and its Secretariat to assist Burma in its present reform process and the Rohingya crisis, officials there have relied more on non-Asean sources. A pattern has emerged—if it has to do with Asean, the government prefers assistance from individual Asean members or that without the collective Asean label. 

The behavior points to Burma’s growing diplomatic independence in dealing with Asean and the broader global community. The Burmese government’s halt of the construction of the Myitsone Dam in Kachin State after reports of negative impacts on the environment was another example. 

In other words, the country is slowly creating its own space within the body politics of Asean—which may or may not coincide with the grouping’s collective interests. 

This article was originally published in The Nation on Sept. 3. Some parts have been edited for clarity. Kavi Chongkittavorn is assistant group editor of Nation Media Group and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Irrawaddy.

Sources Here :

Maung Daw, Arakan ,Monday, 3rd September 2012, 2:30 AM ,At 4:00 AM on Sunday, 2nd September 2012, a two-star-ranking top police officer called Than Tin was arrested by Myanmar government. The police officer has been in forefront in arresting and torturing innocent Rohingyas and arbitrary extortion of money. He was found in the Sky View Guesthouse with some arrested Rohingyas and caught with the money extorted from them. 

“At 4:00 AM yesterday, a joint group of different departments raided the Sky View Guest House. It is the Guest House which was mostly reserved by the police officer where he used to take the arrested Rohingyas to extort ransom money. Those Rohingyas who could not give the ransom money were tortured severely. The joint operation caught him with the millions of money extorted from innocent Rohingyas. In the raid, some Rohingyas were found detained in the guesthouse. These were Rohingyas who were unable to give the ransom amount of money the police officer demanded. 

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the media who spread the news about the officer’s brutal acts. We would like to thank all the people who worked hard to make the news about his barbaric behavior reach to all the concerned quarters such as international human rights workers and president Thein Sein etc. We also plead the President to carry out the same kind of operations against the remaining cruel police officers who have been committing equal number of crimes against Rohingyas though not more. We would like to ask the home ministry how the same police officers are able to take charge of a place, Maung Daw, without any transfers for more than a decade” said a Rohingya from Maung Daw on the condition of anonymity. 

Besides, Dr. Nurul Haque, a Rohingya medical doctor from Maung Daw, has been sentenced to three-year-imprisonment for the possession of Bangladesh Phone SIM card. He was arrested soon after the violence against Rohingyas erupted in Arakan. It is to let everyone know that almost all Rakhines, Police Officers and others are using Bangladesh Cell Phone Lines. Rather, in many border areas, people use the phone network the neighboring countries as to their comfort ability. If the using of the phone network of the nearby countries is illegal, the law should be applied to all regardless of race and religion. Therefore, imprisoning only him for the possession of a SIM card is unjustified and illogical while Rakhines and police officers are continuing their use of the same SIM cards of the same phone lines. 

Moreover, there were many Rohingya scholars arrested in Maung Daw in 2008 and later time and sentenced to many years’ imprisonments with false cases. They are still serving imprisonments in different prisons in Arakan. Consequently, Rohingyas, today, hardly have any medical doctors and scholars. Therefore, Rohingyas from Maung Daw appeal the President to pardon and release Dr. Nurul Haque and all other Rohingya scholars. 

Compiled by M.S. Anwar

RB News Desk.

    • Rohingya Exodus