By Tim Mclaughlin

The Myanmar Times

August 19, 2014

By Yen Snaing

The Irrawaddy

August 19, 2014

By Matthew Pennington

Associated Press

August 19, 2014 

WASHINGTON — Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Myanmar's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working.

U.N. officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between the country's Buddhists and Muslims. And after Secretary of State John Kerry recently met with Myanmar leaders, a senior State Department official told reporters the U.S. thinks the name issue should be "set aside."

That disappoints Tun Khin, president of the activist group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. He said by not using it, governments are co-operating with a policy of repression.

"How will the rights of the Rohingya be protected by people who won't even use the word 'Rohingya'?" he said.

Myanmar authorities view the Rohingya (pronounced ROH'-hin-gah) as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, not one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. Longstanding discrimination against this stateless minority, estimated to number 1.3 million, has intensified as Myanmar has opened up after decades of military rule. More than 140,000 Rohingya have been trapped in crowded camps since extremist mobs from the Buddhist majority began chasing them from their homes two years ago, killing up to 280 people.

Racism against the Rohingya is widespread, and some see in the communal violence the warning signs of genocide.

The United States has called on the government to protect them. When President Barack Obama visited Myanmar less than two years ago, he told students at Yangon University: "There is no excuse for violence against innocent people. And the Rohingya hold themselves — hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do."

Yet neither Kerry this month, nor top human rights envoy Tom Malinowski during a June visit, uttered the term at their news conferences when they talked with concern about the situation in Rakhine state, where sectarian violence is perhaps worst. Buddhist mob attacks against Rohingya and other Muslims have spread from the western state to other parts of the country, sparking fears that nascent democratic reforms in the nation could be undermined by growing religious intolerance.

The State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said the U.S. position is that to force either community to accept a name that they consider offensive — including the term "Bengali" that the government uses to describe Rohingya — is to "invite conflict." The department says its policy on using "Rohingya," however, hasn't changed.

Foreign aid workers have been caught up in the tensions. Buddhist hardliners have attacked homes and offices of aid workers it accuses of helping Muslims and not the smaller number of Buddhists also displaced by the violence. Doctors Without Borders was expelled by the government in February and is still waiting to be allowed back.

The humanitarian situation has worsened. The U.N. said the number of severe malnutrition cases more than doubled between March and June, and the world body's top human rights envoy for Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, last month called the situation "deplorable."

She said she'd been repeatedly told by the government not to use the name "Rohingya," although she noted under international law that minorities have to the right to self-identify on the basis of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic characteristics.

Myanmar Information Minister Ye Htut said in an email to The Associated Press that the name had never been accepted by Myanmar citizens. He said it was created by a separatist movement in the 1950s and then used by exile activists to pressure Myanmar's former military government at the United Nations in the 1990s.

While there is a reference to "Rohingya" by a British writer published in 1799, use of the term by the Muslim community in Rakhine to identify themselves is fairly recent, according to Jacques Leider, an expert on the region's history.

Rohingya leaders claim their people are descendants of Muslims who settled in Rakhine before British colonial rule, which began after a war in 1823. The British occupation opened the doors to much more migration of Muslims from Bengal. Current Myanmar law denies full citizenship to those whose descendants arrived after 1823.

The name debate is reminiscent of whether to call the country by its old name, Burma, or Myanmar — the title adopted by the then-ruling military junta in 1989. Washington still officially uses "Burma," although U.S. officials also refer to "Myanmar" — a sign of the improved ties with the former pariah state.

But in this contest over semantics, the stakes are higher.

Rohingya were excluded from a U.N.-supported national census this spring if they identified themselves as Rohingya. They face stiff restrictions on travel, jobs, education and how many children they can have. They are also unwelcome in Bangladesh, where they have fled during crackdowns inside Myanmar since the 1970s.

Either because of government prodding or a desire to avoid confrontation, staff of foreign embassies and aid agencies in Myanmar rarely say "Rohingya" in public these days, and may simply say "Muslims." In June, the U.N. children's agency even apologized for using the term "Rohingya" at a presentation in Rakhine, an incident which drew criticism from rights activists.

"Any humanitarian agency or donor who refuses to use the term is not just betraying fundamental tenants of human rights law, but displaying cowardice that has no place in any modern humanitarian project," said David Mathieson, senior researcher on Myanmar for Human Rights Watch.

___

Associated Press writer Robin McDowell in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.

By Calum MacLeod

USA Today

August 17, 2014                            

By Aye Nai

Democratic Voice of Burma

August 16, 2014

The High Court of Arakan State on Friday rejected an appeal by lawyers of seven men accused of murdering 10 Muslim pilgrims in 2012. The trial will now go ahead as scheduled at Sandoway [Thandwe] District Court.

Charged in May with the murder – which involved a Buddhist mob grabbing a group of Muslims from a bus in Taunggup and beating them to death – the seven suspects had appealed against the charges to the regional high court.

The appeal was dismissed on 12 August, according to Aye Nu Sein, a lawyer for the accused.

“The High Court confirmed the original charges and dismissed our appeal,” she said. “If we do not now appeal to a higher court, the trial will go ahead as scheduled at district level.”

She confirmed that the only higher authority in the land was the Supreme Court in Naypyidaw, but elaborated no further on whether such an appeal would be launched.

Aye Nu Sein said it appears strange that her clients were not residents of Taunggup Township in southern Arakan State, but were from other places.

“The accused are not Taunggup locals,” she said. “They are all from northern Arakanese towns such as Rathedaung and Mrauk-U. Only one is local. The six who I represent are not. I think this is strange.”

The 2012 lynching of the 10 pilgrims in Taunggup was a catalytic incident in the wave of mob violence between Buddhists and Muslims that has plagued the western region ever since.

By Lauren Crothers 

The Cambodia Daily

August 16, 2014

On a busy street corner behind O’Russei market in Phnom Penh, a man meticulously prepared one piece of roti flatbread after another at his spotless food cart on Friday as his cousin took orders.

But his journey to this nondescript street corner, where his golden rotis are lightly drizzled with condensed milk and dusted with chocolate powder, was a difficult one, spanning several years.

He and his cousin, both Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, arrived in 2010 after a turbulent year spent in Thailand. Although they gained refugee status here late last year, life has been anything but easy in a country poorly equipped to deal with such citizens.

“Am I happy?” said the refugee, who asked to remain anonymous due to his sensitive situation. “Every day I am facing problems with the local community and also the local authorities. I am paying a lot of money, both to the authorities and for this place on the street.”

“There are so many difficulties,” he said of life here. “It’s not easy.”

Seemingly little things, such as going to the bank to withdraw money or buying a mobile phone SIM card, can be monumental tasks for him, because the only documentation he has is a refugee certificate. Given the choice, he would resettle immediately. A sponsorship opportunity has arisen in Canada, but he has yet to hear back.

A similar fate likely awaits those who may end up here if a supposedly imminent deal between the Australian and Cambodian governments is inked, which would see refugees currently being detained on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru resettled in Cambodia.

Denise Coghlan, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), held a meeting on Friday to raise concerns about the pending deal. With no government body tasked with caring for refuges and few resources available to incoming refugees, it became clear during the meeting how much asylum seekers and refugees here rely on JRS to get settled in the country.

In addition to paperwork, JRS helps new refugees with other essentials, such as finding accommodation, navigating the market, Khmer lessons and providing loans—the latter of which helped the Rohingya refugee set up this roti stall.

“We always advocate for refugees, but would never say we have enough money to support refugees,” Sister Coghlan said of the NGO’s capacity to help with the coming deal with Australia.

“A lot of money will change hands [between the governments]. The money is supposed to go for the direct costs of bringing people here…and development projects in the communities in which the refugees settle.

“We don’t know if the deal has been signed already—it’s so secret. We don’t know when or how many refugees will come. We don’t know how much money has been given. The person from Australia who’s going to be in charge of all this started work at the embassy the day before yesterday. So it looks as if some things are fairly imminent,” she added.

Back at the roti stand, the prediction was bleak for those who are set to leave Nauru for Cambodia.

“I think Cambodia is not helpful for any refugees or asylum seekers…. Cambodia is a very poor country to make money and to survive is very difficult,” he said.

“The Australian government is paying money, and the Cambodian government wants to take it.”

By Dr Nyo Tun

Democratic Voice of Burma

August 16, 2014

Burma’s relatively new, quasi-civilian leadership has yet to prove that it is responsible and accountable to the country’s citizens, who, for the first time after decades under an oppressive military regime, have been given the promise of representation. But the problems in Burma that most affect the lives of its people are rarely reaching parliament, which has chosen instead to focus on convoluted political shuffles and superficial reforms.

One lively debate has come out of parliament recently, however. A proposal to adopt a proportional representation (PR) electoral system has sparked heated discussion about how best to bring Burma’s marginalised peoples into the political arena. With by-elections expected to be held later this year and a monumental general election slated for 2015, electoral procedures have become one of the most important political issues in Burma. Members of the international community have repeatedly warned that they will be watching to see how Burma performs come election time. Failure to hold free and fair elections could bring big consequences from Western governments that are both eager to invest and apprehensive about Burma’s reforms.

The PR system, first proposed to parliament by the National Democratic Front (NDF) earlier this year, is an alternative to Burma’s current “first past the post” (FPTP) system, which grants representation on a “winner takes all” basis. The proposal was immediately divisive; Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), staunchly rejected the idea, while the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) all got behind it. The position of the military on this issue is still unclear.

The NLD rejected the proposal on the grounds that the current Constitution does not allow for the introduction of a new electoral system. While the military-drafted charter is largely contested andviewed by many as an illegitimate document in dire need of revision, Burma’s politicians are keenly aware that they have to play by the rules.

Proponents of PR argue that the system would empower small parties that represent minorities because it would reduce “wasted votes” and ensure a more diverse parliament. Detractors, however, view the switch as an attempt to weaken the opposition’s power by splitting it up into disparate factions. While Burma is known as an incredibly diverse country – populated by people of many ethnicities, faiths and cultures — many of the country’s minority groups have allegiances to each other. The PR system, some analysts say, would weaken this unity and create competition among minorities which could do more harm than good.

Ensuring diversity and inclusivity in the political and social spheres is necessary as the country moves towards achieving democracy. That said, the idea of “diversity and inclusivity” should not be manipulated to overwhelm the legislature and flummox the general public, who, more than anything, crave unity.

National policies cannot be “diversely” implemented. If Burma’s parliament attempts to establish such a system, a party run by cronies or by Buddhists could create self-serving policies, the opposition’s policies will compete with each other, and the legislature will stagnate. Attempting to suddenly diversify the parliament will not actually bring about legal protections for the country’s diverse population.

Diversity can only be maintained on a personal level, through one’s own moral conviction. It is not a collective mandate. The principle of maintaining diversity suits smaller units of governance, such as village or township committees, but it would be preposterous to make diversity the top priority when electing union-level legislators. The most important quality for a political assembly in any democratic system is the ability to compromise. This is what we should look for in our leaders, and we should create a system that allows them to do that successfully in a way that meets the diverse needs of the country.

Some people assume that a FPTP system is unfair because of its winner-take-all nature. This assumption is wrong; in a vibrant, competitive and fair election, the candidate who wins is the one most favoured by voters. It is the minority votes that tend to break ties in close, competitive races. They are the voters that swing elections, they choose the candidate best able to compromise on their behalf.

A PR system, at this point in Burma’s transition, would further institutionalise already strong interest groups like Buddhists, cronies and veterans by ensuring their place in parliament while weakening their opponents. These interest groups do not seek compromise, they seek power. Benefitting them through electoral reform would contradict a fundamental ethic of law-making; laws exist to protect the weak from the powerful. Laws pave the way for preserving the common interests of the people.

In free and fair contests, legislators are elected because people trust their judgment and ability to make decisions that will benefit the community. Choosing leaders based on specific interests, a likely outcome of the PR system, could fracture those communities. Acknowledging the views of minorities is crucial to democracy, but allowing those views to be overpowered by other interest groups that are sure to be supported is unacceptable.

The PR system will entrench special interests in the parliament and create a political impasse, at the very moment when the nation needs general consensus to keep reforms moving quickly and smoothly. In Burma, where many of those interests — namely, faith-based, economic and military — are closely related to each other, they could become an overpowering political presence in the government, leaving the nation’s people stranded.

The PR system is representative, but FPTP is responsible. The FPTP system elects the candidate that appeals to the broadest spectrum of voters, special interests aside. Proportional representation, at this point in time for Burma, runs the risk of empowering extremists and opportunists. Keeping Burma’s reforms on track will require the critical capacity to choose leaders based on the common sense and common interest of the majority.

Dr Nyo Tun has worked as an international consultant for the EU, USAID and Gates Foundation-funded study projects which analyse strategies for national and global health issues. Prior to his international consultancy work, he led public health initiatives for providing health care to marginalised populations in various regions of Burma.

By Mark Farmaner

Huffington Post

August 15, 2014

Four years after its reform process began, Burma still has one of the worst human rights records in the world. In fact, human rights violations which break international law have actually increased, with evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity,ethnic cleansing and even precursors of genocide all happening under President Thein Sein's rule.

These violations don't fit easily into the 'transition to democracy' narrative which the British government is trying to present about Burma.

So when Foreign office Minister Hugo Swire MP is confronted with the inconsistency of claims of reform, and ongoing human rights violations on the ground, he faces a problem. The solution British diplomats, and diplomats in the USA and the rest of Europe seem to have agreed upon, is to dismiss these abuses as 'bumps in the road'. 'No transition is going to be easy', they say. 'Of course there will be occasional setbacks', they say. 'Just being cynical isn't going to change anything', they say. 'The overall direction of travel is good', they say.

This last phrase is perhaps the most telling. What they are effectively saying is that as long as government-led reforms continue, they won't allow what is happening to the Rohingya to influence their policy of building closer relations with the Burmese government. Think about how the Burmese government will interpret this messaging. It is literally handing them a get out of jail free card to do what they like regarding the Rohingya. And as we have seen since 2012, they are playing that card at every opportunity.

Even before the reform process began the international community was united in the opinion that the situation of the Rohingya was unacceptable. They were stateless, and suffered the most severe repression of any ethnic group in Burma.

Since reforms began the situation of the Rohingya has deteriorated significantly. They have been subjected to two large-scale violent attacks. Human Rights Watch has gathered evidence of human rights violations which could constitute crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. They also found evidence of state involvement in these violations. The UN Special Rapporteur on Burma has said that government policies on the Rohingya may constitute crimes against humanity. United to End Genocide has stated that precursors of genocide against the Rohingya now exist in Burma.

These violations of international law cannot simply be dismissed as 'bumps in the road'. Ethnic cleansing isn't just a 'bump', as Hugo Swire MP calls it. The forced displacement of 140,000 Rohingya isn't just a 'bump'. Restrictions on humanitarian aid to displaced Rohingya, resulting in immense suffering and death, are not just a 'bump'.

President Thein Sein has been more vocal against the Rohingya than any Burmese ruler in a generation. He has backed those calling for all Rohingya to be expelled from Burma, asking the UN to help find third countries for Rohingya to be settled in. He has publicly defended U Wirathu, one of the leading voices against the Rohingya and Muslims generally. He has flat out rejected reforming the 1982 Citizenship Law, which is incompatible with international law and violates Burma's UN treaty obligations.

There is undoubtedly a downward spiral for the Rohingya in Burma. Already this year we have seen aid agencies in Rakhine State expelled or forced to flee attacks. Official and unofficial restrictions on humanitarian assistance have increased. Hundreds of Rohingya prisoners who did not receive fair trials after being jailed following attacks in 2012 remain in jail. President Thein Sein went back on his promise to allow Rohingya to self-identify as Rohingya in the recent census, which was funded by the British government.

This continuing downward spiral has not prompted Hugo Swire to rethink Burma policy. The focus on promoting trade remains his priority. Unconditional training of the Burmese Army will continue.

In its defence the British government claims that it does raise these issues with the Burmese government, which is true. But President Thein Sein and his ministers are excellent tacticians. They have been outmanoeuvring the international community for decades. They are fully aware of where the British government's priorities lie, and it isn't to stop violations of international law against the Rohingya. They know the same applies to the rest of the EU, the USA, and Australia. None are willing to change their policy of partnership with the Burmese government for the sake of this Muslim minority.

So the Burmese government will continue its policy of repression against the Rohingya, trying to make the situation for them so unbearable that they leave the country. Human rights violations will continue. The growing Apartheid will become entrenched. Thousands more Rohingya will drown trying to flee Burma. More Rohingya children will die because of restrictions on humanitarian aid. But for Hugo Swire those dead children and are merely inevitable bumps in the road, the overall direction of travel is good, British companies are winning electricity contracts with the Burmese government, and there is no need for a rethink on policy.

Mark Farmaner is Director of Burma Campaign of UK.

By Paul Mooney

Reuters

August 15, 2014

YANGON - An international medical group has urged the Myanmar government to follow through on a commitment to let it resume work in one of the poorest parts of the country, warning that healthcare there has seriously deteriorated since it was expelled.

The government ordered the group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) out of the western state of Rakhine in February after the group said it had treated people it believed were victims of sectarian violence.

The government denied that an attack had taken place and it has also accused MSF of being biased in favour of members of the minority Muslim community.

The withdrawal of the agency, which had operated in the area for more than 20 years, left some half-a-million Rohingya Muslims without access to reliable medical care.

"What has become clearer since the expulsion is that the situation has gotten more grievous by the day," said Reshma Adatia, operational adviser to MSF-Holland on Myanmar.

The government announced on July 23 that MSF would be allowed to return to Rakhine state. However, MSF says it has had no official word from the government since the announcement was made.

Adatia said the decision to allow MSF to resume work "has not been translated into how and when we can return to the Rakhine State and conduct our medical activities".

Rakhine State has a long history of discrimination against the Muslim Rohingya community. Aid groups have drawn the ire of some Rakhine Buddhists who accuse them of favouring the Rohingya, a group that makes up the vast majority of victims of recent outbreaks of sectarian violence.

Humanitarian groups reject accusations of bias towards Muslims and many workers say they have been threatened and intimidated.

A spokesman for Rakhine State, Win Myaing, denied any knowledge of a decision to let MSF resume work there.

Than Tun, a Buddhist leader and a member of an Emergency Coordination Committee set up in March to monitor the work of international aid groups, said the decision was not supported by the people of Rakhine state.

Some aid workers say the announcement that MSF would be allowed to resume its work had more to do with politics than resolving the humanitarian crisis.

The announcement came as Yanghee Lee, the new U.N. human rights envoy to Myanmar, visited the country, including the Rakhine area. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attended a regional conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, on Aug. 9-10.

The Myanmar government is in a tight spot. Concessions towards the Rohingyas could prove unpopular among the general public, but perceived ill-treatment risks angering Western countries that have eased sanctions in response to human rights reforms.

On July 26, Zaw Htay, head of the president's office, posted a photo on his social media feeds showing a previous protest against MSF, and warned that people in Rakhine State were organising to strike against the regional government for inviting MSF to return.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

By Associated Press

August 12, 2014

RANGOON — The US said Tuesday that Secretary of State John Kerry wasn’t breaking any rules when he stayed in a hotel owned by a tycoon blacklisted by the US because of ties with Burma’s former military regime.

In a country where cronies own almost all the biggest and best-known firms—including hotels in the capital Naypyidaw—Kerry would have been hard-pressed to find anywhere else to stay as he attended a weekend gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers.

But the move illustrates the conundrum of American policies. Washington is eager to engage Burma’s new nominally civilian government, but does not want to be accused of engaging in bad business practices.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry did nothing wrong.

She said Burma’s Foreign Ministry assigned Kerry and members of his delegation to the Lake Garden Hotel, owned by blacklisted Zaw Zaw’s Max Myanmar group.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which outlines dealings with “specially designated” or “blacklisted” nationals, “includes an exemption for activities related to travel, including hotel accommodations,” she added.

Though most economic US sanctions imposed on Burma during its days of dictatorship have been lifted, American companies are still barred from doing business with individuals and entities perceived as having profited from past or current military ties.

By Kyaw Hsu Mon

The Irrawaddy

August 11, 2014

WELLINGTON — New Zealand’s prime minister says his country will continue to accept Burmese refugees, including those currently living in camps along the Thai-Burma border, despite political reforms in Burma since 2011.

In an exclusive interview, John Key told The Irrawaddy that New Zealand would welcome any refugee who has qualified for resettlement according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“As long as they’re on the UN list, we’ll take them,” he said. “And in some places like Rakhine [Arakan] State, for instance, there’s obviously a desperate need, so yes, I imagine we’ll continue to take them from Myanmar [Burma].”

The United Nations estimates that more than 86,000 people have attempted to leave western Burma’s Arakan State by boat since 2012, when an outbreak of inter-communal violence left 140,000 people homeless.

For more than a decade, Burmese refugees from camps in Thailand and Malaysia have resettled to New Zealand as part of the UNHCR program. Most were ethnic Karen, Kayah and Chin and had been staying in camps along the Thai-Burma border.

“There are more than 2,000 Burmese living in New Zealand now. Not all are refugees, but most came from the refugees camps,” said Annie Coates, a Karen-Burmese social worker who has lived in Wellington for more than 30 years. “The Karen and Kayah come from camps along the Thai-Burma border, while the Chin and Rakhine [Arakanese] come mostly from camps in Malaysia.”

She said they faced challenges while adjusting to their new lives.

“The language barrier is a major issue,” she said. “I support their education, health and other social needs in times of difficulty, because many of them are young people who do not have any relatives here.”

Key said that despite political and economic reforms under Burmese President Thein Sein’s administration, refugees in New Zealand would never be asked to return home.

“If we take them under the [UNHCR] program, even if there’s a change in the domestic circumstances, we have granted them effectively citizenship in New Zealand, or residency leading to citizenship, so we can’t return them,” he said.

In the past 10 years, New Zealand has approved residency status for 7,473 refugees. Of those, most came from Burma (1,901), Afghanistan (1,237) and Iraq (999).

By Democratic Voice of Burma

August 11, 2014

Mandalay regional government said it will imminently lift a curfew that was imposed in seven townships across the city at the beginning of July following deadly communal mob violence.

“A formal announcement will follow soon,” said regional government secretary Ohn Lwin. “It has been sent to the relative government officials for approval.”

The curfew is to be revoked as stability and calm have returned to the city, he added, referring to two nights of violence when two persons – one Buddhist, one Muslim – were killed.

The curfew was initially imposed on 3 July between 9pm and 5am in six Mandalay townships. The following day, it was extended to one more township.

On 21 July, authorities reduced the curfew hours from 9pm to 3am. It was further relaxed on 28 July, from 10pm to 3am.

The violence kicked off after a blogger, who writes under the name Thit Htoo Lwin, posted an article on 30 June accusing two Muslim owners of a teashop in the city’s Chan Aye Tharzan Township of raping a Buddhist woman, who he said was their maid.

The story was picked up by several websites, and nationalist monk Wirathu posted it to his Facebook page.

The post was hastily removed, and later proved to be false. However, on the evening of 1 July, a gang of local Buddhist men carrying makeshift weapons – and accompanied by monks – ran riot through the neighbourhood on motorbikes, attacking properties, businesses and vehicles they presumed to be Muslim-owned.

On 3 July, a Muslim man on this way to morning prayers was attacked by a mob and killed. A revenge attack by a Muslim mob followed, leaving a Buddhist man dead.

U Kyaw Min

RB History

August 11, 2014

Today Arakanese Muslim calls themselves Rohingya or Roewengya. ---- writers and poets appeared among the Arakanese Muslims, especially during fifteenth to eighteenth centuries; and there were even some Muslim court poets at the courts of Arakan King’s. (see in chapter four). These poets and writers wrote in Persian and Arabic or in the mixed Language, Rohingya, which they developed among themselves and which was a mixture of Arabia, Bengali, Urdu, and Arakanese. This language is not as widespread today as it was in the past and it has been largely replaced by Burmese and Arakanese. The Muslim artists then also developed the art of calligraphy. Some manuscripts have been preserved but have not yet been scientifically examined. - - - The Muslims who came to Arakan brought with them Arab, Indian, and especially Bengali music and musical instruments. Persian song is sung by Arakanese Muslims to this day. That is how the Rohingyas preserved their own heritage from the impact of the Buddhist environment not only as far as their religion is concerned but also in some aspects of their culture.[1]

As human society developed, identity and ethnicity developed too. Identity is not static, but dynamic. In course of time many new identity of ethnicities grew up. Some even changed their ethnic names which we can observe in our country’s demography. Rohingya identity developed through the interaction of historical processes. It is the product of history, not novel identities forged by a group as being portrayed by some biased historians. No historian can say Rohingya speak Bengali, but just a type of Bengali just like Rakhine is a type of Burma language. Cultural affinity alone cannot tie together two geographically separate ethnic people. Political, geo graphical and economic life of people are main factures that lead to separate identity. Many Myanmar ethnic peoples changed their ethnic names in course of times.

In the last chapters we can see Muslims and their cultural influence in Arakan to a large extent. Mostly they are referred as Muslims. Muslim is not a race or an ethnic people. So to fill the need of time, this Muslims lately began to be called as Rohingya.

In his famous book “Burma in revolt: opium and insurgency since 1948”, Bertil litner described the Muslims of Rakhine as another hybrid race which much later was to become known as Rohingya”[2]

One well known historian is trying to identify Rohingya as Bengali by pointing out British time Bengali infiltration was not only in Rakhine but also in Myanmar side; and there are Bengali Mosques in Yangon. What we must realize is Rohingyas, despite their some affinity with some aspect of Bengali, they were in Arakan before British time. They are not British time immigrants. Their Mosques, one in Aung San Football stadium compound and another in Piniegong ward, Yangon were built before British time and are known as Rakhine Bali(Mosques) These mosques were rewarded by king Bagyi daw to his Arakan die-hard army unit, [See: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2003]

Myanmar specialist Martin Smith in his “Insurgency: the politics of ethnicity, 1995, said; Rohingya had become increasingly popular in recent years.

To those writers who want to relate Rohingya’s root to Bengali and who want to say Rohingya is not an ethnic name but a geographic locator, I would like to ask where the ethnic root of all Myanmar people come. Almost all Myanmar people have their origin somewhere out of the country.

Professor David Stein Berg presents; the people that call themselves Rohingya, as an unrecognized cultural minority that has emerged in a space with “traditionally undefined frontiers” and heavily Muslims and culturally related population.[Stein Berg; Burma, what everyone need to know, Oxford, 2010, P.22]

Egretean and Jagan explained that the term Rohingya is the name under which the local population had been known since 1950. (Egretean and Jagan, soldiers and diplomacy in Burma; P.132)

Jaeques P. Leider, the renowned supporter of Rakhine version of Rakhine history writes:

“Francis Hamilton is one of the most qualified persons to have knowledge on Rakhine related issues in that time. What we learned from him on the one hand that there was a Muslim community in Rakhine at the other hand that both Hindus and Muslims were among those hundreds or thousands of Rakhines who had been deported and resettled in upper Myanmar. The Muslims spoke an Indian language of their own in which they call themselves Rohingya to state the place where they are from. - - - As many Muslims from Rakhine had also fled the kingdom around the time Hamilton visited the areas, there is at least a great likely hood that Hamilton could have heard the name “Rooinga” from them. [J. Leider; Rohingya the name , the movement 2014, P-10]

The most authentic evidence is the report of Advisory commission on the issue of promoting Arakan into a state. That commission was formed on 29, April 1960, by the office of prime minister. It composed of most senior veteran independence activists and the highest ranking official post holders. They are: 

1. Dr. Ba Oo, Ex-Union President — Chairman 

2. Dr. U Thein Maung,  Ex-Judicial Minister – Member

3. U Tin Ex-Chairman of Pyithu Luttaw, Speaker – Member

4. U Ohn Phe, Ex-Chief Justice – Member

5. U Chit Thaung, Ex-Minister – Member

In the commission report on 30th December 1960, It is said Rohingya from Mayu district also object to the notion of Rakhine state hood. Thus this commission recognized Rohingya (See 1958- 62 Myanmar politics vol. III by U Kyaw Win +3, who were appointed to write true history of Myanmar by SLORC 1991, P-230)

After the British occupation of Rakhine in 1825 and the Yandaps treaty of 1826, many, if not most people from Rakhine who had taken refuge in the district of Chittagong returned to Rakhine. [J. Leider 20-14] Rakhine were said to be returnees.

But Muslim returnees were said to be immigrants.

Abdul Mabood khan says that people from the district of Chittagong even today use that term Rohingya to mean the Arakanese Muslim. (The Maghs Buddhist community in Bengla Desh. P-44)

J. Leider further writes:

Islamic cultural influence on the Rakhine court came first from the sultanate of Bengal in the 15th century as shown by minting of coins during Mrauk-U’s golden age in the 17th century. Chittagong was an economic pillar of the kingdom and Muslims formed a large part of the king’s subjects and Muslim traders competed with Portuguese and Dutch traders. [Here in 17th century Chittagong fell into the hand of Mughal. The large Muslim subjects mentioned above, therefore, must be Muslim in Rakhine proper.] When Bengal fell into the hands of Mughal in 1567, soldiers who fought against the Mughal apparently took service at the court of Rakhine. (J. Leider 2014, P.10)

These soldiers were mostly Afghans. Their presence in Rakhine society had a deep impact to change the social structure of native Muslims: the Rohingyas.

Dr. J. Leider who again mentioned, “There is absolutely no doubt about the existence of urban and rural Muslim communities who were living inside the kingdom that become part of Myanmar in 1785. [J.leider the name, the movement 2014, P.10] The agony of false is, still Rakhine politicians blindly say “today’s Muslims in Rakhine are all illegal immigrants. They all should be subject to verification and naturalization”.

He further emphasized “a literate Muslim community also existed in Mrauk-U”.

Where this Muslims gone? They were there for many centuries. Many generations passed. Still can you say there is not social, cultural change among them? In fact they evolved into a distinct community. Their root is not from the captives deported by Arakan fleet in sixteen to eighteenth centuries as highlighted by Dr. J. P. Leider. There were large Muslim settlements before that.

We can say this distinctive community was there even before Mrauk-U period. Here Morice Collis in collaboration with San Shwe Bu wrote, “Arakan being adjacent to Bengal their might have been a considerable number of Muslim population in it before Mrauk-U age. [This Muslim’s ethnic name today is Rohingya.] (Journal of Burma research society Vol.15, 1925, P.33)

There was a big Muslim community part of which was deported by Bodow Phaya’s army to Amarapura. The king appointed Abhishah Husseine, the head of Arakan Muslims as the head of all the Muslim of Myanmar. (see ThanTun, the royal order of Burma, Kyoto centre for South East Asian study 1983-90, Vol 6, also J.leider, the Rohingya the name - - - 2014, P.12)

J. Leider writes: 

“Beyond the peculiar insight into cultural broker ship of both local Muslim teachers and Buddhist monks, who translated the manuscripts also, throw light on the intellectual network of Muslim that testify to a shared Muslim culture and identity that spanned the north east coast of the Bay of Bengal until the colonial period. - - - British interacted with the population through local Muslim interpreters in the early colonial time and obtained historical information in the country through local Muslims. (J. Leider, 2014, P.11)

University distance education first year current geography text book contains, “ In the northern Rakhine state close to the border with Bangla Desh at Buthidaung and Maung Daw townships are where the Rohingya and Shittogonians live; These minority ethnic groups had settled in the border regions Since early days”. Yangon University of Distance Education, first year, textbook of Geography of Myanmar, Module No. Geology, Code No.14.B.Pg.61.

In post-independence period – we have a lot of official record testifying Rohingya identity. First Myanmar newspaper, encyclopedia, journals, periodicals including the one issued by the defense ministry had wide publicity of Rohingya’s indigenous status.

Second there were registrations of university Rohingya student organization, Rohingya daily newspaper, Rohingya labor union.

Thirdly 1961 September 15 Myanmar cabinet had decided to relay four additional ethnic broadcasting program from Burma broadcasting service. Those are Rohingya, Pa-Oo, Lah-ho and Mon languages (see BBS 30th Anniversary Publication journal by U Kyaw Nyint P-71)

Fourthly Muslims in north Arakan, were issued family registrar cards with Rohingya as their race. Returnee from B.D Camps registration cards also bear the same identity. Most interesting is in the latest NaSaKa yearly verification endorsements on family registration card also ratify Rohingya’s identity. [see. Copies in the appendices]

Again our birth certificates, departmental service identity cards including defense ministry’s bear the name Rohingya. Some are attached here as documents. See at the end in the appendices.

Note: NaSaKa = Frontier Immigration Check Task Force.

[1] Moshe Yegar, 1972, P.25 

[2] Litner Bertil, Burma in revolt --- Chiang Mai: Silk worm Books 1994.

By AFP

August 11, 2014

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday (Aug 10) said Myanmar faced "significant challenges" in its democratic transition but pledged Washington's support as the former pariah moves towards "benchmark" elections.

Washington's top diplomat said he held "frank" discussions with Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of Southeast Asian meetings, warning that there was still "a lot of work to be done" as the country emerges from decades of military rule.

"Next year's election will absolutely be a benchmark moment for the whole world to be able to assess the direction that Burma (Myanmar) is moving in," he told reporters at a press conference in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw.

Kerry said Myanmar was on an "amazing journey" but said the country still needed to overcome "significant challenges", including ethnic conflict, religious violence, concern over press freedoms and the complexity of moving from junta rule to democracy.

Thein Sein, a former general who shed his military uniform to lead a quasi-civilian government three years ago, has overseen broad reforms that spurred the removal of most international sanctions. The changes include freeing political prisoners, scrapping draconian press censorship and welcoming opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament.

Those steps have seen most international embargoes dropped and enticed a horde of foreign investors eager to tap into one of Asia's last frontier markets.

But US officials have said those are the "easier" steps, with reforms facing a "slowdown" as the country heads towards the 2015 polls, which are widely expected to be won by Suu Kyi's opposition party.

MEETING WITH SUU KYI

Kerry, who was in the country for talks with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other global powers, met Suu Kyi at her Yangon home late Sunday. "When I was last here in 1999 I visited with Aung San Suu Kyi, who was then under house arrest. Today she sits in parliament and the people here are openly debating the future direction of this country," he said before the meeting.

The US envoy said Myanmar's government had indicated its willingness to continue working towards democratic transition and that Washington would work "hand in hand" with the Southeast Asian nation to help the reforms.

"We will continue to work very very carefully," he said. "Without turning a blind eye to anything that violates our notion of fairness and accountability and human rights and the standards by which America always stands."

A report in state media on Sunday detailing the meeting between Kerry and Thein Sein said the Myanmar leader acknowledged the country's challenges, but urged the international community to focus on its achievements. The English-language newspaper New Light of Myanmar said the president pledged there "will be no 'backsliding'" on its reforms.

The international community has voiced increasing frustration as Buddhist nationalism appears to tighten its grip on Myanmar, with fresh attacks against Muslims last month in the second largest city of Mandalay raising concerns that continued bouts of religious unrest could destabilise the democratic transition.

Unrest sparked between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012 in Rakhine state, where 140,000 mainly stateless Muslim Rohingya remain trapped in dismal camps with little access to basic services.

Alarm has also been raised over the arrests of journalists and dissidents, while the country is still grappling with ongoing insurgency in its far north, muffling hopes for a long-awaited national ceasefire deal.

Qutub Shah

RB Opinion

August 11, 2014

Before Israel started its offensive on Gaza strip, it didn’t think Gaza to be more than a tasty bite of McDonalds and that it could erase Gaza from the map of Palestine easily, there were even many voices inside the Zionist Entity sounding the need to re-occupy Gaza and clear Gaza of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other resistance factions. This idea led the Israeli PM to make a hasty decision to launch aggression on Gaza. But this time Palestine looks different! 

Here, what I am going to point out to you are the facts that make Palestinians different. 

1. Lack of Accurate intelligence 

Due to the lack of accurate intelligence in the forces of Zionist occupation about Gazan military capabilities and their location, Israel got lost in the current offensive. This eventually caused them to carry out frenzied attacks like a mad dog, targeting children and innocents in schools, orphanages, hospitals and public places deliberately to frighten the population. Absurdity has overstepped all bounds a member of the Knesset, Ayelet Shaked, announce in public that mothers of all Palestinians must be killed and an Israeli sniper, feeling proud of killing children, tweeted “I killed 13 childrens today and ur next***** muslims go to hell*****.” 

Previously, Palestinian territory was a playhouse for Israeli intelligence and they were able to spread spies and agents into every Palestinian faction, corner, organization and fighting body. But the Hamas government that formed in Gaza, though it doesn’t succeed completely to eliminate the phenomenon, was successful to chase a large number of Israeli spies and agents from its land. 

This was the actual methodology of our Prophet as he was very sensitive and cautious of the then hypocrites. 

I don’t want to waste your time narrating the negative role played by the unpaid agents of Myanmar government among us and from us and against us through the ages. 

2. The Lowest illiteracy rate 

According to The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics "PCBS" report, the illiteracy rate in Palestine is one of the lowest rates in the world. Other sources say that the illiteracy rate of Palestine is about one percent (1%) only. There is no family in Palestine without at least a postgraduate or a bachelor’s degree. Their endeavor in this field was witnessed dramatically by the Guinness World Records as it set Eqbal Asa’d, a Palestinian refugee girl from Bekaa Valley, Southern Lebanon, as the youngest doctor in the World, who got her Bachelor degree in Medicine with Honors at the age of 16. 

To me, this is the main factor that makes Palestinian different. 

If we revise our past and present, we can easily observe that in order to destroy a society, it is enough to destroy it intellectual and moral foundation first and vice versa. This was the infrastructural policy of Buddhist aggression on Rohingya. 

Be reminded that the initial point of Prophetic mission of changes was ‘Read’. Here is the experience of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

But, the efforts that we make in educating the new generation are not quite enough as the most oppressed minority. Unfortunately, in our society, it is only slightly that we care about education. Let me give you an example by taking a short U-turn in the history of our struggle for freedom. For instance, within the now mostly defunct RSO (Rohingya Solidarity Organization), there were divergent views among its leaders on giving formal or informal education to the workers other than physical exercises, according to a higher ex-official.

Nowadays, even many Rohingya leaders who provided educational, social and political scopes among the refugee community in southern Bangladesh, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have changed their direction toward relief services, leaving behind services that empowered future generations. 

3. Sacrifice in the cause of freedom

The secret that makes Al-Qassam Brigades dare to say to Israel, “No ceasefire without adhering to our legitimate demands,” is the sincerity and loyalty to their native land and people. Soldiers of Al-Qassam have given the Muslim world an example of sincerity and loyalty, as all the men in Al-Qassam Brigades are volunteers working at their own expenses, for no pay. This is the unique example in the world. There is not a single family in Palestine that didn’t sacrifice with one or more of its members in the cause of freedom. 

Collecting donations and raising funds is not their organizational concern, unlike other organizations. 

Actually, the sense of ‘sincerity in actions’ is among those things that the Quran tries to inculcate into Muslim minds through several verses, saying, “Work hard in the cause of Allah with your wealth and lives.” 

4. Brilliant Military tactics

In the current Israel-Palestine war, the latter has proved that Palestinian leaders are not ‘just hot preachers’ on platforms like other Arab or Muslim leaders, who conquer the world in speech. Their mouth is not larger than their ability; their stick is not taller than their body. Enthusiasm is not their method. They never utter nonsense. 

Let’s see. Israeli Air Force is very strong and sophisticated, and it has well-trained professional pilots. Their weapons are very up-to-date; neither Arab nor, even, the developed countries other than USA own the same weapon and military aircrafts as Israeli Air Force does. 

Though this, the precise and skillful military tactics of Palestinian resistance defeated Israel and Israel becomes a FARCE in front of the world. 

In conclusion, as both issues: Arakanese issue and Palestinian issue are running parallel to each another in almost all dimensions; we should learn lessons from the Palestinian resistance. 

“So, learn a lesson, O ye with eyes!” (Quran 59:2)

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect RB editorial policy.