The present wave of unrest in Myanmar’s Rakhine state has seen about 90 people killed, more than 22,000 people displaced and around 4,600 houses torched. The tension is between the Buddhist and Rohingya Muslims. The 90,000-odd Rohingyas are considered by the majority Buddhist (3 million) as ‘outsiders’, and ‘intruders’ from Bangladesh. While ethnically they might be from the west of the present Rakhine state, Muslim presence has been recorded in Burma for a good century or more. The government of Myanmar has made things harder for the minority group by refusing to recognise them as one of the 135 ethnic groups in the country.
President Thein Sein has expressed concern over the developments but considering that it was he who suggested in July that the Rohingyas be handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for ‘resettlement’ in a third country, his expression of concern is at best hollow. According to the president’s office, the Rohingyas are an “illegal border-crossing” community and not “an ethnic group in Burma”. In wise counsel the UNHCR rejected Thein Sein’s relocation plan.
Easy Target
Many times in the past the Rohingyas have been victims of Burmese nationalist politics, most notably in 1978 when General Ne Win carried out Naga Min Sitsin Yae, better known as King Dragon Operation. While the stated purpose of the operation was to tackle Mujahid rebels in Rakhine, many observers believe that it was a pretext to round up Rohingyas.
An estimated two lakh Muslims were displaced and many of them made it to relief camps across the border in Bangladesh. While there is not much love lost between the Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingyas, the spells of peaceful coexistence have been relatively longer than the sporadic violence seen now. The present wave of deadly clashes started in May after a Buddhist woman was raped and killed by three Muslim men. In what is considered a retaliatory attack, in August 10 Muslims were killed in Taungup in Rakhine. The violence that ensued left hundreds dead. Emergency was declared and the army was deployed; but local accounts and rights groups have accused the army of not protecting the Rohingyas — some accounts accuse the army of siding against the minorities.
Tom Malinowski, of the Human Rights Watch, is of the view that the ruling authorities in Myanmar have over the decades used the Rohingyas as a decoy to divert popular focus from the administration’s shortfalls. Speaking at a news show recently he observed, “Sometimes dictators single out ethnic or religious minorities in a country for special hatred in order to distract their people from the abuses of their own government and that’s what the Burmese government did for decades. Those chickens are coming home to roost right now.”
Suu Kyi Silence
There are sections in Burma that want to peacefully co-exist with the minority communities. Perhaps the greatest such voice was that of Bogyoke Aung San, father of Myanmarese leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
He was a great supporter of an independent Burma that included all minority groups.
What has surprised many is the silence Suu Kyi has maintained throughout on the issue. Hers undoubtedly is the most recognisable face from the country and a stand taken by her would go a long way toward bringing nations to sit up and take notice of this persecution. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is being accused of not being willing to stand up for justice for fear of derailing her political career.
Unfounded Fears
The West, especially the United States, which was more than eager to intervene in Afghanistan, has not taken a shine for the plight of the Rohingyas who are stateless people in their own country. It should be remembered that in addition to Washington’s justification of fighting terror after the September 11 attacks, it was said that the invasion would bring justice to the people of Afghanistan who have been persecuted by the extremist Taliban.
Linh Dinh, speaking to PressTV, was of the view that, “The US and the West are remaining silent on this because they have nothing to gain from intervening. For decades Myanmar was ruled by a military junta that was pro-China and anti-West. Now it has a government that is open towards the West and moving away from China. The West is not going to upset this balance....”
This fear that antagonising a supposedly pro-West and pro-democracy government in Naypyidaw would push Thein Sein into the hands of a waiting Beijing arises from a deficient understanding of the situation in Myanmar. Today the people of Myanmar realise that the junta’s leaning on China for decades has resulted in a predominant Chinese presence in trade and commerce. The Buddhist majority have also realised that an over-ambitious China is not in the interest of an independent and sovereign Myanmar.
Countries, including India, that are rushing to do business with Myanmar should tell Naypyidaw in no uncertain terms that trade ties can only be established if the government is more receptive towards the needs of its minorities, in this case the Rohingyas.
No More Neglect
This problem comes at a crucial time for Myanmar. Religious and sectarian violence at a time when the country is testing democracy cannot be left to get resolved on its own. The government in Myanmar does not have the expertise to heal wounds that have festered for decades. This is why the international community should intervene, why the United Nations should wake up. The effort and reaction of the UN towards the crisis should cause it to hang its head in shame.
If a fraction of the sound and noise it has been devoting to Syria was given to Myanmar, maybe by now the Say Thamagyi Internally Displaced Persons camp located on the outskirts of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, would not be brimming with people fleeing for their lives. To ignore the Buddhist-Rohingya tension or to sweep it under the carpet is to do unimaginable injustice to Myanmarese people, many of whom genuinely want to live in peace.
This crisis, if neglected, will have repercussions on generations of Myanmarese who will pay just because the world chose not to take a stand when it mattered.
Cherian@newindianexpress.com