B.RAMAN
A Buddhist girl belonging to the ethnic Rakhine
community was allegedly raped and
murdered by three Muslims at a village near Kyaukphyu in the Rakhine State (old Arakan State ) of
Myanmar on May 28,2012.
2. On June 3,2012, over 100 Buddhists (Rakhines)
stopped a bus in Taunggote in the
Rakhine state, allegedly dragged out 10 Muslims and killed them. They
suspected that these Muslims were involved in the rape and murder of the
Buddhist girl. Only two of the Muslims killed were locals. The remaining eight
were from Yangon (Rangoon). They were returning to Yangon after visiting a
mosque in the Rakhine State on pilgrimage.
3. The same evening hundreds of
Muslims gathered outside a police station in the capital town of
Sittwe and threw stones. The Police managed to disperse them after using
tear-gas and opening fire with rubber bullets.
4. The next day, Aung San Suu Kyi met
representatives of the Muslim community in Yangon and urged them to remain calm
and let the law take its course against the Buddhist culprits.
5. The Maungdaw
Township of the Rakhine State, where the Muslims constitute about 96 per
cent of the population, saw serious incidents of anti-Government and
anti-Buddhist violence on June 8 and 9. Muslims, coming out of a mosque after
prayers, went on a rampage attacking a government building, a police station
and some primary schools for Buddhist children. Seven Buddhists were killed and
an estimated 500 houses were burnt down. The Police shifted the Buddhist
residents to refugee camps. Incidents of arson were reported from Sittwe. The
Police opened fire at Maungdaw and imposed a curfew. But this did not improve
the situation.
6. In the meanwhile, there were reports of rival
demonstrations in Yangon by small groups of local Buddhists and Muslims.
7. On the night of June 10,2012,
President Thein Sein declared a state of
emergency in the State, authorising the Army to assist the civilian authorities
to restore law and order.
8.In a nine-minute speech televised nationally,
Thein Sein said that the violence in the Rakhine State was fanned by
dissatisfaction harbored by different religious and ethnic groups, hatred and
the desire for revenge.
9.He added: “I would like to call upon the people,
political parties, religious leaders and the media to join hands with the
government with a sense of duty, to help restore peace and stability and to
prevent further escalation of violence.
10."If both sides kill each other in hatred
and revenge, putting anarchy before everything, the violence is in danger of
spreading outside Rakhine State.
11."I would like everyone to take special care
because of the damage that could be done to the peace, stability, democratic
process and development of our country during its period of transformation, if
the unrest spreads," he said.
12.Buddhists constitute about 89 per cent of
Myanmar’s total population and Muslims about four per cent. The remaining seven
per cent consist of Christians and animists.
13.The Muslims in Myanmar are of Indian, Chinese
and Bangladeshi origin. The Muslims of Indian and Chinese origin have had no
problems in integrating themselves with the rest of the society. The Muslims of
Bangladeshi origin, known as Rohingyas, who speak Bengali, and who live in the Rakhine
State in the areas bordering Bangladesh ( about 750,000), have not been able to
integrate themselves with the local Buddhists though Muslims in the Chittagong
Hill Tracts of Bangladesh generally have no problems in living together with
Bengali Buddhists.
14.The Rohingyas have not been given full
citizenship rights by successive Myanmar Governments. International human
rights organisations such as the Amnesty International describe the Rohingyas
as a highly persecuted ethnic and religious minority group in Myanmar. The feelings
of alienation of the Rohingyas had led to violent clashes with the local
Buddhists in February 2001 resulting in the imposition of curfew.
15.The Myanmar authorities look upon the Rohingya
Muslims as illegal Bengali immigrants from BD and do not treat them on par with
other ethnic groups. There is a feeling among the Rohingyas that even Suu Kyi,
who has been supportive of the ethnic rights of other minority groups, has not
shown much empathy for the Rohingyas.
16.The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami of Bangladesh, normally referred to as HUJI
(B), had played an active role in the jihad against the Soviet and Afghan
troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Its members studied in the Pakistani
madrasas and fought as members of different Afghan mujahideen groups, after
having been trained by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The HUJI
(B) also recruited a number of Rohingya Muslims from the Arakan area of Myanmar
and took them to Afghanistan for fighting against the Soviet and Afghan troops.
17.If there is an aggravation of the feelings of
alienation of the Rohingyas there could be a danger of its being exploited by
HUJI (B) to revive its activities in the areas across the Myanmar-Bangladesh
border.
18.The Rakhine State has rich oil and gas resources
and has attracted many oil/gas companies from China, India and other countries.
The Chinese, who have already struck gas, have undertaken the construction of
an oil/gas terminal port at Kyaukphyu, gas/oil pipelines from the port to
Yunnan and a railway line connecting Yunnan with the Rakhine State.
19.From the point of view of Myanmar’s economy, the
Rakhine State is important and no Myanmar Government can afford instability
there. The only saving grace is that the present incidents were started by the
Buddhists and not by the Muslims. If the clashes continue and threaten to
spread to areas outside the Rakhine State, the position of President Thein
Sein, who has initiated a policy of political and economic reforms and
reconciliation with Suu Kyi, may be weakened tempting the pro-China hardline elements in
the Army to stage a comeback. (11-6-12)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate, Chennai Centre For China
Studies. E-Mail: seventyone2@gmail.com . Twitter: @SORBONNE75 )
