B.RAMAN
Since the afternoon of October 26,2012, there has
been a lull in communal rioting between the Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in
the Rakhine State (Arakan ) of Myanmar.
2. The rioting broke out on October 21,2012,
reportedly following demonstrations by
some Buddhists against allowing the OIC to open a humanitarian relief office in
Yangon. The Rohingya Muslims wanted the office to be opened.
3. Despite opposition from some Buddhists, the Government
of President Thein Sein has continued to accept humanitarian relief from the
OIC countries for distribution to both the communities. It has been reported
that two planeloads of humanitarian relief material arrived at Yangon from
Turkey on October 25.
4. According to Government sources, when the
rioting broke out on October 21, the security forces found themselves to be
inadequately numbered and had difficulty in controlling the situation. Reinforcements
have since reached the State and the security forces are now in a better
position to deal with the situation.
5. While official statements continue to estimate
the total number of fatalities as about 60, the local “Irrawaddy Journal” and
the Xinhua news agency of China have estimated the total number of fatalities
till the evening of October 26 as 112.
6. According to local sources, the steep increase
in fatalities is partly due to the security forces repeatedly opening fire on
the rioting mobs from both the communities. It
has been reported that nearly about 2600 houses have been burnt down.
7. Following expressions of concern by Western and
UN sources that if the riots continued it could threaten the process of reforms
initiated by President Thein Sein and weaken his position, the National League of
Democracy (NLD) of Aung San Suu Kyi, which was maintaining a discreet silence
till now on the situation, has bestirred itself and urged the Government to send more reinforcements to the
affected areas of Mrauk U, Minbya, Rathedaung, and Kyauktaw townships, north of
the state capital of Sittwe, and southern Rakhine’s Kyauk Phyu city and Mebyon.
8.A member of the “Committee of the Rule of Law and
Tranquility,” which is chaired by Suu
Kyi, proposed at the Lower House in Naypyidaw on October 26 that the situation be discussed in Parliament. Following a
debate, Parliament approved a proposal to deploy more security forces to the
region.
9. The Chinese have been concerned over the spread
of the violence to Kyauk Phyu, where a Chinese company has been constructing a
port and a gas/oil pipeline to Yunnan to reduce China’s dependence on the
Malacca Straits for energy supplies to China. Chinese officials have expressed
the hope that the Thein Sein Government will be able to maintain stability in
the area. So far, there are no reports of any threats to the Chinese working in
the Rakhine State for oil and gas exploration, port and pipeline construction
and the construction of a railway line to Yunnan. (27-10-12)
(The writer
is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi,
and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate
of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com Twitter @SORBONNE75)
