Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Myanmar, formerly Burma, is as much a criminal state as Israel has been and as a criminal state, it has been fully engaged in killing people. Muslims has been its favorite target for centuries, and when Burma became Myanmar, the new constitutional extra fittings made the state persecution of Muslims relatively easier.
The story of the pathetic existence of Muslims in Myanmar and their ill-treatment by Burmese military, police and criminalized Buddhist monks have been narrated by many world writers. Since the USA and other world powers back the military regime in Myanmar the crimes continue unabated. USA and Israel sell terror goods to Myanmar so that the military could “deal” with Muslims.
What has been happening to Rohingya Muslims for decades of persecution by the military regime is nothing short of holocaust. That the UNSC does not take any steps to end the persecution of and genocides of Muslims makes the situation explosive and worst. Burmese regime does not want any Muslim to be alive.
US-Israel terror twins have been aiming to end the Palestinian race once for all and the genocides and military expansionism inside Palestinian territories. They also support the Burmese Buddhist criminals to murder Muslims so that populations of Islam are reduced sharply. Already US-led NATO and other rogue states are ransacking energy-rich Islamic nations, destabilizing them, killing Muslims in millions.
Israel continues to arm Burma military amid ongoing violence against Rohingya Muslims.
Owing to the collaboration of the US-led Israel and India with the past and present regimes of Myanmar that general masses, belonging to Buddhism have been incited against Rohingya Muslims, which has, now, resulted in humanitarian catastrophe.
Because of inaction by the US-led international community, this crisis can destabilize the whole region by jeopardizing political and economic interests of America and other Western countries.
Continued genocides and attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is an international shame- a shame for international community.
World’s most persecuted humans
Rohingya Muslims have been called one of the world’s most persecuted people….in addition to their almost total lack of legal rights, many have been regularly beaten by police, forced to do slave labor and jailed for little or no reason.
Historically, Rohingya Muslims arrived in Myanmar in early seventh century. The military junta always is allowed to play the pivotal role. It embarked on a systematic program of religious cleansing of the Burmese Muslims who are denied their fundamental rights, i.e., the right to freedom of movement, marriage, faith, identity, ownership, language, culture, citizenship, education, etc. They have also been barred from government employment
Rakhine State or Arakan is one of the poorest provinces of Myanmar. Among the 3 million Rakhines, there are about 1.3 million Rohingyas in Rakhine State, who have been living there for centuries, and others are Buddhists who are in the majority. In 1942, the criminal sections of majority Buddhists carried out massive genocide of Muslims and at least 150, 000 Muslims were massacred. During the military rule (1962-88) in Burma, Rohingyas were treated as foreigners, and gradually their nationality was taken away. During that era, more than 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. Only 32600 were given formal protection as refugees.
Continued violence against minority and their ill-treatment by the Myanmar government has annoyed the entire world, especially the Islamic world. Even as Muslims are targeted by the colonialist regimes in New Delhi and Tel Aviv, the perpetual crimes being committed against the Rohingya Muslims to try to overtake them.
Even going by the UN estimates, over 1,000 people may have been killed in the crackdown launched by Myanmar army in Rakhine state. Approximately 500 Muslims were slain during the military operations, while it continues unabated. But media of some Islamic countries pointed out that more than 3000 Muslims have been killed since August 25, 2017, and more than 100,000 civilians have been displaced in Rakhine.
Accelerated state attack
Since August 25, this year, brutal military operations against the Rohingya Muslims across the Rakhine State accelerated in Myanmar, which forced thousands of the Muslims to migrate to Bangladesh. Some of them have gone to India too.
The Burmese regime has launched the Zionist type onslaught on Rohingya Muslims, but the UNSC and world powers do not raise their otherwise loud voice against the military-controlled regime in Myanmar.
In 2012, thousands of Burmese Muslims were butchered, while brutal methods of torturing, killing, inflicting physical and causing mental harm to them were employed by the extremist Buddhists. Instead of resolving the problem by protecting the minority Muslims, the Burmese military regime was being backed by the US clandestinely and supported the Buddhist rioters.
In 2012, eyewitnesses had revealed that Buddhist extremists had torched several mosques, shops, and houses of Muslims. Even Burmese military and police have been found involved in the massacre, targeted killings, disappearances and rape of Muslim women.
In 1992, 250,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape the persecution, while more than 100,000 are living in the Gulf States, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Thailand. Due to fear of extreme repression, Rohingya Muslims left the northern Arakan region, especially Buthidaung and Maungdaw.
Human rights groups raised the pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of Myanmar’s government and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who once embodied her country’s fight for democracy and human rights, has drawn international condemnation for failing to address ongoing rights’ abuses of the Muslim minority.
About 270,000 refugees, mostly Rohingya Muslims, have fled to Bangladesh in the last two weeks. During the crackdowns, security forces committed deliberate human rights violations such as mass gang rapes, merciless killings, brutal beatings, beheadings of babies and children, arson and looting the houses of the Rohingya Muslims. They razed several villages to the ground.
Like people from war-ravaged Syria who throng European nations as refugees, the exodus of Rohingya Muslims takes shelter in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The pictures of social media and migrated persons verify “the rivers of blood, beheading of children and burning people alive—you do not have to be a Muslim to protest this or discern the truth, anyone with even the tiniest bit of humanity, as to their hearts will quiver with pain.
Nobel mischief
Anti-Islamism has taken roots in Nobel peace committee that chose persons to promote crimes against Muslims. America’s former President Barack Obama who was behind the massacre of the Muslims in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Syria and elsewhere in the world, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Same is true in case of Aung San Suu Kyi who has been protecting the Israeli-led Western interests against the Muslims Suu is the recipient of Nobel peace prize as a reward for her endurance of persecution as she was persecuted by the military regime. But now she is also behind the military crimes against Muslims. She never criticized the crimes against Muslims.
It is known the fact that the Nobel Prize was offered to Obama just after he assumed power at White House as the first ever black President. The impression gathered was that the Nobel Prize was offered to Obama as a token of appreciation of his diplomatic skills to outsmart the White Americans in his successful political fight to become the US president.
However, the Nobel was given to him, apparently, to encourage Obama to fearlessly continue with the US imperialist war launched by his Republican predecessor Bush Jr. in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Not only innocent looking Obama continued the terror wars in both Muslim nations, but also accelerated it in Afghanistan by all adding more troops and terror goods. Obama launched his sown terror war in North African Libya to kill President Col. Qaddafi and destabilize Libya. Obama knows he was not going to get another Nobel Prize in any case and so kill Muslims.
US presidents behave alike.
Burden for Bangladesh
Bangladesh already hosts around 400,000 Rohingya from previous crises. Thousands are arriving in Bangladesh each day, joining already overcrowded camps of Rohingya who have fled Myanmar over decades of troubles. The UN refugee agency UNHCR gave the latest figure of 294,000 for the new arrivals.
The UN has appealed for urgent donations of $77 million. The Red Cross in Bangladesh welcomed the ceasefire pledge as aid agencies struggle to meet the needs of an “overwhelming crisis,” battling monsoon rains to deliver relief to people who have fled with few belongings. “How can you handle such a big influx of people? They want shelter; they want a safe place,” Misada Saif, Prevention and Communication Coordinator of the ICRC Bangladesh delegation, told AFP.
Cradling her naked screaming infant, Rohingya refugee Zohra Begum was close to tears as several hundred people were ordered to leave a strip of forest alongside the beach near Shamlapur, where families were clearing land with hoes to build shelters. “We went to all the camps, but there was no place to stay. That’s why we came here,” she told AFP. “If we have to move from here, where will we go? We will die.”
Better-known locally as Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement), ARSA launched coordinated raids using hundreds of militants on August 25 on around 30 police posts and state offices in the north of Rakhine state.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh say ethnic Rakhine Buddhists joined security forces in the indiscriminate killing of villagers. In an area split by claim and counterclaim, Rakhine villagers accuse militants of murdering their civilians while the government says fleeing Rohingya set fire to their own homes to foment fear and anger against the authorities.
At the makeshift camp near Shamlapur, Rohingya refugees doubted a ceasefire would allow their return anytime soon. “The Myanmar army is saying ‘go away, or we’ll burn all of you.’ How can we believe a ceasefire will have any effect?” Hafez Ahmed, 60, told AFP. But Hashem Ullah, a 33-year-old farmer from a village west of Maungdaw, said he would return “if I got compensation, and they accept us as Rohingya.” How can we live like this here?” he added, gesturing to the swampy earth.
ARSA says it is fighting to defend the Rohingya from persecution in Myanmar. But Myanmar regime labels them “extremist Bengali terrorists” intent on carving out an Islamic enclave for the Rohingya.
The army says it has killed only about 400 militants so far, while some Rohingya refugees have complained they were forced to fight by ARSA.
Pakistan summons Burmese envoy
While the global Muslims are perturbed by the continued violence against the Muslims in Burma, the Saudi-alliance of 40 Sunni countries keep “dignified” silence over the holocaust of Muslims in Myanmar, which emboldens the military to step up their terror operations on Muslims. The Sunni group was formed by America to promote sectarian divide in the Muslim world and to revive the fake global war on terror has also been criticized in Pakistan.
PM of Bangladesh and leader of the ruling party, Awami League (AL) Sheikh Hasina Wajid who came into power with the secret support of India is following Indian-policies against some Muslim countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan. She does not want opposition in the country as she intends to rule forever. To stay in power, she criticizes Pakistan and arrests and kills Muslims on various charges. She does not sympathize with Muslims in Myanmar.
The global Muslim community has raised their voice of protest against the crimes committed against Muslims in Burma. Protests and rallies also erupted in Pakistan and Chechnya, including some other countries over a military campaign against the Muslims in Myanmar. Notably, in Pakistan, thousands of people participated in the rallies in various cities to protest against the massacre of the Muslims in Burma. The general public of Pakistan is set to gather across the country after the Friday Prayers. The Jamat-e-Islami Chief Siraj-ul-Haq earlier announced a protest rally in Islamabad to record protest at the Myanmar embassy, but police are stopping the rally. But Siraj-ul-Haq is not willing to comply unless Myanmar’s ambassador is expelled from the country.
Pakistan summoned the Myanmar envoy on September 09 and lodged a strong protest over the ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state, leading to the exodus of about 270,000 refugees to Bangladesh.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned Myanmar’s Ambassador to Pakistan U Win Myint and sought adequate measures to prevent the recurrence of such violence, providing security to Rohingya Muslims, the Foreign Office said. She conveyed “a strong protest of the government and people of Pakistan at the ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state in Myanmar,” it said.
Janjua asked for upholding their rights to live and move without fear and discrimination, urgent investigations into recent violence against the Rohingya Muslims and holding accountable those involved in these serious crimes, it said. She said that as part of a durable settlement of the problem, the swift implementation of the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission was emphasized, which include urgent and sustained action to prevent violence, maintain peace, foster reconciliation, assure unhindered humanitarian access and address the issue of citizenship.
The Burmese envoy assured the foreign secretary to convey the concerns of the government and people of Pakistan to the Myanmar government, the foreign office added.
Turkish helping hand
World’s largest democracies and economies refuse to support the persecuted Rohingya Muslims in any positive manner because they want to see the reduction of Islamic populations.
Only Turkey is the only European nation that comes with a timely help. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the military crimes in Myanmar “…this has been happening for a long time now, innocent Muslims are being killed with extreme barbarism, not only in Burma but across the globe. Why does no one take any stand against them…Is it because the Rohingya Muslims are not from Paris or Britain…Or maybe just because they are not Christians, Hindus or Jews…Is being Muslim a crime.He would bring up the issue at the next UN general assembly. Nearly, 150,000 civilians from the Rohingya Muslim minority have now taken refuge in the relief camps of Bangladesh to escape the atrocities of the Burma’s security forces. Turkey has requested Bangladeshi authorities to “open your doors,” adding “Turkey would cover the costs associated with letting in more Rohingya Muslims.
Around 400,000 Rohingya refugees before the latest crisis—struggle to cope with the influx…Many are sleeping in the open air and are in dire need of food and water after walking for days to reach safety. Despite Ankara’s statement to pay the expenditures of the refugees, the Bangladeshi government has closed the border, and more than 2,000 Muslims are trapped on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
In recent years, Turkey has been on an Islamic mission starting with helping the defenseless Palestinians in Gaza Strip. It raises its voice in defense of people of Kashmir.
Latest Burmese arrogance
Buddhist Myanmar does not recognize its stateless Muslim Rohingya community, labeling them as “Bengalis” ─ illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Like in Afghanistan and elsewhere, expansive state terrorism led in Myanmar emergence of terrorist groups to defend the Muslims. However, state-sponsored Buddhist criminal gangs and military prowess cannot be fought successfully.
Rohingya militants, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), who sparked an army crackdown in Myanmar that has seen nearly 300,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh, on Sunday declared a unilateral ceasefire to allow aid to reach the increasingly desperate refugees. A further 27,000 ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, as well as Hindus, have also fled violence that has gripped the northern part of the state.
The first ARSA attacks in October last year were less ambitious, but the subsequent military response by a security force notorious for its scorched-earth response to insurgency sent 90,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border.
That means over a third of the estimated 1.1 million Rohingya in Rakhine state have fled in less than a year.
The United Nations said 294,000 bedraggled and exhausted Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since the militants’ attacks on Myanmar security forces in Rakhine state on August 25 sparked a significant military backlash.
Tens of thousands more are believed to be on the move inside Rakhine after more than a fortnight without shelter, food, and water.
The backlash by security forces prompted the Rohingya exodus. International aid programs in Rakhine have been severely curtailed, as the fighting tore through parts of the state.
India’s foreign ministry called for an immediate end to the violence, urging the situation “be handled with restraint and maturity.” But the Burmese government and military remain childish and fascist-minded. Nobel peace laurite continues to enjoy the bloodshed in Myanmar.
Rohingya refugees say army operations against ARSA led to mass killings and the burning of hundreds of villages, sending them across the border.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) urged “all humanitarian actors” to resume aid delivery to “all victims of humanitarian crisis irrespective of ethnic or religious background” during the one-month ceasefire period until October 9. ARSA called on Myanmar to “reciprocate this humanitarian pause” in fighting.
There was no immediate response from Myanmar’s military, but on Saturday authorities said they would set up three relief camps in Rohingya-majority areas.
Observation
Anti-Islamic forces relish Islamic blood. GST (global state terror) media lords promote Islamophobia and genocides of Muslims globally.
The USA, whose double standards and double speaks are well known, is annoyed about the nuclear efforts of North Korea and Iran and threatens them to wind up its legitimate rights in the nuclear environment created illegally by Israel with US help but it notoriously shuts its globalized eyes on the military crimes of Myanmar against humanity.
Myanmar security forces enjoy attacking, killing and driving out Muslims as Pentagon and Mossad continue to applaud ruthless Burmese military action. The military in Myanmar is not scared of anybody or any power, not even the UNSC which is duty bound to protect the minorities in every nation. The Buddhist soldiers and civilians in Burma are attempting to cover up the massacre of the country’s Rohingya Muslim population by gathering their bodies and burning them.
Holocaust of the Muslims in Myanmar cannot be seen in isolation, as it is part of the worldwide holocaust which continues unabated against the Muslims and the Islamic countries. Under Trump administration, state terrorism in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories has been accelerated.
Extremist Buddhists have not only enjoyed the tacit assistance of politico-military regime, including CIA, Mossad, and RAW but are also being encouraged by Hindu religious extremists to wipe out the Muslims from Myanmar. As regards the present genocide of Muslims, Burma’s Hindu organizations which are in collusion with Buddhists have been propagating that the latter is the most peaceful citizens, and called Muslims as troublemakers and terrorists.
The military regime used Aung San Suu Kyi to improve their foreign relations and get aid and investments from the USA and other western countries.
Having economic interests in Myanmar, USA does not talk about democracy there, refuses to play a proactive role in helping the Muslims in Myanmar. The USA cannot be otherwise, but the revered Pope, who criticizes private terrorists, does not condemn the state terrorism in Myanmar, also has no sympathetic word for the persecuted Muslims mainly because he would raise the issue if only Christians are attacked or killed in large numbers.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the UNO should undertake quick practical action in stopping the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims. Both the OIC and the UN Security Council must hold special sessions in this respect.
US double standard is part of its strategic game in Burma. In order to achieve their political and financial goals, he US, India and Israel had given a free hand to their secret agencies CIA, Mossad and RAW to support the previous military regime’s repression of its people and particularly of Muslims—which is also part of the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign, noted in some other Muslim countries. The US leaders give a lip service to democracy and the rule of law.
Unfortunately, Muslims do not have a unified world leader to raise such state criminal issues concerning genocides of Muslims. The absence of a global leader to represent Muslims has been an advantage for the anti-Islamic rogue states.
Holocaust of Rohingya Muslims by the military-majority fascism of Myanmar would make the Burmese military and Lady Suu “secure and happy, ” but the state barbarism would terrorize the humanity and turn the clock back to Stone Age as per the wishes of US-Israel terror twins.
UNSC is supposed to protect every nation but unfortunately, continues to be focused on shielding the fascist nations like USA and Israel and oppose those nations that do not toe the imperialist line and support US brand capitalist-imperialist designs.
It is high time both UN and UNSC convened a quick special meeting to discuss the state terror operations in and around and protect the people of Kashmir, Palestine, and Myanmar. UNSC cannot pretend to be blind and promote state terrorism in Myanmar and elsewhere.
One hopes soon there will be peace in Myanmar with military regime behaving well in a dignified manner, not like a state terror organization. That would herald a new epoch of better relations between Buddhists and Muslims.
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar as a human community has got the right to live on earth. They are asking for as a separate nation to exist as a proud sovereign nation but live as a part of Myanmar. Fake Nobel laurite Aung San Suu Kyi should have the common sense to comprehend it and let them in peace and dignity!
Genocides and holocaust are not a solution!