Part 1: Brewing Rohingya Crisis

After a deep lull of five years, Rohingya crisis reemerged as issue of intense global consternation. The current crisis, triggered by a fresh bout of violence launched by ARSA (Arakhan Rohingya Salvation Army) on August 25^th led to massive exodus of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh. According to reports, 1000 Rohingya insurgents from 50 villages launched attacks on 24 police stations and a military base in Rakhine killing 32 security personnel. Subsequent, Myanmarese military crackdown led to unabated influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh with UN estimates pegging the number to over 4,00,000. Bangladesh launched protested Myanmar government for failing to deescalate the situation and expressed concerns over reports of Myanmar military planting landmines across border. Soon this humanitarian disaster sparked international condemnation. Agencies like Amnesty International lashed out at Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar government for the ethnic cleansing of Muslim minority in Rohingya province.

Breaking weeks of silence amidst growing international censure, Suu Kyi, State counsellor who gave Ministerial Session at UNGA a miss, in her first public speech to nation reiterated that Myanmar is committed to restore peace and follow rule of law. Refusing to be subdued by international pressure, she welcomed the refugees for talks and promised to allow the entry verified refugees back into Myanmar. She asserted that “it is not the intention of Myanmar government to apportion blame or abnegate responsibility. We condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violations”. She refuted claims of violence against Rohingyas. Suu Kyi’s carefully worded speech which avoided making specific references to Rohingyas failed to instill confidence in world leaders, who criticized her for siding with military junta.  Suu Kyi for long had been darling of the West, who hailed her as champion of human rights. West felt reassured of restoration of peace in Myanmar, cowed down by decades of military dictatorship after Suu Kyi’s victory in the first ever democratic elections. Though Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy emerged as forerunner in elections, she was denied presidential position. Instead she was installed in a specially created position of State Counsellor with reduced powers. Military retained three portfolios-defence, home and Border Affairs. Even Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the inauguration ceremony of UNGA sessions apprehended that, “We are all shocked by dramatic escalation of sectarian tensions in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.” Angered over her inability to stand up to military junta, several petitions are raised calling for stripping of her Nobel Peace Prize. While this in fact is a huge blow to her reputation, the Rohingya crisis, which is several centuries old is mired by controversies.

While UN claims of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in Myanmar is heating up the global media, the issue began to created ripples in Indian discourse with Prime Minister announcing deportation of illegal Rohingya migrants back to Myanmar. The announcement which came weeks ahead of eruption of violence in Rakhine state, inflamed political and legal debates in Indian realm. Incidentally, Modi on his visit to Myanmar hasn’t raised the issue of deportation but towed its line and condemned Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security personnel and offered development aid to Rakhine province. India shares over 4000km long border with Myanmar. Any political, social, or ethnic disturbances in its immediate boundary has great implications on India’s fragile Northeast region. Myanmar in fact shares crucial intelligence reports of militant hideouts with India. Indeed, in February, India forewarned Myanmar of Rohingya insurgents of receiving support from Pakistan intelligence agencies and radical outfits. India apprised Myanmar’s NSA of Rohingya involvement in the Mahabhodi Temple blasts in July 2013. Besides, India’s economic and strategic interests are critically linked with Myanmar. Further to counteract an overriding influential Chinese presence and penetration in its immediate neighborhood, Modi maintained silence and refrained from rebuking Myanmar during his state visit.

Rohingya crisis which is believed to have stemmed out of Myanmar’s refusal to confer citizenship according to the 1982 Myanmar Nationality Law, has a long history. But the history and origins of the Rohingyas is presented to World in two different perspectives and unfortunately there is no credible authority to verify the authenticity of these contrasting historical versions. While Myanmar government maintains that Rohingyas are illegal migrants from Bangladesh and hence not a national race, Rohingya groups demand right to self-determination asserting Arakan as their home province.  Some say, Rohingyas were referred to as “Chittagonians” during Colonial times, and were termed as Bengalis till 1990. This ethnic group was referred to by different names -Rohingya Muslims, Muslim Arakanese and Burmese Muslims. Myanmar’s democratic Prime Minister U Nu (1948-62) used the term Rohingya. By 2014, Myanmar government stopped using the term Rohingya and persisted on terming them as Bengali.

By and large studies by different historians and anthropologists confirmed that this ethnic group had close links with undivided Bengal. During the colonial regime, British encouraged migration of Bengalis from Chittagong region to Arakan to work in the Paddy fields. Several historians confirmed that locals resented the relentless migration of not only Bengalis but Indians to Burma. Indeed, thousands of Muslims settled in the prosperous Arakan province which had leading Rice port Akyab. Soon the Muslim numbers swelled in the region and were elected as members of Legislative councils. The rift between native Arakanese and Muslims widened during the World War-II when Muslims sided with British and natives supported the Japanese. Polarization along the ethnic lines became more acute, inter-communal clashes intensified. Soon Muslims fled to northern region of Arakan dominated by British while Japan controlled the Buddhist majority region. Hostilities and intercommunal clashes soon spread to all provinces of Burma leading to fleeing of Muslims, Burmese Indians, Anglo-Burmese and British to Bengal (present day Bangladesh). During 1940’s Rohingya Muslims started separatist Pakistan Movement and wanted to merge Arakan into East Pakistan. To reward the unwavering loyalty British authorities considered helping Rohingya Muslims to secede from Burma and join Pakistan. Indeed, the North Arakan Muslim League has approached Jinnah, seeking his assistance in joining East Pakistan. But somehow, the proposal never materialized. After Burma’s independence in 1948, the community was recognized as ethnic nationality of Burma. When the military junta took control in 1962, Rohingya community were systemically deprived of political rights.

After Jinnah’s refusal, Rohingya’s supported Jihadi movement and founded Mujahid party with an aim of forming an autonomous Muslim state in Arakan. Initially during the democratic regime Mujahid party had free run. In 1978, the military government headed by General Ne Win launched Operation King Dragon to flush out insurgent Rohingyas who were fighting for independent Islamic State which eventually led to fleeing of over 2,50,000 Muslims into the neighboring Bangladesh. In the meanwhile, pro-democracy uprising began to gain ground by 1988. Overwhelmed by the popularity of non-violent democratic movement led by Suu Kyi, military junta placed her under house arrest in 1989. By 1990s Rohingyas suspended armed rebellion and began to develop a special narrative about Rohingya origins. Denying the Bengali origins, Rohingya scholars began to network extensively with international community claiming their origins to Arab seafarers. Ever since, Rohingya insurgents began to develop strong links with Wahhabi fundamental outfits. Subsequently, a dominant streak of Wahhabism began to slowly percolate into Rakhine state. Many Rohingyas are now Islamic fundamentalists. For the first time, in 1992, Burma reached a bilateral agreement with Bangladesh wherein 2,30,000 Rohingyas were repatriated between mid-1992 and 1997 from the refugees camp in Cox’s bazar.

In the meanwhile, Myanmar military junta to bolster Burmese nationalism highly favored and sided with Theravada Buddhists and began to discriminate other minorities. US even alleged that military rule has even provoked the Buddhists against minorities leading to riots. In 2012, a series of riots erupted into a pogrom leading to displacement of 1,40,000 people who were confined to camps in Myanmar. The outbreak of violence led to formation of armed group Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY) or movement of faith by Ataullah abu Ammar Junjuni, born in Karachi to an immigrant Rohingya who later migrated to Mecca. Ethnic rivalries began to deteriorate and in 2015, Rohingya refugees termed as “boat people”, began to flee to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Bangladesh along Straits of Malacca and Andaman Sea. All countries barring Bangladesh turned these stateless people deeming them as threat to national security. In October 2016, Rohingya insurgents attacked Burmese border posts along the Bangladesh border triggering fresh cycle of violence and military crackdown.

Burdened by the unending cycles of refugee influx, Bangladesh in 2016 initiated a plan of relocating Rohingya to an island Thengar Char. But this proposal was meted with substantial opposition. Human rights activists raised concerns about the living conditions of the place since it was water logged and prone to pirate attacks.

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