Arakan Rohingya
Solidarity Army, former Myanmar-based outfit Harakah al-Yaqin, in a tweet, has
called on all concerned to resist Myanmar government’s efforts ‘to divide and
rule the inhabitants of Rakhine State’, also known as Arakan.
The
commander-in-chief of ARSA, renamed in early 2017, Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi,
in a video published online on Wednesday said that the ‘Burmese government’ was
again trying to play the old game of divide and rule.
‘But Rakhine leaders
possess the wisdom to evade the enemy’s trap,’ according to video released on
Twitter, which had over 3,500 followers by Thursday.
‘The government of
Bangladesh, mass-media and members of the public ought to remember their
independence struggle, and huge price paid to regain the lost rights and finally
created today’s Bangladesh,’ he said in the 18.38-minute video message.
‘The Rakhine
community and its leaders still have time to realise the political and military
strategies of the Burmese, who always try to divide and rule,’ Ataullah added.
The ARSA commander,
flanked by four armed men wearing masks and lungis, employed several approaches
in urging Rakhine community to end its participation in the ‘ethnic cleansing
of Rohingyas.’
In another effort to
highlight Myanmar government’s duplicity, Ataullah said, ‘Burma is very elusive
and will also continue to try to fool regional governments and international
bodies to win on every stage. Extreme care in dealing with Burma in every
affair with regard to Rohingya is highly recommended.’
In the video, ARSA
invited the United Nations and NATO to investigate whether the outfit
affiliated with ‘elements of terror’ or received funds from other
organisations.
The video was
released at a time when ethnic minority Rohingya people of Rakhine state were
entering Bangladesh afresh in small groups in bordering Cox’s Bazar district as
the Myanmar government deployed Army in the state.
‘They come in small
groups of thee-four,’ Border Guard Bangladesh acting sector commander
Lieutenant Colonel Anwarul Azim told New Age over phone Wednesday night.
According to border
guard headquarters, Bangladesh resisted the infiltrations of 2,355 Myanmar
nationals between January and July.
The border guards
have started guarding vulnerable places along the border, he said, adding that
the situation was not alarming. Officials in Dhaka expressed concern about the
possibility of fresh influx from Rakhine if Myanmar troops launched crackdown
with violation of human rights.
Myanmar defence
minister Lieutenant General Sein Win said that they deployed ‘more troops in
Rakhine, according to Radio Free Asia.