The Rohingya were
the Muslim inhabitants of the medieval land of Arakan, a majority of who have
now taken shelter in Bangladesh after being forced to flee Myanmar. The Myanmar
province of Arakan, renamed as Rakhine in 1974, is located in the northwestern
region of that country beside the southeastern border of Bangladesh.
According to recent
figures, the territory of Arakan has an area of around 36,762 square kilometres
with its capital at Sittwe, and contains a population of over 4 million. The
Rohingya constitute around 35% of the province’s current population, and the
rest are mostly Buddhists.
Neither the Myanmar
government nor the Rakhine province’s dominant Buddhist group “Rakhines”
recognize the label “Rohingya” that surfaced mainly in the 1950s in order to
provide the ethnic community with a collective political identity. Although the
etymological root of the word is disputed, the most widely accepted theory is
that Rohang derives from the word “Arakan” in the Rohingya dialect, and “ga” or
“gya” means “from.”
By identifying as
Rohingya, the ethnic minority group asserts its ties to a land that was once a
part of the medieval Arakan Kingdom. The exploits of the Bengal-origin poet
Alaol (1607-73, composer of Padmavati) in the royal court of Arakan is quite
well-known.
The Rohingya
community is believed to have originated during early 9th century, when some
Arab and Persian traders of Islamic faith found shelter in Arakan after their
ship sank near the island of Ramree.
The Englishman RB
Smart had written in the Burma Gazetteer (1917): “The local histories relate,
in the ninth century, several ships were wrecked on Ramree Island and the
Mussalman crews were sent to Arakan and placed in villages there. They differed
but little from the Arakanese except in their religion and in the social
customs which their religion directed; in the writing they used Burmese, but
amongst themselves employed colloquially the language of their ancestors.”
Based on a number of
documents, Professor Mohammad Ali Chowdhury of Chattogram University has
claimed (1996): “It was a long established custom that foreign residents and
even visitors to Burma and Arakan, either by shipwreck or for commercial
reasons, were encouraged to form matrimonial alliances with the women of the
country, but on strict understanding that when they left the country, their
wives and children might not be taken away with them.
“Later, Muslim
soldiers, traders, fortune-seekers, slaves etc from Bengal and other regions of
India started to live permanently in Arakan in significant numbers. The Muslim
population also continued to increase through inter-marriages with the locals.”
Therefore it is
quite clear that Bangladesh and the present-day Rakhine state of Myanmar have
had a long history of social and cultural interactions, and the main reasons
for this have been geographical contiguity as well as historical entanglements.
Chittagong was under Arakanese occupation from 1550 to 1666, and Tripura was
also its protectorate during the 16th century. During this period, the
Arakanese “Maghs” as well as Portuguese “Harmads” or “Firingis” used to conduct
joint piracy raids for carrying out lootings and abductions in different
regions of Bengal, especially in the coastal districts, which severely
disrupted the socio-economic lives of the Bangali population.
Even European
traders were not spared from these attacks. The Mughal Subedar of Bangla
Shaista Khan, however, captured Chittagong from the Arakanese in 1666, and then
incorporated it in the Mughal Empire.
In 1760, the British East India Company
received the right to extract revenue in the territories of Chittagong,
Medinipur, Bardhaman etc from the Nawab Mir Qasim, and the company then strove
to exert its influence in the region.
As sporadic attacks
by the Maghs hindered their effort, the company tried to improve its relations
with the Kingdom of Arakan. The company officials also adopted a policy of
sanctioning Arakanese settlements on the southern coast of Chittagong with the
objective of obstructing the Maghs as well as cultivating the southern
territories. But the relations between the two parties could not develop much
due to the anarchy and disorder prevailing in Arakan. In this backdrop, the
Burmese King Bodawpaya captured Arakan by removing the then King Thamada in
1785, and incorporated it as a province of Myanmar.
Between 1785 and
1794, over two-thirds of the Arakanese population including Rohingya Muslims
and Buddhist Maghs fled Arakan for saving their lives due to tortures and
repression perpetrated by the Burmese king.
They mostly took
shelter in the present-day Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban districts. This long
history and tradition of the Arakanese people taking shelter in Chittagong
after being driven out by the brutal Burmese troops in Arakan has continued
till today.
Between 1797 and
1798, as many as 40 thousand Arakanese refugees arrived in Chittagong. Captain
Hiram Cox was appointed as a commissioner and superintendent by the British
rulers to rehabilitate these refugees. He allowed the refugees to settle in
various parts of Chittagong as well as the hill tracts. The district of Cox’s
Bazar still bears the name of this outstanding British diplomat.
The British East
India Company tried to increase their revenue and output by settling the
Arakanese refugees, mainly Buddhist Rakhines, in uncultivated lands of
Chittagong, Bandarban, Barisal, Patuakhali, etc. They gradually became part of
the Bangladeshi ethos despite their distinct cultural origin.
The plight of Arakanese
Refugees improved after the regions of Arakan and Tenaserim came under British
rule as per the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 following the First Anglo-Burmese
War (1824-26). The lower territories of Myanmar came under the control of
British East India Company after the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53). And
the whole of Myanmar came under British rule at the end of the Third
Anglo-Burmese War (1885-87). These political developments had a massive impact
on the flow of population and migration in the region.
The British framed
supportive laws under which they rehabilitated many people from Chittagong in
Arakan by distributing fallow lands. The refugees were also allowed to return
voluntarily to Arakan, but the British extended some benefits to them for encouraging
their return.
Due to the
opportunities created by the British for engaging in unhindered trade and
commerce all over the British-controlled territories, a large segment of the
Arakanese population living in Chittagong then started doing business in
Arakan. Besides, in the backdrop of severe unemployment and economic
difficulties faced by the Chittagong region, better facilities and higher wages
in Arakan also motivated the refugees to go back to their own land.
Following the
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, commercial production of paddy became
feasible and was taken up in right earnest in Myanmar because of its high
profitability. Mass migration of people from Bengal to Burma commenced after
that from the 1880s, which was mostly spontaneous and partly encouraged by the
British Indian government.
The latter
encouraged free movements of workers in order to bring the fallow lands under
paddy cultivation reduce population pressure in Bengal and solve its unemployment
problem. The workers were tempted to migrate because of higher wages in Arakan
as well as the possibility of getting official land-grants.
The situation,
however, started to deteriorate during the Second World War (1939-45), when the
British troops withdrew following the occupation of Burma by Japanese military.
During this interregnum, the communal Maghs started killing Rohingya and
expelling them to Bengal.
There were then
horrendous communal riots between the Buddhist Maghs and the Muslim Rohingya in
the northern parts of Arakan, when Arakan virtually got divided into two
communities based on religion. Under the circumstances, the Rohingya supported
the British and carried out activities in their favour. The British also
promised the Rohingya a separate homeland by adopting a “Divide and Rule
Policy.”
Many Rohingya fought
on the sides of the British and served as spies against the Japanese occupiers.
When this linkage was discovered, the Japanese military along with the Burmese
nationalist forces entered Arakan in 1942 and carried out widespread killings,
which is also known as the “1942 massacre” or “genocide.”
At this juncture,
about 100 thousand Rohingya were killed and 500 thousand took refuge in the
British-controlled India including Chittagong, as well as in Malay, Saudi
Arabia, and Iran. Since 1942, around 1.2 million Rohingya have taken shelter in
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Saudi Arabia, and the countries in the
Persian Gulf region in order to save their lives from incessant tortures and
repression in Arakan.
British rule in
Burma was restored at the end of Second World War. But the British did not keep
their pledge of creating a separate homeland for the Rohingya. Even the founder
of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah betrayed their cause when he declined to
incorporate northern Arakan in the new state after being approached by the
Rohingya Muslim League leaders in 1947.
Following the
independence of Burma from British Raj in January 1948, the government under
Prime Minister U Nu constituted the Burma Territorial Force (BTF) with the
inclusion of 99% Magh troops. They unleashed a reign of terror in the north of
Arakan. Muslim men, women, and children were mowed down in hundreds by machine
gun fire. Hundreds of intellectuals, village elders, and religious leaders were
killed like dogs and rats.
Almost all Muslim
villages were razed to the ground. The BTF massacre triggered a refugee exodus
into the then East Pakistan, and they numbered over 50,000.
After the military
takeover in Burma by General Ne Win in 1962, all constitutional rights of the
Rohingya including their citizenship were rescinded. During the eviction drive
that followed, around 20,000 Rohingya escaped to Cox’s Bazar by crossing the
border. The Burmese regime, however, took back the refugees after talks with
the Pakistani government. In 1964, numerous Rohingya socio-cultural
organizations were banned by the military junta.
The programs
broadcast in Rohingya language by the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS) were
stopped from October 1965. All private newspapers were also banned from 1966.
There was another Rohingya exodus from Arakan to Cox’s Bazar after the Burmese
military officers raped Rohingya women and encouraged the Maghs to attack the
Rohingya in 1966.
Following the independence
of Bangladesh, a large number of Rohingya again fled to the country in 1973 and
1974 in the face of renewed persecution by the Maghs. When the Bangladesh
government warned of dire consequences, the Burmese regime was compelled to
take back the refugees and rehabilitate them in their Arakan homes.
But within a few
years, the military junta of Yangon launched the operation “Naga Min” or “King
Dragon” in 1978. Over 10,000 Rohingya were killed during this operation and
about 250,000 refugees fled to Bangladesh. Around 40,000 Rohingya women,
children, and elderly people perished during the journey.
The refugees were
sheltered in 13 refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban as well as in some
outer areas. However, the Burmese regime again took back these refugees under a
program titled “Operation Golden Eagle” following an agreement signed with the
Bangladesh government in 1979.
Myanmar’s military
junta once again targeted the Rohingya in 1990 after the junta’s rejection of
the country’s parliamentary polls results in 1989. As a result, 270,000
Rohingya refugees were again forced to flee Myanmar during 1991-92. Although a
bilateral agreement was signed by the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar on
April 28, 1992 for the return of the refugees, the repatriation progressed only
at a snail’s pace. There were additional Rohingya influxes during 1996-97, and
the repatriation process was almost halted from 2005 onwards.
Meanwhile, riots
again broke out in the Rakhine state between the Rohingya Muslims and the
Buddhist Rakhines in June 2012. As a result, 200 Rohingya were killed and over
110,000 refugees fled to Bangladesh. There were similar inhuman tortures on the
Rohingya community in 2016 as well.
Then following the
killing of 12 Myanmar security personnel by the Rohingya rebels on August 25,
2017, the military launched the “clearance operations” against the Rohingya.
About 10,000 Rohingya were allegedly killed by the Myanmar troops during this
operation, and many among them were wounded or became victims of tortures and
rape.
Over 300 villages
were burned to ashes, and around 700,000 refugees were forced to flee and take
shelter in Bangladesh. Although a bilateral agreement was signed by the Myanmar
and Bangladesh governments for repatriation of the refugees on November 2017,
there has been virtually no progress on the issue till today. This has created
a problem of huge proportions unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh.
The Myanmar
government refuses to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, as a result of which
most of them now have no legal documentation, effectively making them
stateless. Myanmar’s 1948 citizenship law was already exclusionary, but the
military junta seizing power in 1962 introduced another law that blocked the
Rohingya’s access to full citizenship.
Until recently, the
Rohingya were able to register as temporary residents with identification
cards, known as “white cards,” which the junta began issuing to Muslims during
the 1990s. The white cards granted limited rights but were not recognized as
proof of citizenship, and only allowed temporary stay of the Rohingya in
Myanmar.
The Myanmar
government organized an UN-backed national census in 2014, where the ethnic
minority group was initially permitted to identify themselves as Rohingya. But
later the authorities ordered the Rohingya to register by identifying
themselves as “Bengali” after the Buddhist nationalists threatened to boycott
the census. Again coming under pressure from the Buddhist nationalists who
protested the Rohingya’s right to vote in a 2015 constitutional referendum, the
then President Thein Sein cancelled the temporary identity cards (white cards)
in February 2015, thereby revoking their right to vote.
The Bangladesh
foreign minister visited the Rakhine state in August 2018, where he inspected
the progress in building shelters and houses for the Rohingya. But the issue of
granting Myanmar citizenship to the Rohingya, which is essential for ensuring
their secure and dignified existence there, has remained elusive.
Under the
circumstances, the Rohingya would naturally be disinterested to return
voluntarily. In fact, it appears that the initiatives taken and the assurances
given by Myanmar have been mere eyewashes. Apparently, Myanmar has been
applying this technique in order to protect itself from outside pressures
including international embargos.
Many countries,
agencies, and human rights organizations have termed as “genocide” and “ethnic
cleansing” the crimes committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya
population in Rakhine. But ironically, the international community is yet to
take any effective steps against these crimes against humanity.
The global community
and donor agencies have certainly come forward with humanitarian assistances.
But it is not possible for a populous and resource-poor country like Bangladesh
to bear the brunt of 1 million refugees for an indefinite period. The country
has no other option now but to generate global public opinion in favour of the
return of refugees with recognition of their citizenship and assurance of a
safe future, as well as trial of the inhuman acts committed against them. The
global community also cannot forsake its responsibility in this regard.
In the above
backdrop, about 1 million Rohingya refugees continue to live in Bangladesh,
mostly in Cox’s Bazar, posing a gigantic challenge for the country’s economy
and society. The Bangladesh government, however, has been facing the crisis
quite courageously and the matter has now reached even the International
Criminal Court.
Although various
countries and agencies from the Western world, the United Nations, European
Union, and the Commonwealth have stood beside Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue,
Bangladesh faces an embarrassing situation as the regional powers like India,
China, and Japan maintain their tacit support for Myanmar due to geo-political
and strategic reasons.
A swift resolution
of the repeated persecutions, expulsions, and statelessness of the Rohingya
Muslims requires empathetic attention and urgent action of the global
community.
If ethnic
communities including the Maghs or Rakhines can live in peace and harmony in
Bangladesh with all constitutional and citizenship rights, then why cannot it
be so in case of the Rohingya in Myanmar?
It is high time that
Myanmar and its people come to terms with the historical reality of the
existence of Rohingya Muslims in the Arakan or Rakhine state for centuries.
Only then can one expect an honourable solution to this centuries-old problem.
Dr Helal
Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editorial Consultant
of The Financial Express. He can be reached at hahmed1960@gmail.com
Source: Dhaka
Tribune