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*15.1.2006

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Rakhine and Rohingya

I’m a native Mon from Mon State that locates on the other side of Burma. So I will be an onlooker. I will attempt as fair as possible.

Whether native or not, if Rohingyas are citizens of Burma, they should be treated as citizens. The Bengalis know Rohingyas as Rohingyas; they don’t speak the same language but related to each other. The world has come to know Rohingyas since Rohingyas were driven out from Arakan State as refugees into Bangladesh in 1962. The truth will be unveiled one day.

I searched for Rohingya history by the key word Rohingya. I found some results so I will quote them and make them as references.

Ecyclopedia.com doesn’t contain the word Rohingya but it has some data about Rakhine and Arakan. So I quote: There is also a large minority of Bengali Muslims http://encyclopedia.com/html/r/rakhine.asp. This is another quote (from Asia Times) - The Rohingyas, who are Muslims and speak the same language as the population in the Chittagong area of Bangladesh… According to Wekipedia.org, the origin of Rohingyas is still unclear. The Rohingyas have the history that is previously unrecorded. The language of Rohingya is from Indo-European language family related to Bengali and Chittagonian dialect that is spoken in Bangladesh and India.

When Burma was divided from India for independence, the borderline was unchanged. None of the Indian land was included into Burma. That borderline has been the same, since the British and Burman signed treaty at Yandaboo village after the first Anglo-Burman war. Thus, I don’t think some of the native Indian areas became into Burma.

Myanmar has recognized some Rohingyas as citizens but some have been denied. Once U Nu also recognized Rohingyas as an ethnic but this is viewed as a case politically motivated – the people in that area must know the truth. During the British era, there were a significant number of immigration into Burma from India – Bangladesh was not yet formed; this can be the reason why the settlers from the previous era of India lost their background identity that no country recognized them. There can be more settlers afterward immigrated into Arakan State during the 1973s.

The history claimed by the Rohingyas is – when Arab merchants docked at an Arakan port on their way to China in 9^th C, they became the Rohingya by mixing up with local population. This sounds romantic for me. I wonder how many of these merchants landed in Arakan to become a significant and distinct race of 1.2 millions speaking a Chittagonian language. They rather became the Rakhines themselves. This must be the unique odds of Burma. But if it is real, we have to accept it. And the mindset of the Rakhine is no Rakhine would become a Muslim.

On the Chittagong Hill, the attempts for autonomy by the natives started in 1973 due to expulsion of Bengali speaking settlers. Quote from http://encyclopedia.com/html/c/chittago.asp Since 1973 tribal guerrillas(of Chittagong regional tribes) have sought autonomy for the district, as well as the expulsion of of hundreds of thousands of Bangla-speaking settlers. Soon after Burma became independent, there was a Mujahid movement of Rohingyas for autonomy. I guess this is significantly identical with the 1973 Chittagong movement.

Muslims and Buddhists lived together without hostility in Arakan until 1942. Officially, there are 36 races living in Rakhine State but the Rohingyas are not recognized as native. But there is another Islamic race, the Kaman, officially recognized. It seems the then Rohingyas problem was rather an ethnic problem than a religious one.

When the Rakhine lost their independent to Bama throne, the Rohingyas were never to be mentioned in the historical events- perhaps they were small minority. However, there is a claim that a large number of Arakanese Muslims refugees fled to Chittagong. This is unlikely because the Rakhines were not Muslims. And they must be Arakanese speaking Arakanese but not Rohingya. This highlights a doubt on the historical identity of Rohingya. It is very certain that the word Rohingyas wasn’t actually there at all. It’s no doubt that Muslims were there with an extent of influence during the rule of Rakhine kings. They were Bengalis and Indians. I haven’t met many Rohingyas so I don’t know their general appearance; and I can’t find any independent articles related to this.

It’s fair enough if the Rakhine cannot accept the settlers’ claim of autonomy. I rather let the Rakhine and Rohingyas solve their problems among themselves by mean of peace and understanding. All Rohingyas are maybe not part of those settlers but this yet need more study for the sake of peaceful solution. Here is a quote from http://www.survivorsrightsinternational.org/pdfs/UNHCRalert.pdf Facts: The Rohingyas, constitute the largest minority group in the state of Arakan. This is very interesting if this document is written by the authority of the UNHCR. Anyway, all the native minorities have the right to claim their rights.

I have a friend who is a former Migration officer from Rakhine State. He’s trustworthy as I’ve known him since we were in Thailand. He’s not a Rakhine but have different bloods. He told me a lot but I rather not expose them all here. He said Rohingyas are settlers from the other side of the border. Their population growth was very high. One day we could interview old people from both sides about their knowledge of tales, stories, folklores and historical events – of their beliefs in original form about their people and land, cultural identities, and feudal disputes. I’m sure there are very knowledgeable people in the area who know the regional events very well. The truth will be unveiled one day in the free time.

Whoever the Rohingyas are, if they were born in Burma, they should get certain official status. If the Rakhine cannot accept more migrants, they should have the right to deny so. Part of the problem is the claim of independence or autonomy of the Rohingyas before their identity was confirmed. Bangladeshi government should take responsibility as well for solving the identity of the Rohingyas.

We have to be considerate. Nobody wants to lose their property and their rights. All of us must be sincere here. At the time of crises under the suppressive regime, people must be calm and peaceful by mean of tolerance.

Let me be short as I have no bookshelf for references.

Min K Kyaw

Min_kyaw@yahoo.com

References:

I want to highly recommend you to read the following references. But the readers should treat them cautiously.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DI21Df06.html

http://encyclopedia.com/html/r/rakhine.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya

http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/R_0217.htm

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Chris-EU_Paper.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/chittagong

http://www.survivorsrightsinternational.org/pdfs/UNHCRalert.pdf