Do you remember Bhagat Singh? An ordinary Indian would say "Who wouldn't!!". Next up, could you recollect what was he fighting for or against? An even easier answer "Independence against the British Colonial Rule!!"
You won an easy quick fire round, no need to feel patriotic about it. Now, try a riddle which is a notch tougher, what was Bhagat Singh's underlying reason for the fasting, bombings, debates,etc? My answer to this would be - he wanted the world to recogonize India as an Independent country, with independent citizens and indigeneous laws.
Bottom line: He wanted what all of us want in our everyday lives - Respectful Status.
Rohingyas want the same. They forever wanted to be identified as an ethnic group of the Burmese land. As a matter of fact before 1982 they were respectful citizens of Burma with equal Human rights and status as the rest of the citizens. Then, Burma’s junta passed a law that identified 135 ethnicities entitled to citizenship. The Rohingyas were not among them. Burma attained independence from the Britishers in 1948. From 1948 to 1982 the Rohingyas were living their lives normally. Then came the law and changed things forever.
Somehow, to the dismay of the world, Pakistan too has been playing a part in this complete issue. Just before independence the Rohingyas wanted that their region, known as the Arakan, be merged with Pakistan. The best reason for this could be the fact that Pakistan has been a Muslim country and the Rohingyas consist majorly of Muslims with a minority of Hindus. Just FYI, Myanmar is 90% Buddhist. This merger never materialized. Subsequently, the Rohingyas Muslims took up arms and formalized a separatist group. This awarded them the tag of a "Terrorist community".
Back then the following statement was published by a local Burmese journalist: "We don’t want Muslims to swallow our country. … They will not finish with attacking just Rakhine. They will also invade China State or Irrawaddy region." Just to keep you with me before you dose off with information overdose Rakhine is a place in Myanmar which belong(ed) to the Rohingyas.
Let's say hello to Pakistan again. The ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) is the separatist group which has been launching attacks time and again on the Burmese Border. Why, you would ask? Myanmar's defense ministry and home ministry is in the hands of the army. Once the Rohingyas were stripped off their rights, the army began the so called "Ethnic Cleansing" of the Rohingyas, which included Genocides, murders and mass rapes. Hence came forth the salvation army. The ARSA, right or wrong in its reasons, has been getting all the support it needs from Pakistan. One of the best answers doing the rounds as to why no country is accepting the Rohingyas is the fact that they are a violent group, however no one really knows the reason.
I'll fast forward a bit and spare you a bit of your time to doze off (and work). Lets come to the year of 2012. Tensions and violence erupted to an all time high on the news of a Rohingya Muslim raping a Burmese Buddhist women. As a result, close to 1,40,000 Rohingyas were forced into camps. Due to mounting international pressure the Burmese government had to take steps to calm down soaring temperatures. The Military government agreed to grant the Rohingyas a reduced form of citizenship if they registered themselves as Bengali—not Rohingyas. Then they must have remembered the Bhagat Singh in them.
They refused.
Ang San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar, reacted in the most typical political manner saying that they (the government) condemn the atrocities against the Rohingyas and do not support it. Try to believe what she said after this: We do not fear the international condemnation of our government for our stand on the Rohingyas. Ironical. However she is not much to blame, most of the powers still reside with the military.
On the 25th of August, 2017, Ang San Suu Kyi gave in to international pressure and agreed on the formation of Advisory Commission on Rakhine State issue under Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general. One of the biggest agendas of the advisory commission was to review the law passed in 1982 which denied the Rohingyas their citizenship. Unluckily, just after above reports made news, ARSA attacked the Burmese borders following a crackdown by the Military.
I still wonder why would they have done it. Could it be the (military) government's needling which forced the ARSA to do so so that they could show the UN how right they were in torturing the Rohingyas? So that the can continue cleansing them? Or was the ARSA becoming impatient? You tell!
The crackdown (cleansing) forced the cross border movement of the Rohingyas. Up to the latest census, Bangladesh has the largest number of Rohingyas, close to 900,000 followed by Myanmar (500,000). In India as well some 40,000 are estimated to be present.
The sad part: no body wants to accept them.
I feel their state just similar to that of Pakistan, a few turbulent members are degrading the status of the entire community. One has the sypathize with the common Rohingya, nobody deserves the atrocities. Maybe giving them an aadhar card makes them a credential vote bank? Or are they really a violent community which will de-stabalize a country?
I answered a few questions, a leave a few more unanswered to maintain the equilibrium!
