Views of Myanmar and Bangladesh governments on Rohingya issue Dr. Mohammed Yunus
Introduction Burma and Bangladesh share a common maritime and land border of about 176 miles. This international border came into existence since 1666 between Moghal Empire and the Arakan kingdom which later turned to British-Burma border, Pakistan-Burma border and now Bangladesh-Burma border. Before establishment of this border the territory of the Arakan kingdom extended further north in Bengal up to Feni river. Both Arakan and the territories of present day Bangladesh passed under British rule for more than one century. Arakan and Bangladesh, being a contagious land mass the territories of which overlapped some time and fallen under the rule of same power for a long time, the inhabitants of these two countries have had close historical, cultural, economic and political relationship. Now Arakan has become a province of Burma and erstwhile East Bengal became East Pakistan and now Bangladesh. The views of Burma and Bangladesh on Rohingya issue is largely formed on the basis of historical realities, strategic importance of the region and perceptions having religious and political dimensions. To understand the views of both the governments it is, therefore, necessary to have a grasp of the historical background of the Muslims in Arakan, historical background of Bangladesh and strategic importance of the region.
Historical background of the Muslims of Arakan Coming of Muslims to Arakan First phase: The Arab seafarers and sufi mystics have been introducing Islam since at least 100 years following the advent of Islam in Arabia in the year 570 C.E. There are reports of several ship wrecks along the 1
Arakan coast the inmates of which were said to be Arabs. R.B Smart writes in the British Burma Gazetteer as follows: "Local histories relate that in the 9th century several ships were wrecked on Ramree island and the Mussalman crews sent to Arakan and placed in villages there. They differ but little with the Arakanese except in their religion and in the social customs which their religion directs, in the writings they use Burmese, but among themselves employ colloquially the language of their ancestors". These shipwrecked Arab Muslims became the nucleus of the Muslim population of Arakan; later other Muslims from Arabia, Persia and other countries entered into Arakan. Second phase: In fifteenth century a large contingent of Muslims entered into Arakan from Bengal. The cause was political. In 1406 the Burmese king invaded and occupied Arakan. Narameikhla, the deposed ruler of Arakan, then a Buddhist, fled to Muslim Bengal and took shelter under the patronage of Sultan Giasuddin Azam Shah. He stayed there for 24 years where he and his followers embraced Islam. The Bengal King sent a large Muslim force to Arakan to drive away the invading Burmese forces and to restore the throne of Arakan to Arakanese king now with the Muslim name of Solaiman Shah. With the restoration of Solaiman Shah to his throne a big contingent of Muslims entered Arakan. The contingent included the army, not one army but two, of which the members of the first expeditionary forces spread over the country and mixed with the people. The second army also must have been a big one. Next, the contingent included the administrators, officers and intellectuals. The l7th century Bengali Muslim poets give in their writings an impression that the capital city of Roshang, patthari Qilla or Mrohaung, thronged with the Muslim population, so that the Muslim ministers maintained Qazi courts, social and cultural assemblies of their own. Then in the third category came the Muslim artisan and craftsmen, the officers connected with mint and other state establishments. Lastly came the traders and businessmen. Third phase: There was yet another group of Muslims to enter into Arakan. They were the people of the coastal areas of Bengal, but 2
kidnapped and sold to slavery by the pirates. The pirates, both Portugese and Maghs carried away men, women and children from Bengal and sold their captives in exchange of cash; the buyers English, Dutch and French sold them as slaves in slave markets. The Portuguese also handed over some of their captives to their priests for converting them to Christianity. But the Maghs did not generally sell their captives, they employed them in Arakan in low works particularly agriculture, cutting of wood, feeding the animals and felling the trees etc. The number was not small and an idea of their number may be had from the fact that when Chittagong fort fell into the hands of the Moghals, ten thousands Bengali, both Muslim and Hindu captives got liberty and they went to their homes. Fourth Phase: The next large scale influx of Muslims from Bengal took place in the middle of the 17th century. This was due to political upheaval in India. Mughal prince Shah Shuja and his followers took shelter in Arakan in 1660. After his tragic death most of his followers were retained in the Arakan army as archers. They are since then known as Kaman meaning bow. In the last part of Mrauku dynasty civil war broke out in Arakan. More Afghans were recruited by the Kamans from Bengal all of whom stayed over in Arakan. Fifth Phase: Both Arakan and India were part of British India. After Arakan was occupied by British and political stability returned many Muslims who fled earlier to Chittagong returned to their homes in Arakan. Many people from Bengal, particularly from Chittagong went to Arakan during British period for business, agricultural work and other occupations. Seasonal laborers also went to Arakan for harvesting crops and come back to their homes. Most of those who went during British period, however, came back before Japanese invasion and others after Ne Win expelled the foreigners.
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Exodus of Muslims from Arakan 1. During Burman occupation (1784-1824): In 1784, Burmese king
Bodawpaya
invaded
and
occupied
Arakan.
Hundreds
of
thousand of Arakanese, both Muslims and Buddhist fled to the territory controlled by British East India Company in East Bengal to escape Burmese tyranny. Thousands of others, particularly those of skilled persons in army, artisans, technicians and intellectuals were taken away to proper Burma where the king employed them in his service. 2. During Muslim massacre of 1942: Thousands of Muslims who escaped from massacre fled to the then East Bengal. Most of them remained there even after independence of Burma. 3. During BTF operation of 1948-1949: Soon after independence of Burma the new Burmese government formed a frontier security force known as BTF. The BTF atrocities compelled thousands of Arakan Muslims to flee to the then East Pakistan. Some of them returned home but majority of them remained in Pakistan. 4. During Counter insurgency Operations (1949-1961): Almost every year military operations were carried out in various names to crush the Mujahids rebellion. Because of the excess committed by the government forces and also by the so-called Mujahids and uprooting of border villages many Arakan Muslims were compelled to flee to East Pakistan who never returned home. 5. During Military rule (1962-1974): On the one hand as a result of economic crackdown, nationalization and demonetization of currency the economic condition of the Muslims have turned from bad to worse while on the other hand as a result of arbitrary arrests, extortions, torture and rape of womenfolk the security of life, 4
property and honor and dignity of the Muslims has been put to serious stake compelling tens of thousands of people to migrate after the military takeover. 6. During BSPP rule (1974-1988): Under one party BSPP rule various restrictions have been imposed on the Muslims in their daily life. Added to this lands have been confiscated, villages have been uprooted;
King
Dragon
Operation
has
been
launched
with
devastating effects and new citizenship law has been enacted declaring the Muslims 'stateless' resulting large scale exodus of Muslims. 7. During SLORC and SPDC rule: The Pyi Thaya operation of 199192, continuous crackdown on so-called economic rebels, forced labour and other serious human rights violations caused life of the Muslims unbearable resulting in large scale exodus.
Historical background of Bangladesh During Sena dynasty in Gaud or north-west Bengal the Muslim Sultan of Delhi sent Gen. Ikhtiar Uddin Mohammad bin Bakhtiar to occupy Bengal in 1201. The ruler of Bengal Lakkhan Sena fled away to Bikrampur on the other bank of river Brahmaputra. After the death of Ikhtiar Uddin his successor Sultan Ala Uddin assumed independence from Delhi Sultanate. During the reign of Gias Uddin Azam Shah (1390-1411), the greatest and most famous of the Ilyas Shahi Sultans of independent rulers of Bengal, the fugitive Arakan king Narameikhla took shelter in Bengal. His successor Jalaluddin Mohammad Shah conquered Arakan and reinstated Arakan king on the throne.
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The Ilyas Shahi were succeeded by Arab, Afghan and Mughal rule in Bengal. In 1582 Arakanese king Sikandar Shah (Min Phalaung) captured Chittagong. The Arakanese retained it till 1666. Gen. Shaista Khan, Mughal viceroy, captured Chittagong in 1666 and since then the present border between Burma and Bangladesh had been established. The English East India Company got administrative control of Bengal in 1765. Gradually the British captured the whole of India. In 1824, the British occupied Arakan and in 1855 they completed occupying whole of Burma. In 1937 the British separated British Burma from British India with Arakan
as
a
part
of
it
by
granting
"Home
Rule"
(internal
self
administration) to them. In 1947 India and Pakistan gained independence. Bangladesh was born in 1971 after secession of the eastern wing of Pakistan.
The
independence
hero
Sheikh
Mujibur
Rahman
was
assassinated in 1975. Gen. Ziaur Rahman came to power. He too was assassinated in 1982. After a brief rule by Justice Sattar Gen. Ershad captured power. He was forced to abdicate in 1991 following mass movement. Khaleda Zia, the wife of late president Ziaur Raman and leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was elected Prime minister in 1991. After her Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib and leader of Awami league was elected Prime minister in 1996. Khaleda Zia was elected once again for the second time in 2001. After completion of her term she handed over power to the caretaker government in 2006 according to Bangladesh Constitution. The caretaker government imposed emergency and continuing to rule.
Strategic importance of Arakan Arakan is the gateway between south Asia and south-east Asia. It is the meeting point of two different civilizations --Muslim and Buddhist. It is a continuous land mass with the plain of Chittagong. It is easier to reach Arakan from Bangladesh than from Burma as it is totally cut off from the 6
rest of Burma by high Arakan Mountains. Arakan has 360 miles long coast along the eastern shores of Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is surrounded on all sides by India except a little land corridor opening to Arakan and Bay of Bengal. The Indian navy can easily choke the water way by blockade. Arakan is highly fertile and abundant natural resources. Of late exploration of oil and gas revealed that Arakan has huge deposits of oil and gas.
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Views of Burmese Government on Our Issue (Rohingya issue) All Burmese regimes from the time of Home Rule era (1937-1948) till today, irrespective of their ideological and political differences, had similar views and adopted the same policy on the Rohingya issue. However their views on how to tackle this issue differed from one government to another based on the situation on the ground, national and international situations and the nature of the government. The cornerstone policy of all Burmese regimes on Arakan is to retain and rule Arakan for ever. On the basis of historical realities of Arakan they fear that Arakan might one day slip out of their grip. To prevent this from happening they take all necessary steps and preventive measures to ensure that their rule is not threatened. All the regimes fear that the Muslims are the main threat; the Buddhist are a lesser threat but if Muslims and Buddhists unite it will be the greatest threat. The Muslim fear emanates from the fact that 1. They are ethnically and religiously different from Arakanese Buddhists and Burmese; 2. They form majority population of Arakan and strategically located en masse in north Arakan bordering Bangladesh; 3. Arakan is having a Muslim neighbour whose population is ethnically and culturally related to the Muslim population of Arakan; 4. Bangladesh is an over populated country. An increase in population could take the shape of a population explosion. An Arakan having Muslim majority population and political power could be a conducive factor for population expansion from Bangladesh into Arakan; 5. It was Muslim Bengal which once helped Arakan regain its independence by driving out the invading Burmans the history of which may repeat once again.
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The Arakanese Buddhist fear emanates from the fact that 1. They are ethnically different from the Burmese who have historical animosity with the Burmese; 2. A section of them are intensely pro-independence. In view of the above all the Burmese regimes felt the need to 1. diminish Muslim population by way of extermination to the extent of negligible minority; 2. to crush them politically and economically; 3. divide the two sister communities permanently by way of giving the Buddhists upper hand and various facilities in the affairs of Arakan & 4. Culturally
assimilate
the
Arakanese
Buddhists
with
Burmese
Buddhists through a process of Burmanisation.
Views of the Burmese Home Rule government on the Muslims of Arakan (1937-1948) After separation from India nationalist Burmese were in a better position to implement their views. As the Second World War started and the British withdrew from Arakan they saw that it was an opportune moment to clean sweep Muslims from the soil of Arakan and to affect a permanent division between the two religiously divided sister communities. About 100,000 Muslims perished in Burmese instigated cold blooded massacre in 1942. The areas east of Kaladan river has turned into Muslim minority area and many Muslim villages had disappeared from the map of Arakan. After the war was over and British reentry, the Home Rule government prevented the displaced Muslims to return to their homes and prevented those who went to East Bengal to return to Arakan. All the immovable properties were distributed to the Buddhist Arakanese.
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Muslims of Arakan were not invited to Panglong nationalities conference which was held in February 1947 to negotiate the future political set up of Burma after independence to deal a political blow to them.
Views of newly independent Burmese government on the Muslims Now that Arakan has become an administrative division under the Burmese dominated Central government. The Burmese felt that it was time 1. to consolidate their rule over Arakan; 2. to weaken the Muslims politically and economically so that they cannot raise their heads in future and 3. to reduce the Muslim population by way of triggering refugee exodus. To implement their these views they had 1. dismissed Muslim officers and officials appointed by the British and replaced them with Buddhists; 2. carried out atrocities upon the Muslims and discriminate them & 3. launched BTF operation where hundreds of Muslims were killed, scores of villages burnt down and more than 50,000 people fled to East Pakistan. In response to the Burmese regime's tyranny, when the Muslim rose in arms and controlled rural areas of northern Arakan, the U NU government changed its tactics to contain the insurgency and prevent the situation from further inflammation. The U Nu government continued military operations against the insurgents on one hand and took the following political initiatives on the other. 1. Rohingyas were declared as an indigenous ethnic group like other indigenous ethnic groups of Burma. 10
2. Rohingya
language
program
was
relayed
from
Burma
Broadcasting Service (BBS), Rangoon regularly. 3. Rohingya representatives attended the Union Day celebrations every year. 4. Mayu Frontier Administration (MFA) was created where some degree of local autonomy was granted. 5. Rohingya politicians were convinced that it was useless to continue armed struggle while the government is granting the Rohingyas equal rights. 6. A Muslim Volunteer corps was raised from among Muslims to fight Mujahids along side the army. In this way the Mujahids insurrection was controlled.
Views of the military regime (1962-up to now) When the military seized power after the crushing of insurgency they felt that Muslims were not in a position to retaliate if they took steps to achieve their objectives. They felt that it was time to do away with the Muslims. The following steps were taken: 1. Muslims are branded as illegal immigrants; 2. Restriction on movement was imposed; 3. Muslims were no more recruited in government services and many others were either expelled or transferred; 4. In the nationalization and demonetization process Muslims of Arakan were hardest hit. 5. Big operations like King Dragon and Pyi Thaya had been carried out resulting in large-scale refugee exodus; 6. A new Burma Citizenship Law was enacted in 1982 declaring the Muslims as "stateless". 7. Confiscation
of
Muslim
land
distributed to the Buddhists; 11
was
carried
out
which
were
8. New Buddhist settlements were established in the Muslim area; 9. Atrocities like arbitrary arrest, torture, extrajudicial killings, rape, forced labour with degrading inhuman treatment and restriction on education, trade and business, marriage, religious practices etc have been imposed.
Views of the Bangladesh Governments on Rohingya issue Historically, Bengal and Arakan had close relationship. Historian D.G.E.Hall stated," Although before the establishment of Mrohaung by Narameikhla in 1433, there was from time to time Burmese and Mon interference, Arakan's contact with Mohamedan India was probably closer than those with
Burma"
Again
it
was
Muslim
Bengal
which
helped
restore
independence of Arakan in 1430 from Burmese occupation. Bangladesh
and
erstwhile
governments
of
this
area
felt
that
an
independent Arakan with a majority Muslim population is in their best interest both politically and economically. However the governments of this region have been so pre-occupied with other issues and compulsions that they could not exert much concentration on Arakan issue. After independence of Pakistan there had been occasional border problems with Burma concerning the ill treatment of the Muslims in Arakan. The Pakistan government had protested several times regarding the forcible expulsion of Muslims from Arakan and uprooting of border villages. The Pakistan
intelligence
had
also
secretly
supported
Arakan
liberation
movements time to time. After the independence of Bangladesh, Col. Amin, the military attache of Bangladesh in Rangoon was declared persona-nongrata by Burmese military regime in 1974 accusing him of involvement with persons who tried to stage a military coup against Ne Win. Around 1973 Sheikh Mujib 12
seriously considered to support Arakan liberation movement and create a buffer state between Bangladesh and Burma. However, Sheikh Mujib found the leaders of the Arakan movement incapable and thus backed out from his earlier stance. In 1975 when some refugees crossed over to Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib sent strong warning to Burma by summoning Burmes ambassador in Dhaka to take back the refugees or face the consequences. Given Sheikh Mujibs towering personality and international standing, the Burmese readily responded and took back the refugees. When Ziaur Rahman faced Rohingya refugee problem in 1978 he enquired about Rohingya Patriotic Front (RPF) from various sources. His finding was also not encouraging. Therefore he preferred to solve the problem diplomatically by mounting pressure on Burma from various quarters. In the
bilateral
agreement
reached
between
Burma
and
Bangladesh
concerning the repatriation of refugees, Ziaur Rahman had accepted the Burmese assertion to define our status as "residents of Burma" instead of citizens of Burma emboldening the Burmese to deny our citizenship. The Burmese had thus scored a diplomatic victory over Bangladesh. Following the return of the refugees the Ne Win regime enacted a new citizenship law which declared Arakan Muslims as "stateless" people. The government of Khaleda Zia also toed the line of Ziaur Rahman when Bangladesh was attacked in December 199 land subsequently followed by huge refugee influx. Since the time of Sheikh Mujib till the first term of Khaleda Zia the Bangladesh government tolerated presence of anti-Burmese insurgents on its soil although no one actively supported them. When Sheikh Hasina became Prime minister, under the pressure of the Indian government, the authorities pursued resistance fighters and arrested one important figure. This action of Awami League government sent signal to the Burmese that the Rohingyas have, in fact, no patrons although the Burmese were earlier in doubt about possible secret support of the Bangladesh government for Rohingyas. During Khaleda Zia's second term, under pressure from India
13
and
US,
the
authorities
confiscated
huge
quantities
of
arms
and
ammunition from resistance groups. Although there has been a continuous influx of refugees from Arakan into Bangladesh, who are assimilated with the locals gradually, the Bangladesh government seems to be not serious about them probably thinking that the relationship with Burma will be soured if it raises the question of Rohingya influx with Burma. There are an estimated 600,000 unregistered Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.
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