Myanmar: A Good Example for Politics of

Polarisation

Historical circumstances that led Myanmar to the current quagmire have many
parallels in Sri Lanka. Like Sri Lanka, Myanmar was under the British colonial
rule. The strategy of domination in both was Divide and Rule.

by Lionel Bopage - Oct 5, 2017

Oct 5, 2017

Introduction
( October 5, 2016, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Rohingya are the worlds
largest stateless community. Most of them live in the western coastal state of
Rakhine, one the poorest states in Myanmar. The majority of the Rohingya are
Muslims and have for centuries lived in the majority Buddhist Myanmar. The
Rohingya speak Rohingya or Ruaingga, a dialect that is distinct from other
dialects spoken in Rakhine State and Myanmar. They are not considered one of
the countrys 135 official ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship in
Myanmar since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless. Since
August 2017, more than half a million Rohingya have fled from Myanmar to
Bangladesh alone.
Recently several Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka protested outside a shelter
housing 31 refugees, mostly women and children. The Sri Lankan Navy had
rescued these refugees from a boat in Sri Lankan waters in April this year.
Myanmars situation can be compared to, but is much worse than the situation
that existed in Sri Lanka for almost five decades. The well-known Black July riots
was a well-planned response to the killing of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers in July
1983 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The violence unleashed not
only helped the LTTE to swell its ranks, but also internationalised the conflict
with mass exodus of Tamils to their homeland in the north and east and then
overseas.
Historical circumstances that led Myanmar to the current quagmire have many
parallels in Sri Lanka. Like Sri Lanka, Myanmar was under the British colonial
rule. The strategy of domination in both was Divide and Rule. Since their
respective independence from colonial rule, both Sri Lanka and Myanmar have
traversed along similar paths. Uniting diverse communities for building a
harmonious nation was never attempted. Measures were taken that some
ethnicities like Tamils and Muslims regarded as discriminatory such as
disenfranchising estate workers, colonising land, making Sinhala the official
language while disregarding Tamil, standardising education and discriminating
in recruitment and promotions. Disunity, polarisation and exclusion of the other
were its bitter fruits.
British Colonial rule
During more than 100 years of British rule, Myanmar was administered as a
province of India. No international boundary existed between Bengal and
Arakan, and there were no restrictions on migration between the regions.
Muslims appear to have lived in Myanmar since as early as the 12th century.
Rohingya have been living in Arakan (now known as Rakhine) for a very long
time.
The British colonial policy encouraged Bengali inhabitants from adjacent regions
to migrate into Arakan as farm labourers. The waves of migration were
primarily due to the requirement of cheap labour for superimposing capitalist
economics on the feudal set up that prevailed in Myanmar. In the 17th century,
many Rohingya may have entered Myanmar because of these policies. Most of
the natives saw migration of labourers negatively.
The Rohingya contend that they are indigenous Arakans of western Myanmar
influenced by the Arab, Mughal and Portuguese cultures. The Rohingya
language is considered part of the Indo-Aryan sub-branch of the greater Indo-
European language family. It is related to the Chittagonian language spoken in
the southernmost part of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar. Both Rohingya and
Chittagonian are related to Bengali.
Muslim settlements
Arakan was a key centre of maritime trade and cultural exchange. From the
eighth century onwards due to Arab missionary activities many locals appear to
have converted to Islam. The Rohingya practice Sunni Islam. As in Sri Lanka,
there are different versions of history playing out in Myanmar. In one version,
other than the conversions, Arab merchants married local women and settled
down in Arakan, which made the Muslim population grow. The Rohingya
believe they descended from these early communities.
In another version, the Rakhines are said to be one of the tribes of the Tibeto-
Burman-speaking Pyu people, who began migrating to Arakan through the
Arakan Mountains in the ninth century and established several cities in the
region. Burmese forces invaded the Rakhine cities in 1406. This forced Rakhine
rulers to seek refuge in Bengal. After remaining in exile, they regained Arakan in
1430 with Bengali military assistance. The Bengalis who came with Rakhine
formed their own settlements in the region.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in Nay Pyi Taw on September 6, 2017. (AFP)
In the early 19th century, thousands of Bengalis settled in Arakan seeking work.
It is not clear whether the new Bengali migrants were the same as those that
were forcefully deported to Bengal during Burmese conquests and then came
back later due to the British policy, or they were a new migrant population with
no ancestral roots to Arakan. Although Rohingya trace their ancestry to Muslims
who lived in Arakan in the 15th and 16th centuries, most of the Rohingya may
have arrived under the British colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries.
According to the International Crisis Group, these immigrants were Rohingya
who were displaced by the World War II. They began returning to Arakan after
the independence of Burma but were rendered as illegal immigrants. Many
were not allowed to return.
The British formed Volunteer Forces called V-Force with Rohingya. Some
reports state that this V-Force instead of fighting the Japanese destroyed
Buddhist places of worship and committed atrocities in northern Arakan.

The impact of immigration was particularly acute in Arakan. It boosted the

colonial economy, but the local Arakanese bitterly resented it. The Burmese,
who lived under the British rule felt helpless. They reacted with a racism that
brought together feelings of both superiority and fear. This gave rise to a grass-
roots based Burmese nationalism. As Burmese nationalism increasingly asserted
itself before the Second World War, the Indian presence and the Muslim
religion that was imported with them came under attack. In the early 1930s
there were serious anti-Indian disturbances and in 1938, there were riots
specifically directed against the Indian Muslim community. The Muslims of
northern Arakan were caught up in this crossfire.
Divide and Rule strategy
The Burmese nationalists supported the Japanese during World War II. The
Muslims fled from Japanese-controlled Buddhist-majority areas towards British-
controlled Muslim-dominated northern Arakan. The Arakan massacres in 1942
involved communal violence between British-armed Rohingya recruits and pro-
Japanese Rakhines. This situation polarised the whole region including other
parts of Burma along ethnic lines. With the retreat of the British, the Japanese
approached Arakan and the Buddhists instigated violence against the Muslims.
The Japanese Army committed rape, murder and torture against Muslims in
Arakan. Many were killed or died of starvation, and thousands appear to have
fled.
In response, the Muslims conducted retaliatory raids from British-controlled
areas causing Buddhists to flee to southern Arakan. The British formed
Volunteer Forces called V-Force with Rohingya. Some reports state that this
V-Force instead of fighting the Japanese destroyed Buddhist places of worship
and committed atrocities in northern Arakan. The Rohingya recruits engaged in
a campaign against Arakanese communities. The British had promised Rohingya
a Muslim Autonomous Area if they fought alongside the British against the
Japanese.
However, in 1948, when the British left Myanmar, Rohingya did not get an
autonomous area.
Not being granted what the British had pledged, Rohingya Muslims were
apprehensive of a future Buddhist-dominated government. In 1946, Muslim
leaders from Arakan asked Ali Jinnahs assistance to incorporate the Rakhine
zone into Pakistan due to the religious affinity and geographic proximity. They
also founded the North Arakan Muslim League. Jinnah did not wish to interfere
in Burmese internal matters. After his refusal, some Rohingya elders founded
the Mujahid party in northern Arakan with the aim of creating an autonomous
Muslim state.
Since Independence
In 1947, two Arakanese Indians were elected to the Constituent Assembly of
Burma. U Nu came to power just before independence, after Burmas great
resistance hero, independence leader and the founder of the Communist Party
of Burma, Aung San (late father of the current de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi)
and his ministers were assassinated in a coup attempt by a former Prime
Minister U Saw. Under U Nus leadership, Burma remained a democracy from
1948 to 1962. His regime recognised Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic
nationality but was not widely used until the 1990s.
The Myanmar Parliament enacted the Union Citizenship Act that defined which
ethnicities could gain citizenship. The Rohingya were left out. However, the act
allowed those whose families had lived in Myanmar for at least two generations
to apply for identity cards. Rohingya were initially given such identification or
even citizenship under generational provision. In 1950, some Rohingyas staged a
rebellion against government policies demanding citizenship and asking for the
state the British had promised.
The Parliament continued to have Rohingya legislators: five Rohingyas were
elected in 1951 and six in 1956. Some of them served as ministers,
parliamentary secretaries and high-ranking government officers in Prime
Minister U Nus cabinet. During the election campaign in 1960, Prime Minister U
Nu pledged to include all Arakan into one province. Following the general
election, U Nu set up a separate administrative zone for the Rohingya-majority
northern areas of Arakan, which was called the Mayu Frontier District. The zone
was administered directly by the national government of Burma.
Socialist coup dtat
In March 1962, General U Ne Win, who began his military career fighting for the
Japanese in World War II, captured power, which ended the Westminster-style
political system of governance. The authoritarian rule of the army spanning 26
years created a police state with midnight arrests, imprisonment without trial, a
controlled press and a brutal Military Intelligence Service. All citizens had to
obtain national registration cards. The Rohingya were only given foreign
identity cards. Thus, they could pursue only limited job and educational
opportunities. The military had confiscated the arable land of Rohingya and had
given this expropriated land to Buddhist settlers who came from outside the
region.

Gen Ne Win and Chinese Foreign Minister Zhou En Lai are welcomed by
an honour guard in this undated photo. (Photo: Unknown)
The military regime relied heavily on using Burmese nationalism and Theravada
Buddhism to bolster its rule. To remain in power, the military regime not only
discriminated against minorities, but also helped to provoke riots led by
Buddhists. The Ne Win regime carried out military operations against the
Rohingya for over two decades. In 1978, a large-scale military operation named
King Dragon was launched to expel what they called Rohingya insurgents. This
operation forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand.
In 1978, Bangladesh protested to the Burmese government for expelling
thousands of Burmese Muslims. Despite the Burmese argument that those
expelled were Bangladeshis illegally residing in Burma, they provided no
evidence to substantiate these claims, the Burmese regime agreed to take back
200,000 refugees, who were settled in Arakan. A joint statement by Myanmar
and Bangladesh at the time and then repeated in 1992 acknowledged that the
Rohingya were lawful Burmese residents. Despite the use of the term in the
past, the military regime continues to reject using the term Rohingya to identify
them now.
Myanmar Nationality Act 1982
The Myanmar Nationality Act enacted in 1982, stripped Rohingya of their
citizenship retrospectively and made them stateless. The Act required proof that
ones family lived in Myanmar prior to 1948 and fluency in a national language.
Many Rohingya lacked paperwork, which was either unavailable or denied to
them. To be a citizen, a persons ancestors should have belonged to a national
race or group prior to the British rule in 1823. Rohingya were declared Bengali
foreigners, despite their presence dating back to the 12th century.
So, their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practice their religion and access to
health care were restricted, denying them future possibility of gaining
nationality. They cannot buy property, or run for office. Rohingya politicians
have been jailed to disbar them from contesting elections. As of 2017, Burma
does not have a single Rohingya MP. The Rohingya have no voting rights and are
subjected to various forms of extortion, arbitrary taxation; land confiscation;
forced eviction, house destruction, marriage restrictions and blacklisting
children. Even if they somehow become naturalised, they are prevented from
entering professions such as medicine and law. Their illiteracy rate is about 80
percent.
Pro-Democracy Movements
Rohingya community leaders supported the 8888 Uprising. This was organised
and largely led by university students. Also known as the People Power Uprising
and the Peoples Democracy Movement, it led to a series of nationwide
protests, marches and civil disturbances that peaked on 8 August 1988 (hence
the name 8888 Uprising). In the general election held in 1990, the Rohingya-
led National Democratic Party for Human Rights won four seats. Aung San Suu
Kyis National League for Democracy won the election, but she was placed
under house arrest preventing her from becoming Prime Minister. The Burmese
military junta banned the National Democratic Party for Human Rights in 1992.
Its leaders were arrested, jailed and tortured.
Widespread fears among the Buddhist Rakhines that they would soon become a
minority contributed to the 2012 riots between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic
Rakhines The Rakhine were said to have been abetted and armed from the
capital of Rakhine state.

The first constitution of the Union of Burma was enacted in 1947. After the 1962
coup dtat, a second constitution was enacted in 1974. The 2008 Constitution is
the third and current constitution, under which the Myanmar military still
control much of the countrys government, including the home, defence and
border affairs ministries. One Vice-President and 25 percent of the seats in
Parliament are from the military. Hence, the countrys civilian leaders like Aung
San Suu Kyi have little influence over the security establishment.
During the 60 years of military rule, things worsened for the Rohingya. They
faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991-92, 2012, 2015, 2016 and now in 2017.
Since the 1990s, a new Rohingya movement appears to have emerged. The
new movement provides publicity to the term Rohingya, reject being depicted
as originating from Bengal; and with their diaspora, lobbies internationally.
Widespread fears among the Buddhist Rakhines that they would soon become a
minority contributed to the 2012 riots between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic
Rakhines The Rakhine were said to have been abetted and armed from the
capital of Rakhine state. Calling on the Rakhine to defend their race and
religion, the regime appears to have incited this pogrom, though the regime
has denied this.
The regime imposed curfew, deployed troops and in June 2012 imposed a state
of emergency in Rakhine. Yet, the regime has never prosecuted anyone for the
attacks against the Rohingya. The Rohingya were considered a threat to the
national identity. About 140,000 Rohingya remained confined in IDP camps and
were subjected to arbitrary detention, assault, rape, torture, arson and murder.
The security forces have shut down their social and political organizations. The
governments taking over of their private business debilitated them financially.
The most persecuted minority
In 2013, the UN identified the Rohingya as the most persecuted minority in the
world. The 2014 Myanmar census did not include the Rohingya in it as they
were categorized as stateless Muslims from Bangladesh. Many Rohingya see
this as a denial of their basic rights. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on human
rights in Myanmar also agreed. In 2015, many thousands of Rohingya fled by
boat via the waters of the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea. The UN
estimates from January to March 2015 alone, about 25,000 people fled by
boats. An estimated 3,000 refugees have been rescued or made it to shore,
while several thousands were believed to remain trapped on boats at sea.
Around 100 are said to have died in Indonesia, 200 in Malaysia, and 10 in
Thailand.
The UN adopted a resolution to set up an independent, international mission to
investigate the alleged crimes. However, Myanmar was reluctant to allow the
UN to investigate or to accept UN investigators. They denied visas to members
of a UN probe investigating the violence and alleged abuses in Rakhine. The UN
has called on Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmars security forces to end the
violence and labelled security operations as a textbook example of ethnic
cleansing. The UN also warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
Under a plan originally introduced in 2015, Bangladesh wanted to move
undocumented Myanmar nationals to a remote island that is prone to flooding
during monsoon and identified as uninhabitable. The UN is also concerned with
this controversial forced relocation. Bangladeshs Prime Minister called on the
UN and the international community to pressure Myanmar to allow the return
of Rohingya refugees. Even Bangladeshs foreign minister called the violence
against the Rohingya a genocide. Its National Commission for Human Rights
was considering pressing for an international tribunal against the Myanmar
army on charges of genocide.
The Rakhine Commission
In September 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi entrusted an advisory commission
(Rakhine Commission) led by Kofi Annan to find ways to heal the long-standing
divisions, and said the government would abide by its findings. However, there
was no mandate to investigate specific cases of human rights abuses. In October
2016, three Burmese border posts along Myanmars border with Bangladesh
were attacked. The insurgents looted several dozen firearms and boxes of
ammunition. This also resulted in several security officers being killed. Troops
poured into villages in Rakhine State leading to a security crackdown on villages
where Rohingya lived.
The regime in Rakhine State originally blamed an Islamist insurgent group.
However, a group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and six
other groups claimed responsibility. The attack resulted in wide-scale human
rights violations including extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arsons, and other
brutalities.

In August 2017, the Commission released its recommendations. The report

called for measures that would improve security in Myanmar for the Rohingya,
but did not accommodate all measures various Rohingya factions were asking
for. According to the Myanmar military, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
(ARSA) launched multiple coordinated attacks on police outposts and border
guards soon afterwards. This led to the current humanitarian catastrophe.
Following the attacks, the military and some extremist Buddhists started a
major crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims in the western region of Rakhine
State.
The regime in Rakhine State originally blamed an Islamist insurgent group.
However, a group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and six
other groups claimed responsibility. The attack resulted in wide-scale human
rights violations including extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arsons, and other
brutalities. The UN, Amnesty International, the US Department of State, and the
government of Malaysia criticized the military crackdown. The regime said that
it had the the right to defend the country by lawful means against increasing
terrorist activities, and added that a domestic investigation was enough. The
regime has often restricted journalists and aid groups from accessing northern
Rakhine States.
The Commission findings urged the regime to end the highly militarised
crackdown on neighbourhoods where Rohingya live, and to scrap restrictions on
movement and citizenship. UN says that the military has very likely committed
grave human rights abuses that may amount to war crimes, which the
government has denied. The UN supported the findings and urged the
government to fulfil its recommendations. The Myanmar government also
welcomed the recommendations and pledged to give full consideration with
the view to carrying out the recommendations in line with the situation on
the ground. Yet, nothing has been done so far.
The UN believes over 1,000 people have been killed since October 2016,
contradicting the death toll provided by the regime. In September 2017, ARSA
declared a temporary unilateral ceasefire, but the Myanmar government
dismissed the gesture saying we dont negotiate with terrorists. Myanmars
presidential spokesman announced that Myanmar would establish a new
commission to implement some recommendations of the Rakhine Commission.
Aung San Suu Kyi was particularly criticized for her inaction and silence and not
doing much to prevent military excesses. Later in the month, Aung San Suu Kyi
condemned all human rights violations in Rakhine, but never mentioned the
Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh by name.
She largely defended her prior position supporting the Myanmar military and its
actions. She deflected international criticism by saying most Rohingya villages
remained intact, and conflict had not broken out everywhere. With no criticism
of the military and denial of any armed clashes or clearance operations since
September 5, she added that Myanmar was committed to the restoration of
peace and stability and rule of law throughout the state, but did not clarify how
that will be achieved. Saying that her government was protecting everyone in
Rakhine state, she criticised media reports as misinformation that benefitted
the terrorists.
The government was ready at any time to verify the status of those who have
fled, Aung San Suu Kyi said, but did not specify what the verification process
would be and who would be qualified to return. In some quarters, her speech is
believed to be an attempt to pacify global public opinion on this humanitarian
issue. The UN Secretary General urged Myanmar authorities to suspend military
action and stop the violence insisting that Myanmars government should
uphold the rule of law and recognize the refugees right to return home. The
Security Council also expressed concern over reported excessive violence used
in Myanmars security operations and called for de-escalating the situation, re-
establishing law and order, protecting civilians and resolving the refugee
problem.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) released a statement in March
2017 sating that it does not associate with any terrorist group and does not
commit terror against any civilian regardless of their religious and ethnic origin,
but it was obligated to defend, salvage and protect the Rohingya community.
The group considers it has the legitimate right under international law to defend
themselves in line with the principle of self-defence.
Conclusion
The seeds of a narrow and discriminatory nationalism have blown up into a
humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. Political solutions need to work
towards building an inclusive Myanmar society embracing its ethnic and
religious diversity. Though difficult it will be the only response available for
addressing the decades-long armed conflict. Reconciling the demands and
expectations of the Rakhine Buddhist and Muslim communities will be a major
challenge. In such an environment, combating extremism and hate speech as
well as ensuring the fundamental rights and freedoms of all are essential.
It is critical for the Myanmar government to address this escalating disaster in a
productive and constructive manner. This requires implementing long-term
solutions to bring the hundred odd communities together to work for an
inclusive, harmonious and reconciled future. Addressing the problems rooted in
decades of armed violence and authoritarian rule requires a sustainable
humanitarian and developmental response. Cessation of the prevailing climate
of impunity will contribute towards political stability and enhance prospects of
building a harmonious society.

Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-
Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 3, 2017.
REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
The grievances of the Rakhine are similar to those of other ethnic minorities
around the globe including Sri Lanka: discrimination, deprived citizenship and
political expression, economic marginalisation, human rights abuses and
linguistic and cultural restrictions. In addition, the Rakhine communities fear
they could soon become a minority in their own state, if their region is engulfed
with an unstoppable wave of Rohingya. Their concern/paranoia is aggravated
by the overpopulation and population density in Bangladesh.
The situation is a complex one and has entangling issues of historical centre-
periphery relations with extreme poverty, under-development and an ethnic
and religious conflict with Muslims. Though citizenship is necessary, it does not
necessarily lead to improving the rights of the Muslim population. Many of
Islamic faith are confined to displacement camps with no free movement and
they are not allowed to return to their ancestral lands.
To address this situation, discriminatory policies and movement restrictions
need to end, and the security and rule of law situation need to be drastically
improved. However, there is a pattern visible, of riots breaking up in the
Rakhine State hampering repatriation, when Bangladesh arranges to repatriate
those living in its refugee camps back to Myanmar. The ongoing violence, and
the fear of persecution on return appear to have prevented the vast majority of
the Rohingya refugees from returning to their home in Myanmar.
Muslim communities, particularly the Rohingya, have over the years been
progressively marginalised from social and political life. Keeping them stateless
and disenfranchised will destroy their hopes of achieving a fair and reasonable
solution to their justifiable grievances.

The Myanmar regimes initiative for addressing the situation depends on

verifying the citizenship of undocumented Muslims is deeply problematic.
Granting naturalised citizenship that does not confer the rights of full citizenship
will make people more insecure. The governments and Rakhine communitys
refusal to use the term Rohingya and the Rohingyas rejection of the term
Bengali have led to an impasse. Without resolving this, a majority of Rohingya
will reject such a verification process. However, moderate Rohingya appear to
wish to gain citizenship status, even on a compromised use of the term
Rohingya. If citizenship is granted, they appear to be willing to take an identity
that is neither Bengali nor Rohingya.
Muslim communities, particularly the Rohingya, have over the years been
progressively marginalised from social and political life. Keeping them stateless
and disenfranchised will destroy their hopes of achieving a fair and reasonable
solution to their justifiable grievances. Some of them have already lost all hope.
By not allowing a democratic and inclusive solution to their dire situation will
force them to seek violence as the only viable option to address their
humanitarian issues.
Political solutions are critical for the future of Rakhine State and Myanmar.
Addressing violence with violence has never resolved and will not resolve
political issues. A credible process out of this situation will need to embody
creating a new sense of Myanmar national identity that will holistically embrace
its huge cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. Lasting generational poverty and
underdevelopment of all communities needs to be addressed through fair and
equitable development schemes. Otherwise peace and stability of Myanmar will
continue to be elusive for a long time into the future.
Posted by Thavam