Daily Times

Following the mounting death toll in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s image as vanguard of peace lies in obvious tatters. Aung San Suu Kyi, the biggest hope for peace activists around the world, has clearly failed the masses. Her conspicuous silence over indiscriminate attacks by lowly cowards in Myanmar has cast deep doubts over her commitment to peace.

And when she speaks, her words are no better than her silence.

Lashing out at stakeholders and media figures, Aung San Suu Kyi has frivolously dismissed all allegations as baseless. Blaming terrorists for the avalanche of misinformation, she slammed the authenticity of information calling it nothing but a pack of lies. When shown photographs of barbarity in Myanmar, she denied their connection to Myanmar calling them crude characterisation of a ludicrously impossible situation.

Her outright denial of the existence of bloodbath in Myanmar has taken away the last inkling of hope from a minority that has vigorously supported her campaigns. The ample evidence of arson, satellite images of entire villages burnt to ground, the eye witness accounts of people being burned en masse, and the exodus of thousands of Muslims fleeing for cover is enough to demonstrate she is using empty rhetoric to weasel her way out of the situation.

Even though the public and politicians in Pakistan are up in arms about the massacre in Burma, resettling displaced Rohingyas is still low on the list. Burmese fled atrocities more than 50 years ago to settle in Pakistan; these Rohingyas are still denied a place to call their home

Stateless, unwanted, vociferously persecuted, and abandoned by peace leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi, Rohingyas have turned to Pakistan for salvation. Even though the public and politicians in Pakistan are up in arms about the massacre in Burma, resettling displaced Rohingyas is still low on the list. Fleeing Burmese atrocities more than 50 years ago to settle in Pakistan, these Rohingyas are still denied a place to call their home. The Lack of government issued identification renders them nearly useless in a country they consider their only hope. It keeps them from using government health facilities, from getting jobs, from travelling, from opening bank accounts and even enrolling their children in public schools. With little to no access to school, their children spend their day playing in garbage-strewn fields. With almost no access to public healthcare, many are left to die when they are denied admission to government hospitals.

According to an estimate, there are roughly 55,000 Rohingyas stationed in distressingly impoverished make-shift slums of Karachi. Living on the margins of society, these Rohingyas arrived several decades ago following religious persecutions in Burma. But contrary to the prevailing belief, displaced Rohingyas are not a burden on Pakistan’s economy. Most of them are self-sufficient fishermen who make a living selling fish in the south eastern turf of Karachi. When exported to China, the catch earns Pakistan a hefty amount in foreign reserves. Yet more than 50 years later, their uncertain legal status in the country makes them an easy target for harassment and abuse.

While Pakistan certainly needs to do more abroad, it needs to set example at home too. The duty to take care of those closer to home is an overriding concern for Pakistan. Pakistan needs to treat Rohingyas back home in the same manner it wants them to be treated abroad. And providing them with at least the most fundamental constitutional protections will be a good start. With that out of the way, Pakistan can focus on channeling its energies abroad.

While leaders of Muslim majority countries like Pakistan should definitely take the lead in lobbying allies, it is not just the responsibility of Muslim countries to table their concerns. The unrestrained and systematic violation of human rights in Myanmar should be a concern for everyone who respects the right to life, liberty, and personal safety. The military operation that fringes on ethnic cleansing is a direct violation of the most fundamental of all rights, the right to life – a right without which no other right can exist.

Silence over the tragedy is colossal moral failure on part of governments that have chosen to stay silent. The world badly needs to take stock of this new wave of brutality. The United Nations convention defines genocide as any act that aims to destroy ethical, racial, or religious groups. UN member states that pledged allegiance to this convention need to step forward and commission a team that is charged with the responsibility of probing the crackdown in Myanmar.

We stand at a very decisive point in history. A point that is full of promise and anticipation. But if we let things slide today, we are expressing reluctance over an issue that has the potential to change the course of history. We are communicating we are okay with state-sponsored oppression of dissidents. Our silence today means we are ceding sweeping powers in the hands of regimes that won’t bat an eyelash before clamping down on fundamental civil liberties.

History bears witness that blatant disregard for human rights has always resulted in widespread tyranny, oppression and barbarianism. Between 1956 and 2016, a whopping total of 43 genocides have taken place in the world. If this trend continues, what is about to happen in is no different than what happened with Jews in Nazi Germany.

The writer is an author, blogger, and social activist. E-mail synergical@gmail.com, fb.com/talha.afzal.127

Published in Daily Times, September 18^th 2017.