Daily Times

A human crisis of monumental proportion is unfolding in Myanmar. It is reported over 100 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by the Burmese army. Over 10,000 have escaped from Myanmar from being persecuted by the army and Buddhist monks, and are living in squalor in Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia. According to human rights watch, over 450 houses belonging to Rohingya have been torched. It is a travesty of justice that the community that have been living in Myanmar for generations, is being forced to leave the country.

The Rohingya, who are fleeing Myanmar, have become victims of unscrupulous human traffickers, in connivance of the officials in Myanmar and Thailand, and being exploited and made to live in sub human conditions. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, human rights champion, who was conferred Nobel Peace prize, has done precious little to stop attacks on the community, probably fearing the wrath of the majority community, who voted her to power. The reports emanating from Myanmar indicate the army has launched a counterinsurgency operation against the community after the armed assailants had killed nine police officers in Rakhine district. This will lead to further death and destruction of property of the community.

It is unlikely that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will agree to an impartial investigation into the various crimes committed against the community. In fact, during elections, she cleverly skirted the issue when asked whether she would hold an inquiry into the persecution of Rohingyas for the fear of enraging her predominately Buddhist constituency. It is strange that a Buddhist country like Myanmar should have forgotten the Buddha’s teaching of compassion and brotherhood.

In an editorial published in the New York Times about the plight of this community, it is alleged that the basic rights of citizenship has been denied to them. The editorial goes on to say that the violence unleashed in 2012 by Buddhist extremists drove tens of thousands of Rohingya out of their homes, many risked their lives to escape in smugglers’ boats; more than 100,000 others are living in squalid internment camps. Now, a counterinsurgency operation by Myanmar’s military is again forcing thousands of Rohingya to abandon their villages.”

The word Rohingya means “inhabitant of Rohang”, which was the early Muslim name for Arakan. It is believed that they have been living in Arakan (later renamed as Rakhine), which was later captured by Burma, since the 15th century. There is a well documented record that that have been living there for over 500 years. Although, Rahingya are not beyond reproach for they have indulged in drug trafficking, crimes against the police and other acts of violence, yet this does not give unbridled rights to the government to discriminate them in denying citizenship, not offering employment opportunities and rights to worship. In fact, such discriminatory practices would force millions of youth to join the terrorist organizations to avenge against the brutality, which may not bode well for the country.

The situation has further worsened, after the Bangladesh and Thailand governments refused ingress of the refuges to enter their countries. This has led to over 800,000 people living in transit camps in the border. Both Bangladesh and Thailand are putting pressure on Myanmar to stop the killings and take effective steps to integrate them into the society. Sadly, the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law denies to the Rohingya citizenship, forcing them to leave the country for safety and better opportunities. It is estimated that over 1.33 million Rohingya have been affected by the law, leading to their perilous and uncertain lives in Myanmar.

The situation in Bangladesh is no better. The Hindus, who constitute around 11 percent of the population, are at the receiving end of growing violence against them. Over a dozen Hindus have been killed and more than 30 have been wounded, and over 450 houses have been torched by mobs. The Bangladesh government has not initiated any action to either stop the vandalism or bring the culprits to book. It appears that the attacks are part of a systematic effort to drive Hindus out of the villages and capture their property. The village Naisrnagar, where most of the Hindus reside, has borne the brunt of attacks. Bangladesh, which always prided as being a pluralistic society, is seeing growing incidents of violence against the minorities. One of the most respected newspapers of Bangladesh “Daily Star”, in an editorial published on November 2, called the government’s inaction baffling.

In Pakistan, there is a concerted attempt by radical Islamists to target Christians, Hindus and members of other religious denominations like Ahmadi Muslims. There have been incidents where the Churches and Mosques belonging to non-Sunni Muslims have been the brunt of attacks. The Hindu population, which in 1947 was around 15 per cent, is now a meagre 3 per cent. Many Hindus have sought shelter in India. Many of the Hindu girls are kidnapped and forcibly converted. To escape persecution, hundreds of Hindus have sought refuge in India.

In 2010, suicide bombers, allegedly belonging to Tehrik-I-Taliban, killed 50 people and wounded 200 others in two suicide bombings on the Sufi shrine in Lahore.

On 22 September 2013, a twin suicide bomb attack took place at ALL Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 127 people were killed and over 250 injured. In March 2014, crowd of Muslims burnt a Hindu temple in Sindh, Pakistan, on the basis of unverified allegations of a Hindu youth desecrating a copy of the Quran. In fact, the Islamist fundamentals are conveniently taking recourse to religion to justify the attacks. On 15 March 2015, blasts in a Roman Catholic Church in Lahore claimed 15 lives and seventy others were wounded.

An editorial published in Dawn condemned the attacks on the minority community by commenting that “Bigotry in this country has been decades in the making and is expressed in a variety of ways. Violence by individuals or groups against those who hold divergent views may be the most despicable manifestation of such prejudice, but it is by no means the only one. Religious minorities in Pakistan have not only been shunted to the margins of society, but also face outright persecution on a regular basis.”

In China, the Tibetans and Uyghur’s are being persecuted by the Chinese army. It is estimated that over 2000 Uyghur’s had lost their lives when the Chinese army tried to quell a riot in the restive Xinjiang region. In Tibet, the Chinese government is continuously encouraging thousands of Han Chinese to relocate to Tibet, in a planned move so as to marginalize the local Buddhist population.

India, which boasts of a secular and pluralistic society, witnessed a sharp rise in communal riots in 2015. The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat witnessed a spurt in communal violence leading to loss of life. Most of the attacks are the handiwork of the local politicians who are the mastermind behind such violence to garner votes during the election time. However, because of powerful judiciary, the violence has come down. Such incidents have severely tarnished the social fabric of India It must be remembered that the victims of communal violence become ready fodder to the Islamic militants to launch attacks, where mostly civilians become the casualty. However, on the brighter side, India has not taken any action on deporting over 200 million Bangladeshi refugees illegally staying in India. The government should initiate action against all those people, especially the state level politicians, who are propagating hatred against Muslims to prevent such attacks in future.

The ASEAN has also maintained a studious silence on crimes against Rohingya communities. They should indict Myanmar against such human rights abuse and take steps to integrate them in the mainstream. It is earnestly hoped the United Nation takes suo motto cognizance of religious persecutions against religious minorities and mounts international pressure against those countries that have been complicit in large scale human rights violations.

K.S.Venkatachalam is an independent columnist and political commentator. He writes a regular column for several leading newspapers.