بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والصالة والسالم على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه اجمعين

HISTORY, OPPRESSION & GENOCIDE

OFBURMESE MUSLIMS

 

ISLAMIC RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

Be… Prepared…..!!! What is going to unfold in the rest of the slide.. is the

greatest and the longest OPPRESSION committed on earth…..

Holocaust … pales in comparison…

Against a helpless community – whose only crime was they were different…… they were muslims….. They were a bit darker in color…..

(All data quoted on this presentation is clearly backed by historical)

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Overview The Rohingya are a Muslim people who live in the Arakan

region in western Myanmar (Burma). As of 2012, 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar.

Acc to United Nations –

The Rohingya people have been described as “among the world’s least wanted”

and “one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.”3

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History

The Muslim minority in Myanmar mostly consists of the Rohingya people and the descendants of Muslim immigrants from India (including what is now Bangladesh) and China (the ancestors of Chinese Muslims in Myanmar came from the Yunnan province), as well as descendants of earlier Arab and Persian settlers.

Indian Muslims migrated to Burma during British rule to fill jobs in the expanding economy, especially in clerical work and business.

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Historical Records of Muslims in Burma

Islam arrived in Arakan in the 8th century with Arab merchants.

In the 15th century, an Islamic kingdom was founded in Arakan when the King Narameikhla adopted Islam, and Islam started to rapidly spread to neighboring areas. King Narameikhla (1430–1434) of minted his own coins with Burmese characters on one side and Persian characters on the other.

According to an article on the "Burma Empire" published by the British Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1799, "the Mohammedans, who have long settled in Arakan," "call themselves Rooinga, or natives of Arakan.”

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The Simon CommissionBritish Official White Paper - 1919

Judge in Rangoon, eyewitness to the riots, who wrote his book based on the British Official White Paper given by The Simon Commission (The Royal Statutory Commission, appointed according to the Law of the Government of India 1919, The Montague-Chelmsford Law.)

In Burma there were a half million Muslims in 1921

Although Burma Muslims are different from Indian Muslims and Indian Burma Muslims, Burmese Buddhists put them together, even with Hindu Indians, and called them Kala.

Even British rulers noted the racist discrimination there..After 90 years of oppression when the world population has increased – Burmese Muslim population has remained stagnant

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Historical Atrocities against BURMA MUSLIMS

ARAKAN – was a ISLAMIC STATE – 15th Century separate territory independent of BURMA King Narameikhla adopted Islam, and Islam started to rapidly spread to neighboring areas.

BURMESE KING - Bayintnaung In 1559 AD after conquering Bago (Pegu) he prohibited the Muslims from having halal meals of goats and chickens by not allowing them to kill these animals in the name of God. He also disallowed the Eid ul Adha, Kurbani, sacrifice of cattle.

KING Alaungpaya - (1752–1760) prohibited Muslims to do halal on cattle. King Bodawpaya (1782–1819) arrested four famous Burma Muslim Maulvis

(Imams) from Myedu and killed them in Ava, the capital, after they refused to eat pork. 9

MASSACRE AFTER MASSACRE

1680 –MASSACRE - Shah Shuja – Son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who build Taj Mahal who settled in Burma, was killed ? with followers (MUSLIMS) when the Burma King (non muslim) tried to force on (forcibly marry or kidnap or rape) the daughter of Shah Shuja.

1785 – BURMA ARAKAN MASSACRE – Burma invades ARAKAN. Burmese rulers executed thousands of Arakanese men and deported a considerable portion of the Arakanese population to central Burma

1938 MASSACRE, thousands of Arakanese Muslims were killed and more than 500,000 were forced to leave their homeland and moved to neighboring countries.

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RAPED, KILLED, LOOTED…..

1942 – 2nd WORLD WAR - JAPAN INVADES BURMA – which was under British rule –” The Japanese committed atrocities against thousands of Rohingya. They engaged in an orgy of rape, murder and torture. Japan were aided by Burmese nationalist ie non arakans.

1942 POST 2ND WORLD WAR – BRITISH LEAVE BURMA - Defenseless Muslims were forced to seek refuge in India and Bangladesh to escape violence. Arakanese Buddhist Rakhines began mass killings of Muslim Rohingyas after Indian and Bangladeshi Muslims left the country.

On 28 March 1942, Rakhines attacked Muslims in Chanbilivillage of Minbya Township, and butchered women, men and children with swords and spears. 11

1942 - RIVER OF BLOOD….. The attacking Rakhines raped women before brutally killing them and

ransacked the area after the massacre. Gold, silver and other valuable possessions of Muslim Rohingyas were confiscated by Thakin leaders and their animals, crops and property were given to looters.

During the 40-day long attacks that erupted in the town of Minbya and spread to the entire Arakan province at least 150,000 Arakanese Muslims were killed, villages were looted and demolished.

Lemro River running through the area turned red with the blood of innocent civilians. 12

Post Independence of BURMA – Systematic Persecution

1947 – Riots & Massacre Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League, which played a significant role

in independence of Burma, discriminated against Muslims and replaced them with Arakanese

Buddhists stepped up their attacks on the Muslim community without facing any preventive measures from the government.

Moreover, the government restricted movement of Muslim Rohingya fleeing violence, leaving thousands of Muslims at the mercy of aggressive Buddhists.

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OPERATION MONSOON Its Muslim blood which rained….!!

1954 - Operation Monsoon – Muslim Resistance Groups Killed enmase by Burmese Army. Thousands of Muslims were either killed or deported from the country on grounds that they had aided the resistance groups.

1959 - During a visit to the Muslim-populated Buthidaung and Maungdaw cities, Burmese Prime Minister promised equal citizenship to Muslims, but in reality cheated Muslims.. Now it is even denied...

1962 - Military Coup - military took over power and nationalized all private enterprises and banks. As a result, Muslims, who controlled major enterprises in Arakan up until that year, lost their economic power. 14

Targeted Ethnic Cleansing…. Coup leader General Ne Win issued a notices to restrict movement of

local Muslims.

State-controlled media began propaganda broadcasts claiming Rohingya Muslims were not native of Arakan and urged Arakanese Buddhists to act against the Muslim population.

All Muslim Police Officers were transferred to distant parts of the country. Muslim civil servants were threatened with dismissal or being removed from northern Arakan.

It became routine for Muslim opinion leaders to be detained at night by the military and released after being tortured. 15

Immigrant Investigation Operation Military launches merciless offensive called “Immigrant Investigation

Operation.” Physical torture, molestation of women, extortion, and similar mistreatment acts became a matter of ordinary life.

Many innocent people were labeled as illegal immigrant and arrested.

Hundreds of people were forcefully removed from their homes in Kyauktaw, Mrohaung, Pauktaw, Myebon and Minya, and deported to Bangladesh.

Communal prayers and Qurban ritual were banned. 16

KING DRAGON OPERATION With “King Dragon Operation” in March 1978, the Burmese government

aimed to intimidate the Muslims and force them to leave Arakan. The operation was launched in the largest Muslim village in the town of Akyab and had a ripple effect throughout the region.

The reports that Muslim masses had been arrested in Akyab, women and men and children, young and elderly everyone had been tortured, women had been raped and killed, quickly reached the entire northern Arakan.

Police and immigrant scrutiny officers of the Nagamin Team, set up by the military, reached Buthidaung region and terrorized the local community. Hundreds of Muslim men and women were arrested, many were killed after being tortured and women were raped.

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Atrocities under - MILITARY RULERS OF BURMA – 50 yrs of rule

The military Junta which ruled Burma for half a century, relied heavily on Burmese nationalism and Theravada Buddhism to bolster its rule, and, in opinion of US government experts, heavily discriminated against minorities like the Rohingya, Chinese people like the Kokang people, and Panthay (Chinese Muslims).

They have been stripped of their citizenship since a 1982 citizenship law.

They are not allowed to travel without official permission, are banned from owning land and are required to sign a commitment to have not more than two children. - Wikipedia

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CITIZENSHIP LAW - 1982 The 1982 Citizenship Law left Rohingya out of the list of ethnic groups,

labeling them as foreigners in their own native land.

Today Rohingyas are still not recognized as citizen of Burma. By stripping them off their citizenship, Rohingyas were denied one of their most basic human rights.

In those years the Government openly supported anti-Muslim riots. Rohingyas were prevented from travelling outside their towns; those living in northern Arakan were forcefully removed from their homes, coerced into forced labor, and subjected to torture.

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REDUCING THE % OF MUSLIM POLUPATION

The most serious rights violations Arakanese Muslims have experienced at the hands of the Burmese military regime is the confiscation of Muslim property after they have been forced out of their homes and settling Buddhists in Muslim homes under the cover of model villages.

Muslims are forced to work in the construction of these model villages. The villages are constructed from materials confiscated from Muslims and new homes are built in a way to resemble historical Buddhist homes.

Buddhists living in Arakan, in central Burma and even in Bangladesh are encouraged to move into northern Arakan, where Muslims live, in an effort to reduce the overall percentage of Muslim population in the region. 21

Atrocities under - MILITARY RULERS OF BURMA – 50 yrs of rule

"The Rohingyas’ freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma citizenship.

They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage.

Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade.“

Amnesty International 22

Atrocities under - MILITARY RULERS OF BURMA – 50 yrs of rule

Muslim Rohingya people have continued to suffer from human rights violations under the Burmese junta since 1978, and many have fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result:

"In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of the Myanmar army. Officially this campaign aimed at "scrutinising each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally." This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution.”

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Buddhismization of Arakan On 25 March 1999, new settlers were brought from Buthidaung to Akyab.

Before their arrival authorities forced Muslims to make certain changes in the villages so that they would resemble old Buddhist settlements, even Buddha statues were erected in different parts of the villages.

In February 2005, the military junta ordered Arakanese Muslims to build fences around their villages and forcefully employed Muslims for this work. Evacuated Rohingya villages were settled by Buddhists and most of the displaced Rohingyas moved out of Arakan.

This policy involves displacement of Muslims from their land and settling Buddhist in their place, confiscating possessions and property of Muslims, forced labor, shutting mosques and preventing new ones being built, and travel ban. 24

DESTROYING ISLAMIC HERITAGE The Arakanese people used Arabic script for about 300 years. The

coins minted by Arakanese kings in history bore Islamic confession of faith in Arabic.

Burma Muslims are even pressured to change their names.

Artifacts dating back to the Islamic reign in Burma are being destroyed and place names are being changed.

Mosques and religious schools, which dot every corner of Arakan and occupy a significant role in Rohingya culture and religion, are either burned down or Buddhist temples are erected in their courtyard.

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ISLAMIC ARAKAN TO BUDDHIST RAKHINE..

As part of the policy to make Arakan Buddhist, the name of ARAKAN state was changed to RAKHINE and the name of the state capital was changed from AKYAB to SITTWE.

Muslims villages were evacuated on ground that they would be rebuilt as model settlements, but Buddhist Rakhines were placed in the evacuated villages.

Hundreds of years of Islamic heritage in Arakan is being obliterated by destroying mosques, etc and reshaping it as a Buddhist land is ongoing.

Arakanese cultural heritage, just like that of other minorities in Myanmar, is being obliterated as part of Myanmarization policy by Burmese nationalists. 26

Democracy - but Demonic Atrocities Even some pro-democracy dissidents from Burma's ethnic Burman

majority refuse to acknowledge the Rohingyas as compatriots.

STATE SPONSORED RIOTS - Successive Burmese governments have been accused of provoking riots against ethnic minorities like the Rohingya and Chinese.

CONTINIOUS RIOTS – 1910-20, 1930, 1938, BURMA for BURMESE Riots (during british rule - Muslim properties: shops, houses and mosques were looted, destroyed and burned. They assaulted and even massacred the Muslims. It spread all over Burma and a recorded 113 mosques were damaged) 27

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2012 RIOTS Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK as of 28 June, 650 Rohingyas have

been killed, 1,200 are missing, and more than 80,000 have been displaced.

Others say Since June 2012, 20,000 muslims have been killed in sectarian violence in the BURMA – (Wikipedia)

The Burmese army and police have been accused of targeting Rohingya Muslims through mass arrests and arbitrary violence.

A number of monks' organizations that played vital role in Burma's struggle for democracy have taken measures to block any humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya community.

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RIOTS 2012One sided State Sponsored Violence

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - Violence in the past six weeks has been "primarily one-sided, with Muslims generally and Rohingyas specifically the targets and victims", Benjamin Zawacki, a Bangkok-based researcher for Amnesty, told the Associated Press. "Some of this is by the security forces' own hands, some by Rakhine Buddhists, with the security forces turning a blind eye in some cases.“

Thousands attempt to flee every year to Bangladesh, Malaysia and elsewhere, trying to escape a life of abuse that rights groups say includes forced labour, violence against women and restrictions on movement, marriage and reproduction that breed anger and resentment.

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BURMA PRIMINISTER – SEND THEM TO THIRD COUNTRY???

Amnesty called on Burma to accept Rohingyas as citizens, something the government has staunchly opposed because it does not consider them an ethnic group native to Burma.

On July 12, Burmese President Thein Sein said the “only solution” to the sectarian strife was to expel the Rohingya to other countries or to

camps overseen by the United Nations refugee agency.

“We will send them away if any third country would accept them,” he said.

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KILLED AS NONCITIZENS IN BURMAKILLED AS REFUGEES IN OTHER COUNTRIES

KILLED – THEN MADE REFUGEES IN THEIR LAND OF BIRTH In July 2012, the Myanmar Government asserted that the Rohingya

minority group, have no claim to Myanmar citizenship.

REGUGEES IN BANGLADESH, THAILAND ETC are left to DIE in SEA-

Bangladesh publicly doesn’t want to help them any more – STOPPED AID ORGANIZATIONS from helping the refugees.

NO state sponsored help but – Muslims are deported back to BURMA where they are again subject to atrocities.

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LEFT TO DIE AT SEA - THAILAND

THAILAND deported the refugees in boats and lets them die in open sea…

In February 2009 there was evidence of the Thai army towing a boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees out to sea. A group of refugees rescued by Indonesian authorities also in February 2009 told harrowing stories of being captured and beaten by the Thai military, and then abandoned at open sea.

End of February there were reports that of a group of 5 boats were towed out to open sea, of which 4 boats sank in a storm, and 1 boat washed up on the shore. 34

PUSHED INTO SEA – TO LIVE OR DIE ??

February 12, 2009 Thailand's prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were "some instances" in which Rohingya people were pushed out to sea.

Statement of Prime Minister - "There are attempts, I think,

to let these people drift to other shores. [...] when these practices do occur, it is done on the understanding that there is enough food and water supplied. [...] It's not clear whose work it is [...] but if I have the evidence who exactly did this I will bring them to account."

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CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS RACIST – FASICT – RELIGIOUS ATROCITY -- ARAKAN IS PALESTINE

OF SE ASIA

STATELESS – HOMELESS – MOST PERSECUTED OF THE PEOPLE ON EARTH

ALMOST ALL ARE MUSLIMS, HUNDREDS OF MOSQUES DESTROYED

LAKHS OF BURMESE MUSLIMS ARE LIVINGS AS REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH, THAILAND, ETC

KILLED BY STATE - NEGLECTED BY THE WORLD – FORGOTTEN BY THE MUSLIMS

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CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 1. Muslims continue to be killed in Arakan on a daily basis.

2. It is known that a large number of Muslims are currently jailed and are subjected to torture but their identities and exact number cannot be verified.

3. Women are being raped. Mosques, masjids, houses and villages are being set on fire and destroyed.

4. The ongoing travel ban and curfew imposed on the Rohingya population have completely paralyzed life.

5. Muslims cannot own fixed line telephones or cellular phones.37

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 6. Masjids and madrasahs cannot be repaired without government

permit. To monitor compliance with the regulation, masjids and madrasahs have to be photographed three times a year as a routine practice. If unpermitted maintenance is spotted, those responsible are sentenced to between six months and six years in prison plus a fine.

7. A photograph featuring all family members has to be handed to government officials every year. Families are required to pay taxes to the state for every child born and every family member died.

8. Muslims have no freedom of travel. A Muslim has to get permission and pay tax to travel from one village to another.

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CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 9. Muslims are forbidden from building their houses out of concrete;

they have to make them from wood. The houses are considered as state property and if they are burned down accidentally, owners are sentenced to prison sentences as long as six years.

10. To set up a business a Muslim has to establish partnership with Buddhist. In this partnership, the Buddhist partner owns half of the business without investing any capital.

11. Muslims have to pay annual taxes for the livestock they own.

12. Muslims cannot marry without a permit. A couple wishing to get married has to pay a tax. Sometimes they are denied a permit even if they pay the tax. 39

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 13. Muslims are deprived of all public services. For instance, when they get

sick they cannot go to state hospitals for treatment.

14. Muslims are not allowed into higher education institutions. Muslims are not allowed to own motor vehicles.

15. Muslims are forbidden to work in public sector jobs. Today there is not a single Muslim civil servant in Arakan.

16. When Muslims are accused of a crime, they are not give the right to defense and are immediately imprisoned. The police or the army have the authority to raid a Muslim house without a warrant and accuse its inhabitants of any crime. Raiding officers immediately jail the residents if they cannot get a bribe in return for not arresting them. 40

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 17. Muslims are subjected to curfew after nine o’clock at night and cannot

visit their relatives or neighbors without permission from the police.

18. Muslims are forced to work for the state and Buddhists without receiving any wage in return.

19. Muslims have no right to citizenship. They carry white identification cards bearing the title “foreigner.” These cards are only for identification purposes and do not entitle card holders to any rights.

20. Muslims are not issued passports. They are provided a document to cross into neighboring Bangladesh and sometimes they cannot return to their country because their documents are not accepted

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