Habib Siddiqui

Habib Siddiqui
Friday, July 3, 2015

Maung Maung Ohn's lies and distortions of truths about

the Rohingya people
The Outlook India has recently conducted an interview of Maung Maung Ohn, the
chief minister of the Rakhine state of Myanmar. He has been a major author of much of
the genocidal activities against the Rohingya people, who are recognized as the most
persecuted people in our planet. He epitomizes racism and bigotry and his replies to
various questions show once again his hideous criminal mind and deplorable bias
against the persecuted Rohingya people. Here is a sample of his lies:

1. He denies that there is any discrimination or persecution of the Rohingya

people.
2. He says that the term Rohingya was not mentioned anywhere before the
50s or 60s. And that his objection to the use of the term stems from the
perception that granting such special status has other significant implications.
It would entitle them to special social, political and even legal benefits. If they
are given this privilege, their next step will be to demand separate statehood.
3.

He claims that in Myanmar, minorities coexist harmoniously.

And here is a sample of half-truth from Ohn's mouth:

There has been communal violence in the state. Not just 2012 but in 1942 they
had carried out a genocide in north Rakhine state.

Only a liar or a propagandist can afford to lie like Maung Maung Ohn. He definitely has
perfected the art of lying. If the Nazi criminal propagandist Joseph Goebbels were alive
today, he would have been very proud of his brain child! Maung's views on the absence
of persecution of the Rohingya people and that they are living securely and that the
minorities are coexisting in harmony are simply ludicrous. His bloated claims are
not shared by any independent observer, international NGO and human rights group, let
alone the UNHCR. According to reliable UN estimates, some 150,000 Rohingyas are
now living in Nazi-like concentration camps, while tens of thousands have fled the
country and many have died in the seas while trying to do so in recent years since the

genocidal activities of 2012.

Contrary to Maung's claims that the term 'Rohingya ' is an invention dating only from
the 1950s, facts are that the term was in vogue since at least the days of Bodaw Paya's
rule in the late 18th century, and that any curious researcher may find the mention of the
term in history books and travelogues of Europeans who had visited the region.
Consider, for instance, the account of Francis Buchanan, a surgeon with the British East
India Company, who had traveled to imperial Burma in 1799 and met members of a
Muslim ethnic group who have long settled in Arakan [Rakhine], and who call
themselves Rooinga, or natives of Arakan. That would indicate there were self-identified
Rohingya living in Rakhine at least 25 years before the 1823 cut-off for citizenship of
modern day Myanmar [Burma].
Gregory Poling who is a fellow with the Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.writes, "Even
if the name Rohingya is too taboo to be accepted inside Myanmar, the historical record
is clear that the ethnic group itself has existed in Arakan, or Rakhine State, for centuries.
A significant Muslim population lived in the independent Kingdom of Mrauk-U that
ruled modern-day Rakhine State from the mid-fifteenth to late eighteenth centuries.
Many of the Buddhist kings of Mrauk-U even took Muslim honorifics. The evidence
suggests that this community is the origin of todays Rohingya. The group likely
assimilated later waves of immigrants from Bangladesh during and after British rule, but
it did not begin with them."
Bengali poets and writers of Arakan of the Mrauk-U dynasty that ruled the region since
1430 had called the territory Roshang and Rohang in their literary works. As I have
pointed out elsewhere, people in lower Bengal and Arakan add the partial word - iya - at
the end of a district or region to identify its people. Thus, the people of Chatga
(Chittagong) came to be known as Chatgaiya, and so is the case with the people of
Rohang or Roshang who came to be called Rohingya. [Note that in southern
Chittagonian dialect, the sound -sha - is often transformed to - ha - without 's'; as such,
what is Roshang in pure Bengali would be sounded as Rohang.]

Now let me get back to Maung's half-truth. He fails to provide the full picture about the
1942 pogroms that saw deaths of tens of thousands of Rohingya people. The casualty was
almost one-sided, and it was the Rohingya and not the Rakhine people that suffered
enormously.
Some historical background may suffice here to understand the event. During the
Second World War, the territory of Burma was under British occupation. In 1942,
Japanese fascist army invaded and occupied the territory and they were aided by
Burmese (and Rakhine) nationals of Buddhist origin. To many Burmese, cooperating
with the Japanese fascist army was preferable than to live under the British rule. Aung
San, father of Suu Kyi, and his group of comrades were at the forefront of that alliance
with the fascist Japanese army when Japan entered the war. Since the Muslim
population, in general, and the Rohingya people, in particular, in the Arakan
(Rakhine) region were deemed collaborators of the British regime, they were targeted for
elimination soon after Japan occupied the region in 1942. A genocide of Muslims

ensued.
To quote Professor Abid Bahar, a foremost authority on the Rohingya people
having studied the subject since the mid-1970s, "In 1942 Japan occupied Burma and the
ultra-nationalist Buddhists jointly massacred the Karens, the Mons and in Arakan the
Rohingyas. Feeling the threat of extinction, and certain Rakhines determined to drive
out the Muslims of Arakan, Muslim leaders officially took the already existing name for
their suffering community as the Rohingyas. However, Rohingyas were conveniently
identified by the Rakhine extremists as being the Chittagonians. During the time of
Japanese occupation, the number of Rohingya death in Arakan was staggering to be
over 100,000. Rohingyas call the event as the Karbalai Arakan, the bloodshed in
Arakan.
In 1942 when the British withdrew from Arakan, the Japanese immediately took over
control of Arakan. The Arakanese xenophobic hoodlums began to incite people with the
slogan, our brothers came, and your brothers left you. The hoodlums began to attack
the Muslim villages in southern Arakan and the Rohingya Muslims fled to the North
where they took vengeance on the Rakhines in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships.
Ashraf Alam provides a list of 294 villages destroyed in the pogroms of 1942: (a)
Myebon in Kyaukpru District 30 villages; (b) Minbya in Akyab District 27 villages; (c)
Pauktaw in Akyab District 25 villages; (d) Myohaung in Akyab District 58 villages; (e)
Kyauktaw in Akyab District 78 villages; (f) Ponnagyun in Akyab District 5 villages; (g)
Rathedaung in Akyab District 16 villages; and (h) Buthidaung in Akyab District 55
villages."
As can be seen in much contradistinction to Maung's assertions, facts are that it was the
Rohingya people who were the victims of 1942 pogroms, and not the Rakhine Buddhists
who collaborated with the fascist forces to drive out and/or kill the Rohingya and other
Muslims not just inside the Arakan region but all across Burma, which saw exodus of
hundreds of thousands of refugees of Indian origin. Tens of thousands of these
unfortunate people died on their way back to India.
After the Japanese army surrendered and British reclaimed the territory, thanks to the
sacrifice of the Rohingya Muslims to turn around the Japanese occupation, many of the
latter people who were forced to flee to Chittagong and other parts of today's Bangladesh
returned only to find their homes and properties occupied by the usurping Rakhine and
other Buddhists. This led to a series of lawsuits filed in the courts to establish ownership
of disputed properties.
In the post-World War II era, due to sensitivity of the situation when Britain had
promised to get out of India and Burma, and had also been cooperating with Aung San's
group (which just before the fall of the Japanese army had switched the side again being
betrayed by the Japanese army which did not grant the promised freedom) the British
government was reluctant to bring back the displaced Rohingya from today's
Bangladesh. Nevertheless, some Rohingya did settle back in the Northern Arakan State,
later to be called Mayu Frontier territory. Some Rakhine usurpers were forced out of
Muslim-majority areas to the north while the southern parts of the Arakan were almost
fully ethnically cleansed of the Rohingya and Muslim population by the hostile Rakhine
Buddhists. This event has led to permanent souring of the relationship between the two
dominant groups of Arakan - the Rakhine and Rohingya.

In the last days of British rule of Burma, Aung San became Burmas democracy leader
and negotiated for independence of Burma. He tried to bring ethnic harmony through
dialogue with ethnic and religious minorities, which was unacceptable to Buddhist
fascist elements. Soon, before Burma achieved independence from Britain on January 4,
1948, his entire team of democracy leaders were assassinated by powerful quarters who
sought to control Burma by force. Rohingya and other Muslims felt insecure and
discriminated, which led to exodus of many to Chittagong district of East Pakistan.
Historian Moshe Yoger claims that during this time the Arakani Muslim migration to
Chittagong was at 20,000.
In 1950, a memorandum by the public of Maungdaw, which is close to southern tip of
East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh), demanded the protection of fundamental rights
and an unconditional repatriation of Rohingyas from Chittagong.

During U Nus period (1948-1962), there was much unrest throughout Burma as many
minority groups - ethnic and religious - felt betrayed by the constitutional provisions
about their status. Rohingyas again began to feel insecure. According to the Pakistan
Times (August 26, 1959) some 10,000 refugees had by then taken shelter in East
Pakistan. In 1959, Burma agreed with East Pakistan governor Zakir Hossain to take back
Rohingya refugees who had taken shelter in Chittagong in 1958. When questioned why
refugees were pouring into Pakistan from Burma, the Governor replied that the
government of Burma had nothing to do with it. Actually the Moghs [i.e., Buddhist
Rakhines] of Arakan were creating the trouble. (Pakistan Times, 27 August 1959)
Governor Zakir Hossain's reply once again underscored the deep hostility of the racist
Rakhines against the minority Rohingya people. On 27th October 1960, the Daily
Guardian, Rangoon, reported that Burmese Supreme Court quashes expulsion orders
against Arakanese Muslims, which once again shows that the Arakanese [Rohingya]
Muslims faced much problem in their reintegration.
The above brief analysis disproves unproven assertions and claims made by Maung
Maung Ohn. His views reflect his deep hostility and racism against the persecuted
Rohingya people whom he wants to see totally eliminated. But his deplorable and
criminal views cannot hide the facts. He needs to be sent to the International Criminal
Court for his direct involvement with the Rohingya genocide.

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About Dr. Habib Siddiqui

Gender

Location

Introduction

Interests

Favorite Music

Favorite Books

Male
United States
I have a long history of a peaceful activist in my effort towards improving
human rights and creating a just and equitable world. I have written
extensively in the arena of humanity, global politics, social conscience and
human rights since 1980, many of which have appeared in newspapers,
magazines, journals and the Internet. I have tirelessly championed the cause
of the disadvantaged, the poor and the forgotten here in Americas and
abroad. Commenting on my articles, others have said, "His meticulously
researched essays and articles combined with real human dimensions on the
plight of the displaced peoples of Rohingya in Myanmar, Chechnya, Bosnia,
Kosovo and Palestine, and American Muslims in the post-9/11 era have
made him a singular important intellectual offering a sane voice with
counterpoints to the shrill threats of the oppressors and the powerful. He
offers a fresh and insightful perspective on a whole generation of a
misunderstood and displaced people with little or no voice of their own." I
have authored 13 books, 10 of which are now available through the
Amazon.com.
Reading and traveling
Sade, Phil Collins, Ustadh Ghulam Ali, Habib Wahid, Mac (Maqsudul
Haque), Yusuf Islam, Zain Bhika, Michael Jackson, Sami Yusuf, David W.
Ali and many others.
Anecdotes of Molla Nasreddin Hodja for Children of All Ages, Kitab
Bhavan, New Delhi; Devotional Storis, A.S. Noordeen, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia; Fihi Ma Fihi by Mowlana Rumi, and alMunabbihat, pub. IBT, Kuala Lumpur