Aye Chan

Professor of Southeast Asian History

Kanda University of International Studies

Rohingya, More a Political Rhetoric Than an Ethnic Identity

I. Rakhine to Arakan

(a)It is called by some Portuguese Orrakan, by others among them Arrakaon and
by some again Rakan.
Yule 1985: 34

(b)To the East of the River Karnafuli there is a palace, Roshang City by name,
like the Heaven. There rules the glorious king of Maghada descent, a follower of
the Buddha.
Sati Maina by Daulat Qazi (Huq 2005: 12).

(c)Sorrow politics was behind the gruesome assassination of Shah Shuja by the
King. It does not prove the kings lack of love for Muslims. Thus we see, people
from every country, hearing the magnificence of Roshang, took shelter under the
king. Arabian Egyptian Michiri, Turkish Shami, Habsi [African], Hindi Kamrupi
the Assamese, Dakkhini (Deccan), Ahopai Khotanchari (?), Kalani, Malaya
Bari from Achi [Acheh] Kuchi [Kochin], and Karnataka. Countless Sheik,
Soiyadja, Mughal, Pathan [Afghan] warriors, Rajput [Great race of India], and
Hindus of various nationals. Avai (Ava), Burmese, Siam, Tripura, Kuki to name
how many more should I elaborate. Armenian, Olandaz ([Dutch], Diemar
[Danish], Engaraj [English], Castiman [?] and Franois. Hispani [Spanish],
Almani [German?], Chholdar [?], Nachhari [?], many races including
Portuguese.
Saiful Maluk by Alol (Huq 2005: 18)

II. Arakan after Burmese Conquest of 1885 and British Colonization

(a) We will never return to the Arracan Country; if you choose to slaughter us here, we
are ready to die: if by force to drive us away, we will go and dwell in the jungles of
the great mountains, which afford shelter for wild beasts.
Malcolm.1826:550
(Quotation in Pearn 1960:444)

(b) Arthur Phayre writes:

Numbers of descendents of those who fled in troublous times from their country
and settled in the southern part of Chittagong, the islands of the coast, and even
the Sunderbans of Bengal are gradually returning; and during the north-east
Monsoon boats filled with men, women and children, with all worldly goods, may
be boats filled with men, women and children, with all their worldly goods, may
be seen steering south along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal to return to the
land of their fathers abandoned thirty or forty years before. They have told me
that in their exile the old men used to speak with great regret for its loss of the
beauty of their country, the fertility of the land, the fertility of the land, the heavy
[yield] of rice..
Quotation in (Smart. 1957:81)

(b) That the Arakanese are gradually being pushed out of Arakan before the steady
wave of Chittagonian immigration from the west is only too well known. The
reason why they cannot withstand this pressure is that they are extravagant and hire
more labor than is necessary rather than do a fair share of work them. Among the
reason brought forward by the Arakanese for not doing manual labor are that no
two Arakanese can agree among themselves or trust each other and one will not
take orders from another .
Smart 1957: 85

III. Dynamics of Inter-Ethnic Relations

(a) The report of the Settlement Officer witnesses the fact. The population of the
whole tract is 127,831 of which the Naaf side contains 47,669 and the Kaladan
side 80,162. This gives a density of 237per square mile for Naaf and 142 for
Kaladan. The distribution of races is as follows:

Naaf

Burmese

Chin

Bengalis

Mro

Total

15,266

31,695

708

47,669

1969

6976

1420

80162

Kaladan 69,797

(RSO The Akyab District 1886 87, IOR V(9) 2163/2)

The inhabitants of that tract are Arakanese and Bengalis.The Bengalis are
Mohammedans from the neighborhood of Chittagong, Ramoo, and Cox Bazaar.
In the Settlement tract they are found chiefly near the town of Akyab and in the
north of Mayu Valley.
(RSO, Akyab District, 1885-86, IOR V (9) 2163/1)

(c) The Rohingyas are the descendants of the Muslims who hailed from Chittagong
and now they are mainly concentrated in northern Arakan. Their migration in the
past happened usually during the agricultural season when Arakan faced the
problem of the shortage of agricultural laborers.
(Khan 1999: 9)

(d)Demands of Mujahid Party June 9, 1948)

(1) The area between the west bank of Kaladan River and the East bank of Naaf
River must be recognized as the National Home of the Muslims in Burma.
(2) The Muslims in Arakan must be accepted as the nationalities of Burma.
(3) The Mujahid Party must be granted a legal status as a political organization.
(4) The Urdu Language must be acknowledged as the national language of the
Muslims in Arakan and be taught in the schools in the Muslim areas.

(5) The refugees from Kyauktaw and Myohaung Townships must be resettled in
their villages at the expense of the state.
(6) The Muslims under detention by the Emergency Security Act must be
unconditionally released.
(7) A general amnesty must be granted for the members of the Mujahid Party.
(Department of Defense Service Archives, Rangoon: CD 1016/10/11)

(e)The inhabitants of that tract are Arakanese and Bengalis.The Bengalis are
Mohammedans from the neighborhood of Chittagong, Ramoo, and Cox Bazaar.
In the Settlement tract they are found chiefly near the town of Akyab and in the
north of Mayu Valley.
(RSO, Akyab District, 1885-86, IOR V (9) 2163/1)

(f)Bands of armed Muslims began wandering throughout the region frustrating

Government activity. They forcibly isolated the Arakan (Rakhine) villagers who
had resettled on their lands, denying them drinking water and food supplies,
harassing them in every way imaginable, so that they were compelled to turn
around and return to the south. Muslim religious leaders began preaching jihad
against Arakan infidels. Indeed, initially, guerrilla activities were directed more
at ethnic targets (against the Buddhist Arakanese) than against the Burmese
Government.
(Yegar 2002: 37).

IV. Rohingya in the International Jihadist Network

(a) Under the talks held with the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, and with
International Organizations, the Union of Myanmar agreed to receive those
Bengalis who met four requirements. In 13 years from 1992 to 2005, Myanmar
received 46, 933 households or 236, 495 persons. According to the lists, 1192
households or 6365 persons have yet to reenter Myanmar but they have not come
yet.

New Light of Myanmar (January 31, 2009)

(b) There is Jihadi Organization called Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO)

in Bangladesh and Myanmar. It has recruited a large number of madrassa
(Islamic Seminary) students and dispatched them to Pakistan, Middle East and
Libya for training on Jihad. Published in Arabic, Al Tadmum, is the international
mouthpiece of RSO. The August 1991 issue of the journal published on its back
cover a notice from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth(WAMY) under the
caption Call from the Arakan Crusaders imploring the Muslim world to send
generous financial assistance for jihad in the name of Islam in Arakan. Given at
the end of the notice were the bank particulars of the RSO itself.
Dr. Muhammad Yunus
Account Number -4297, Islamic Bank Bangladesh Limited,
Agrabad Branch, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
(Kabir 2007:5)

There is a publication of HUJI (Harkat-Ul Jihad al-Islam), Arakan Unit in my

collection. The Urdu language book titled Tazkaraye Arakan was authored by
HUJI Arakan International publications secretary Hazrat Mowlana Hafez
Mohammad Siddique Arakani bin Hasan Ali. Educated in Jamia Darul Ulum
Kourangi in Karachi, Pakistan, this militant author has written in detail about
Jihad activities in Arakan and their network in Bangladesh in the said book, which
was published by HUJI of Burma in 1997.
(Kabir 2007:16)

Bibliography

British Library, London. Indian Office Records (IOR) V (9) 2163/2

Department of Defense Service Archives, Rangoon: CD 1016/10/11

Huq, Muhammad E. 1935. Arakan Rajsabhay Bangala Shahitya (1600 1700AD), (In
Bengali) Phinix Printing, Calcutta: (Translated by Maung Sein Fru in Arakanese
Research Journal Volume III, Arakanese Research Society of Bangladesh. Cox
Bazaar:

Kabir, Shahriar. 2007. Introduction to the White Paper on 1500 Days of Minority
Persecution in Bangladesh: International Institute of Social History. Dhaka:

Khan, Abdul Mabud.1999. The Mughs. University Press. Dhaka:

New Light of Myanmar, Rangoon (January 31, 2009)

Phayre, Arthur. 1841. Account of Arakan The Journal of Asiatic Society, Volume 10.

Smart, R.B. 1957. Burma Gazetteer Akyab District. Government Press, Rangoon:

The Daily Telegraph, Kolkata (July 7, 1999)

Yegar, Moshe. 2002. Between Integration and Secession: The Muslim Communities of the
Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Western Burma/Myanmar.
Lexington Books, Oxford:

Yule, Henry (Ed). 1985. Hobson-Jobson (A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words

and Phrases). Oxford University Press:

Aye Chan
B.A., M.A. (Rangoon), PhD (Kyoto University). He is a native of Arakan State in Burma.
He studied Oriental History at Rangoon University, Japanese language at the Institute of
Foreign Languages, Rangoon and Osaka University of Foreign Studies, Classical Chinese
and Oriental History at Kyoto University. His field of study is Early Modern Burma.
During fourteen years of teaching at Rangoon University, he published articles in
Southeast Asian Studies (Tonan Ajia Kenkyu). In 1988 he took part in Pro-democracy
Uprising and organized a group of scholars at the Rangoon University to advocate
academic freedom. In 1990 he was arrested and sentenced to ten year imprisonment.
After serving seven years (five of them in solitary confinement), he was released. He
went to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York to resume his academic career.
He taught Asian history at Simons Rock of Bard College in Massachusetts. In 2002 he
was invited by the Kanda University of International Studies in Japan as a visiting scholar.
Since then he has been teaching Southeast Asian history at the same University. The
articles he produced after his release can be read in the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research,
Journal of Siam Society and KUIS Journal of International Studies and Journal of Siam
Society.