HISTORY, OPPRESSION & GENOCIDE OF BURMA MUSLIMS

 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 data which is
freely available online. References given at the end of the presentation)
2

 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

 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. 5

 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.”
6

 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
7

 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

 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.
10

 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

 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

 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.
13

 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

 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

 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

 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.
17

 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
19

 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.
20

 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

 "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

 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.”
23

 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

 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.
25

 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

 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

 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. 29

 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.
30

 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.
32

 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.
33

 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

 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." 35

 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 36

 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

 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.
38

 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

 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

 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 41

 http://www.rohingya.org/portal/index.php/ - Arakan Rohingya National Organisation
 Myanmar’s Muslims The Oppressed of the Oppressed - http://www.ihrc.org.uk/file/05OCTMyanmarPRoof.pdf
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims_in_Burma - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Burma
 Arakan report - http://www.ihh.org.tr/uploads/2012/arakanraporu-en.pdf
 Rohingya muslims sent to sea for die - CNN - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gai6mCQsCR4
 The oppression of the (Rohingya) Muslims of Myanmar (Burma): TV report - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgsLDiAnRog
 BURMANIZATION & ROHINGYA GENOCIDE - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0W2SrQL97U
 Buddhist Terrorist Monks attack and destroy Muslims properties - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEYv_EpADe8
 Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State - HRW - http://www.hrw.org/node/114882
 Chronology for Rohingya (Arakanese) in Burma - http://www.refworld.org/docid/469f3872c.html
 Exclusive Human History of Arakan Rohingya Muslim People - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8Wx4-Q4lc
 Burma: Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/human-rights-watch/burma-government-forces-t_b_1738063.html
43

 ‘Mass graves’ for Myanmar’s Rohingya
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/201288114724103607.html
Muslim Nations Take On Myanmar Over Rohingyas
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/08/07/muslim-nations-take-on-myanmar-over-rohingyas/
OIC seeks facts on Rohingya persecution
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=39767
Bangladesh urged by UN to ensure NGO access for people fleeing Rakhine state
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42639&Cr=Myanmar&Cr1=
Bangladesh orders halt in aid to Rohingya
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/08/201284155353135194.html
 Who are the Rohingyas? - http://www.restlessbeings.org/projects/rohingya
 The unending plight of Burma's unwanted Rohingyas - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23077537
 THE MOST ENDANGERED MINORITY GROUP? - "UGLY AS OGRES“ -
http://www.filmannex.com/webtv/diplomaticallyincorrect/blog_post/the-most-endangered-minority-group-ugly-as-ogres-by-
ambassador-mo/27298
 WHAT IS TRUTH OF BURMA & THE ROHINGYA? - http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/what-is-truth-of-burma-the-
rohingya/55149 44

 ‘Mass graves’ for Myanmar’s Rohingya
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/201288114724103607.html
Muslim Nations Take On Myanmar Over Rohingyas
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/08/07/muslim-nations-take-on-myanmar-over-rohingyas/
OIC seeks facts on Rohingya persecution
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=39767
Bangladesh urged by UN to ensure NGO access for people fleeing Rakhine state
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42639&Cr=Myanmar&Cr1=
Bangladesh orders halt in aid to Rohingya
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/08/201284155353135194.html
 Who are the Rohingyas? - http://www.restlessbeings.org/projects/rohingya
 The unending plight of Burma's unwanted Rohingyas - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23077537
 Turkish journalists speak about their observations in camps of Rohingya - http://www.wespeaknews.com/world/turkish-journalists-
speak-about-their-observations-in-camps-of-rohingya-79733.html
 WHAT IS TRUTH OF BURMA & THE ROHINGYA? - http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/what-is-truth-of-burma-the-
rohingya/55149
45

HISTORY, OPPRESSION & GENOCIDE OF BURMA MUSLIMS

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