Myanmar must stop Rohingyas' killings - Deccan Herald

Myanmar must stop Rohingyas' killings

Editorial Deccan Herald

26.11.2016

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Myanmar. Thousands of Rohingyas are fleeing systematic violence being unleashed by the Myanmar military. The immediate spark for the military crackdown is an attack on border police that killed nine. The police blamed Rohingya militants and since then, violence against the Rohingyas has escalated. It is a matter of concern that rather than arresting those who carried out the attack, the Myanmar military is engaged in collective punishment of the Rohin-gya people. Entire villages have been burnt down. A senior UN official has described the violence as ‘ethnic cleansing’ - the Myanmar military is seeking to rid Rakhine of the Rohingyas and to this end is systematically wiping out the community. Two years ago, the Human Rights Watch wa-rned that violence amounting to crimes against humanity is being unleashed on them. The Rohingyas are a ‘nowhere people’; they are welcomed nowhere and have no place they can call a safe home. A Burmese speaking Muslim community, they have lived in Rakhine for centuries. Yet they are denied citizenship in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. They are unwelcome in neighbouring Bangladesh as they don’t speak Bangla. In a world that is increasingly Islamophobic, the plight of the Rohingyas is being ignored.

Particularly shocking is Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence. While the military controls defence, home affairs and border affairs and continues to wield enormous power, Myanmar has a civilian government today, the NLD is in power and Suu Kyi is the country’s de facto leader. Not only has she has not reined in the military over its violence against the Rohingya but also she has adopted the military’s description of them as “illegal migrants from Bangladesh.” This is dangerous as she is legitimising the exclusion of the Rohingyas.  

It is likely that Suu Kyi is keen to avoid confrontation with the milita-ry. Myanmar’s democracy is in a nascent stage and it is possible that she does not want to risk drawing the generals’ ire. However, her ostrich-like approach to Rakhine’s ethnic cleansing is weakening democracy in Myanmar. Myanmar’s democracy cannot grow so long as minorities are denied rights. A wave of Burman-Buddhist nationalism is sweeping the country. It is not a progressive one as it thrives on hate of ‘the oth-er.’ This destructive nationalism could consume Myanmar. Suu Kyi’s silence, while a section of her people burn, is unconscionable. A person of her stature should be providing moral leadership and steering her people in the right direction, not going with the flow as it is more convenient.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald