Friday, July 27, 2012

Saving Rohingya people by truth not by lies

I remember that from 5 years ago I was introduced to the Rohingya People of Burma aka Myanmar  through a BBC report about their agony. Since then I wonder why the Muslim world is not helping them but suddenly the Arab Muslim suddenly knew that there are Muslims suffer in Burma and there is a country called Burma in the first place thanks to the latest clashes between Muslims and Buddhist in Rakhine state.
The latest clashes between the Rohingya Muslims "One of the most prosecuted minorities in Burma" and Buddhists in Sittwe area , Rakhine State took place after the rape and murder of Buddhist when Buddhists attacked the Muslims in retaliation from a month ago. According to official records 10 Muslims were killed on June 3rd, 2012 and not less than 80 were killed throughout the month.Whole villages of were burned from both sides equally unfortunately. Just like any dictatorship , the military junta helped in spreading the violance , nothing better than divide conquer. Thousands of Rohingya People had to flee the country and head to Bangladesh through Naf river as well to India and in temporary refugee camps increasing their suffering more and more.The photogallery below shows real photos from there from month ago. 
The president of Burma, the puppet president to be accurate Thein Sein has told the UN that refugee camps or deportation was the "solution" for nearly a million Rohingya Muslims in the wake of communal unrest in the west of the country from two weeks ago.During then UNHCR from its side rejected that racial suggestions saying that it is not its job to resettle the Rohingya. Already despite the Rohingya Muslims , the Muslims are minority yet their existence in the according to historical records goes back to centuries in the country yet they are not recognized a citizens and regarded as foreign Bengals.
The West began to speak more about the case thanks to the noise created in the East by Muslims , the thing which I will not deny. Human rights organizations like Amnesty International began to speak about the issue creating more international awareness.
Needless to say many human rights activists are shocked on how the famous icon of democracy Aung San Su Kyi is keeping her mouth shut about the whole Rohingya issue , we need a clear answer from her to know whether she believes that they are Burmese citizens or not like Chinese and Indian communities in the country , ambiguous answers are not good for her image in the world.
Su Kyi meets a Muslim Rohingya at her Part HQ earlier
June 2012 before the eruption of sectarian tensions. 
The bigger shock also for the human rights activists worldwide is from the Burmese monks who were regarded as freedom fighters from two years ago. Of course I am shocked too by the position of the Burma's monks that once called for democracy and equality , I think their actions contradicts with the pacifist beliefs of Buddhism and simplest principles of human rights and freedom.


Buddhist monks in Sittwe during the clashes "Reuters"
The Rohingya people are not the only minority prosecuted in the military state that began to be open to the world only last year through economic policies. The Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities brought by the British since 19th century to the country suffer from terrible conditions as well. Just this month the Burma Campaign UK "BCUK" published a report about how the Buramese army attacked villages and areas of ethnic minorities earlier this year whether in state of Kachin  and the state of Shan. Still the most prosecuted among all these ethnics are the Rohingya.
Here is a photogallery showing the Rohingya people in May 2012 in Sittwe before clashes.
The Military junta in the country is already using a mix Burmese nationalism presented by General Ne Win since 1960s and conservative Theravada Buddhism to bolster its rule and to remain in power targeting ethnic and religious minorities in the country as enemies. You can read more about this problem here." I think we know how this goes very well in the Middle East and the Arab countries , we are experts now !!"
Now I finished the facts part let's go to our part of the world.
There was huge social media campaign in our part of the world after knowing the news of the clashes that made me believe that there was ethnic cleansing going in Burma. A systematic social media campaign that unfortunately built its cause on lies , yes lies.
Thanks to the huge Social Network Gulf Salafist machine , there are people who believe that the Buddhists killed in two days not less  than 10,000 Muslims !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Already that machine used photos from Asian natural catastrophes like earthquakes and tsunamis as African ethnic fights showing dead bodies of children as evidence from Burma.  
Thsi graphic photo is from Nigeria and you can see
African soldiers yet it presented as it is from Burma
Muslims burnt alive !!!
I was careful when it comes to the photos because I know that Burma is from the countries that do not give photographers the freedom to shot films or photos. This is why , this post is belated one. 
This photos were presented as Muslims killed by Buddhists
on the Left where as it was taken from China's earthquake !!
That campaign made Egyptian youth protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Zamalak and Islamist MPs presented petitions to the ambassador who found himself face to face to the Egyptian revolutionary youth forcing him to issue a statement for the first time in the history of that embassy in Cairo. I will not lie and say that it was not a good move to create noise and remind the military junta in Burma that there are other people in the world other than the West are watching them but ....
But yesterday Sheikh Hafez Salamah , the famous icon of resistance in Suez wants the Muslims to provide the Rohingya Muslims with arms and fighters to stand against the aggression of the Buddhist rulers and their military against the Burmese Muslims.
It is very serious matter when it comes from man like Sheikh Hafez with influence among Salafists in Egypt. Taliban Pakistan which is regarded internationally as terrorist group has also threatened the military Junta and Burma in general over the Rohingya issue. 
Of course personally I think these threats will harm the Muslims more in Burma as we deal with restless criminal junta by the end of the day. Shall we see Taliban targeting Buddhist temples to the end of their usual actions !!?? This is what I am afraid of.
I did not like already when the matter turned in to a virtual crusade not only against the Burma Junta regime and Buddhist monks but Buddhism with any prior knowledge , in fact there was huge misinformation spread throughout the social and also the mainstream media starting from the fact that the Arakan is actually a Muslim state when actually Muslims are the minority  !! It was once a Muslim state hundreds of years ago for God sake.
In the past weeks , you would see strange stuff on #SaveArakan and #Arakan hashtag in Arabic and English very night. Everyday you find fake photos from all around Asia as if it was from Arakan and everyday you ask them to check their info and you got attack.  
Beautiful Rohingya girl 
Nevertheless there are diplomatic efforts from the Muslim world after all someone has to move in the right way , the Organization Islamist Conference "OIC" sent letters to UN and to President Thein Sein asking them to stop the violence against the Muslims there.  The Turkish human rights organizations like IHH as well Turkish news agency began to sent delegations to the Rohingya refugees camps.
Despite I am angry from what has been happened to the Burmese Rohingya Muslims , I am furious from the Buddhist monks from their disgusting behaviour and pro-democratic icon Aung Suu Kyi on her silence yet something make me feel unease how the Gulf Salafist machine acted in spreading the cause using false photos to mobilize hundreds of thousands if not of millions of Muslims in the Arab world using social media.
That machine did not move in that way during the Lebanese war or Gaza war when I remember , I felt as if we are being directed to a fight without any prior knowledge about a country called for Burma. It is like let those kids who turned the Middle East upside down target their anger to Burma to get rid from their junta. I do not know may be it is a feeling as I do not trust the sectarian Salafist Gulf media machine at all and whoever stands behind it.
By the way I hope that Arabs stands for the rights of the Badoon in Kuwait in the same way they are standing for the Rohingya Muslims , there are thousands of Arab Muslims in Kuwait who are not recognized as citizens , stateless suffering in one of the most richest countries in the world !!
Nevertheless what is happening to Rohingya people is a crime should be stopped , it should be stopped through facts and not through lies.

11 comments:

  1. Anon:
    Zeinobia, you need to plugin your invesitgative battery, to explore the joke of so called politics and religious issues in Burma and the surrounding asian countries. The real sources of troubles there have nothing to do with political priniciples, democracy or relegion. The devil in that region is "OPIUM". More than 60% of the world opium grows in Aphganistan, processed /transported through Burma to Asia through "Silk Road". The current regime in Burma is criticised (on paper) by the west, but truth of the matter is they are doing their job. The west gave Su Kyi Noble Peace Prize
    and kept her detained at home for over 10 years, to keep the Opium Silk Road" safe. Religion conflicts is what appears on the surface, relaity of the matters are different. Just examine how the Taliban forze Opium production in the name of religion, look what followed by the US democratic system!!!. The old Opium war is one example. Don't take things as the appear on the surface in this area.

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  2. http://www.facebook.com/Soutienmuslimsdumyanmar

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  3. Good job on identifying the false images. The first one is actually from a oil tanker explosion on July 3rd, 2010 at the Republic of Congo in Africa. See the news and related images at the following link: http://www.afrik.com/article20308.html
    The second image is from the Tibetan earthquake. The picture shows bodies of earthquake victims piled on the pyre for cremation by Buddist monks.

    Muslims are not the only one guilty of using the fake images. A simple google search for "burnt christians nigeria" will bring up the same image(s). So there is the "Nigeria" connection.

    Last but not the least, the persecution of the Muslims in Myanmar goes on quietly as there is huge restrictions on the media by the junta government. The Muslims have been persecuted for many decades by the army as well as the Rakhine population. Forced labor, rape, extortion, land confiscation and other numerous forms of abuses have been going on for so long that the Muslims simply don't have any life. Every year, hundreds of people set their sail on small boats and attempt to reach other shores. Many of them die in the process. It's about time the world takes a notice and stop this ethnic cleansing.

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  4. There is more evidence to suggest that most of this "ethnic cleansing" is actually just very clever Islamic (salafist?) propaganda than a real ethnic cleansing. There is the claim that the Rohingya have been there for centuries, but the proof is simply not there and all such claims are heavily disputed.

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  5. I am not being racist or insulting to rohingya people but what started this religious war has a long story behind it. Rohingyas are illegal immigrates from Bengali hundred years ago, the reason for them to moved to Burma is unknown but a huge impact occurred when they arrived and lived in Myanmar. As you all know, Muslims hate Christianity and other religions, they raped Burmese people, argued to take their lands if denied, killing was the only thing they did. They also raped 2 women and burned them, insulted Burmese, these ruthless actions were unbearable for Burmese people. Today, Rohingyas are suffering because of their stupid and merciless actions they did in the past.

    Thousands of Christians are killed every year in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, India, etc.. But I've never seen anyone fighting for them in the past neither today. No movements are made. If the Rohingyas want this suffering to end, they need to prove themselves in some way to not make the same mistake again.

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  6. It is not just the Rohingya that are being subjected to genocide but also the mostly Christian Karen. The wars against both ethnic groups are being done in the name of Buddhism and nationalism. Chauvinistic monks are promoting what in most places would be called theocratic legislation.

    The Rohingya tend to be less theocratic than the majority in that country.

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  7. Some in Myanmar are pushing for laws requiring monks to approve of individual apostasy, as well as restrictions on interfaith marriage. Probably, the junta is seeking to get the Buddhist monastic religious establishment on its side to the greatest degree possible so as in the future to encourage it to endorse a war against liberalism and human rights. As an enemy of the military state, the Buddhist religious groups are a powerful challenger, but if it can turn them into its allies by adopting conservative social policies and anti-atheism/irreligion causes, the liberals would face a huge challenge. Once pro-democracy forces start being accused of following other religions, promoting immorality/infidelity/perversity/depravity and the other usual stock allegations, the struggle will get much harder.

    This is not just about the Rohingya, although the persecution against them is indeed loathsome. The junta is trying to don a false religious guise to help sustain the generals' power in a reconstituted form. Some in Thailand and Sri Lanka would like to do the same but cannot.

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  8. Arr fabricated story. Read the truth https://www.quora.com/Are-Rohingya-Bengali-people-originally-Bangladeshi-migrants-settled-in-Myanmar-Burma/answer/Ze-Khong

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  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. Bangalesh deliberately pushed back the refugees stating they are burmese. Bangahlesh, if sincere, could have accepted the refugees wholeheartedly. In the 1960s, millions of chinese were butchered in indonesia and communist china had to send boats to take the chinese back despite being poor. I see no reason why Bangalesh cannot accept the refugees, which is of the same religion and type.

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  11. If a few people did those things it does not mean ethnic cleansing is justified.and a systematic genocide should start and continue for decades and you should justify it. There are criminals everywhere. Imprison the criminals. Punish them. Why punish children and other innocents.
    There is NO justification.

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