Editorial
The Rohingya issue- Shun laidback approach
The pledge of the Myanmar authority to consider a set of new rights for Rohingyas, who have been made stateless in their own country, does not go far enough. It is the question of citizenship of the Muslims of Arakan State that is the nub of the issue. Amidst renewed violence against them in Myanmar, an early resolution of the matter assumes great importance.
The plight of the Rohingyas has been greatly enhanced by the fact that they have nowhere to seek succor except the sea, to escape the persecution, which, according to the OIC, has assumed 'genocidal' proportions.
What is appalling is the position taken by the Myanmar Nobel Laureate on the issue. We find Suu Kyi's unwillingness to take the side of the oppressed as morally untenable, particularly for a Nobel Peace Laureate. Contrary to her belief, her keeping equidistance from the issue will not promote national reconciliation; it will only encourage the oppressors to do more of what they are doing.
However, we hope that the chorus of international condemnation, including that of the UN and the OIC, of the Myanmar government's failure to protect its ethnic minority and even turning a blind eye to the violence perpetrated on them by the majority community with the support of the government agencies, would have a positive impact. And we would hope that President Obama would be able to convince the Myanmar junta to resolve the longstanding ethnic issue, during his forthcoming visit to that country.
While Bangladesh may have made its position clear to the OIC about its stance on the Rohingya issue, and it may have reasons for not offering permanent refuge to them, we find its unwillingness to be more forceful in calling upon the Myanmar government as well the international community, to stop the persecution, rather baffling. The problem is not an exclusively Myanmar issue. Bangladesh suffers the consequences of their persecution and can ill afford to remain a spectator to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas. It must add its voice in as strong a manner as possible to that of the international community's in calling upon the Myanmar government for a just resolution of the matter.
Readers' Comments:
It is much to be regretted that Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, should overlook the sectarian violence on the Muslim Rohingas by the Rakhine Buddhists of her country. She is rather making matters worse by trying to internationalize an internal problem. Contrary to facts, she has wrongly raised her fingers at Bangladeshi infiltration into Rakhine state. How could she ignore the displacement of more than 100,000 persons only in the last six months? Their houses have been burnt, hundred killed, their property looted, women raped. The human tragedy has been termed by some as genocidal -and 90 per cent of the victims are Rohingas. That the Muslim community is deprived of their citizenship and that thousands still remain stranded in the coastal waters without food and nutrition is a moving humanitarian tale rarely to be witnessed in recent decades. By failing to rise up to the occasion, she has lost much of her charisma, prudence, quality of leadership and above all her hall-mark to be the champion of democratic rights of people. We pray that she realizes her mistakes and play a constructive role in the reconciliation of the two communities.
: Dr. Iftikhar-ul-Awwal
We are not expecting that NLD (National League for Democracy) can make policy or implement them because we know that NLD is just opposition party. What we want from Suu Kyi is that she must have moral courage to stand for the principle even not popular among voters such as Rohingya citizenship issue. All expectation are not from NLD but from national leader Suu Kyi . She could have defused the tension between Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslims by making a statement on the principle but she failed and thousand of innocent people are still paying the price.
: Naser Mullah , Riyadh KSA
Source: The Daily Star, Dhaka, 19 Novemver 2012; link: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=257983
The Rohingya issue- Shun laidback approach
The pledge of the Myanmar authority to consider a set of new rights for Rohingyas, who have been made stateless in their own country, does not go far enough. It is the question of citizenship of the Muslims of Arakan State that is the nub of the issue. Amidst renewed violence against them in Myanmar, an early resolution of the matter assumes great importance.
The plight of the Rohingyas has been greatly enhanced by the fact that they have nowhere to seek succor except the sea, to escape the persecution, which, according to the OIC, has assumed 'genocidal' proportions.
What is appalling is the position taken by the Myanmar Nobel Laureate on the issue. We find Suu Kyi's unwillingness to take the side of the oppressed as morally untenable, particularly for a Nobel Peace Laureate. Contrary to her belief, her keeping equidistance from the issue will not promote national reconciliation; it will only encourage the oppressors to do more of what they are doing.
However, we hope that the chorus of international condemnation, including that of the UN and the OIC, of the Myanmar government's failure to protect its ethnic minority and even turning a blind eye to the violence perpetrated on them by the majority community with the support of the government agencies, would have a positive impact. And we would hope that President Obama would be able to convince the Myanmar junta to resolve the longstanding ethnic issue, during his forthcoming visit to that country.
While Bangladesh may have made its position clear to the OIC about its stance on the Rohingya issue, and it may have reasons for not offering permanent refuge to them, we find its unwillingness to be more forceful in calling upon the Myanmar government as well the international community, to stop the persecution, rather baffling. The problem is not an exclusively Myanmar issue. Bangladesh suffers the consequences of their persecution and can ill afford to remain a spectator to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas. It must add its voice in as strong a manner as possible to that of the international community's in calling upon the Myanmar government for a just resolution of the matter.
Readers' Comments:
It is much to be regretted that Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, should overlook the sectarian violence on the Muslim Rohingas by the Rakhine Buddhists of her country. She is rather making matters worse by trying to internationalize an internal problem. Contrary to facts, she has wrongly raised her fingers at Bangladeshi infiltration into Rakhine state. How could she ignore the displacement of more than 100,000 persons only in the last six months? Their houses have been burnt, hundred killed, their property looted, women raped. The human tragedy has been termed by some as genocidal -and 90 per cent of the victims are Rohingas. That the Muslim community is deprived of their citizenship and that thousands still remain stranded in the coastal waters without food and nutrition is a moving humanitarian tale rarely to be witnessed in recent decades. By failing to rise up to the occasion, she has lost much of her charisma, prudence, quality of leadership and above all her hall-mark to be the champion of democratic rights of people. We pray that she realizes her mistakes and play a constructive role in the reconciliation of the two communities.
: Dr. Iftikhar-ul-Awwal
We are not expecting that NLD (National League for Democracy) can make policy or implement them because we know that NLD is just opposition party. What we want from Suu Kyi is that she must have moral courage to stand for the principle even not popular among voters such as Rohingya citizenship issue. All expectation are not from NLD but from national leader Suu Kyi . She could have defused the tension between Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslims by making a statement on the principle but she failed and thousand of innocent people are still paying the price.
: Naser Mullah , Riyadh KSA
Source: The Daily Star, Dhaka, 19 Novemver 2012; link: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=257983
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