Rudyard Kipling remarked in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any other land you will know about.” The country indeed has a unique history that has shaped its British colonial and current military-dominated governments. Political posturing has created strong ethnic paranoia among the Burmese establishment that has recently culminated in the brutal repression of Muslims and women.
Rohingya History
Rakhine’s inhabitants have been traced back to the 9th century AD. It became increasingly Islamic starting in the 1400s, but was nonetheless very tolerant towards Hindus & Buddhists. Rakhine straddles the Bay of Bengal on its western border, so many Arabs, Afghans and other Muslims would migrate to Rakhine over the centuries as sailors, mercenaries or merchants, but most Muslims were native converts or converts from Bengal with whom they shared a porous border. Currently, Muslims comprise 29% of Rakhine State. However, they comprise as much as 95% in Taung Pyo Tat Wal District, or 92% in Maung Daw, the third most populous of Rakhine’s districts. It’s important to understand the history of Rohingya citizenship in what is now Burma to grasp the government’s current stance on the Muslim population in Rakhine. (Courtesy of internationalpolicydigest.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment