Recent reports indicate that Myanmar’s Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had advised the American Ambassador to Myanmar not to use the term ‘Rohingya’ for the largely Muslim people of the country’s western-most state of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh.
In denying the existence of a million Rohingya as a separate ethnic group within Myanmar, Suu Kyi, the ‘heroine of the Myanmar democracy movement’ has chosen to follow the policies of the former military government. Explaining the decision, U Kyaw Zay Ya, a foreign ministry official said: “We won’t use the term Rohingya because Rohingya are not recognised as among the 135 official ethnic groups.”
The New York Times, one of the world’s most respected liberal newspapers, called her advice, “wrong and disappointing”, adding, “the Rohingya are every bit [Myanmarese] as she is”. (Courtesy of gulfnews.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment