arakan may 2011

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THE ETHNIC ROHINGYAMINORITY ARETRAPPED BETWEENSEVERE REPRESSIONIN BURMA AND ABUSEIN THE NEIGHBOURINGCOUNTRIES. THE ETHNIC

R O H I N G Y AMINORITY OFBURMA ISONE OF THEMOSTPERSECUTEDGROUP INTHE WORLD.

REPORTS :

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No Change in Burma and in HumanRights Situation of Rohingya

ARAKAN MAGAZINE I MAY ISSUE 2011 2

Through a fake general election held in November10, 2010, a civilianized military dictatorship has now cometo rule Burma amidst general disappointment.Opposing its legitimacy, the international communityforecast more atrocious crimes and human rightsviolations are to continue in Burma. Evidently crimesagainst humanity of various kinds are perpetrated in theethnic areas, especially creating a terrible situation in theRohingya homeland of northern Arakan.No changes have been sensed in the treatment of theRohingya people by the authorities. The oppressive systemof the Nasaka border security force and other repressivefunctionaries is still in place, with their acts of violencebeing committed in manifold with out let or hindrance. TheNasaka sector commanders are acting like uncrown kings.Even its ordinary soldiers have amassed monies andproperties beyond mind's eye, mainly through planned ex-tortion of the Rohingya people under false and imaginarycharges. Crimes against humanity of rape,murder, looting and destruction are a regular phenomenonall over North Arakan. It is a mockery of the new regime to

claim any improvement in the human rights situation inNorth Arakan, where the Nasaka, army, police andgovernment servants are not answerable to the law andconstitution for their acts against the Rohingyas. Some ofthe Nasaka forces openly say, We do not treat you as cruelas we are instructed to do. We are ordered to create hellishatmosphere to starve you, to humiliate you and drive youout of the country. The psychology of inducing terror is theother parts of the Nasaka plan against the Rohingya inorder to force them flee their homeland.Nasaka is largely believed as a gang of monsters

specially created to ethnically cleanse the Rohingyas fromArakan. They interfere with anything even with thejudiciary. Cases can not be decided without reference tothe Chief of the Nasaka violating the norms of thejudiciary.Nowadays the officials of the judiciary departmentexpress their displeasure particularly over the Nasakasundue interference in the judicial proceedings. Cont. P. 3

EDITORIAL : NO CHANGE IN BURMAAND IN HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONOF ROHINGYABURMA CHINA AGREE TO BUILDRAIL LINK TO ARAKANBURMA BANGLADESH AGREETO IMPROVE MILITARY TIESCOVER STORY : ROHINGYAS ARETRAPPED BETWEEN SEVERE RREPRESSION IN BURMA ANDABUSE IN NEIGHBOURINGCOUNTRIESSUU KYI RECEIVES AWARD FROMFEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATIONFROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY :SOME MUSLIM POETS AND WRIT-ERS OF ARAKAN ROYAL COURTBANGLADESH REJECTS UN HELPFOR ROHINGYAROHINGYA CITIZENSHIP ISSUEBRIEFLY SURFACES AT THEBURMESE MILITARYS NEWNATIONAL ASSEMBLY SESSIONMAUNGDAW AUTHORITY AGAINSTOPS THE CONSTRUCTION OFRELIGIOUS BUILDINGROHINGYA GIRL GANG-RAPED BYNASAKA OF MAUNGDAW-SOUTHROHINGYAS PASS YEARS IN STATE-LESS LIMBO IN INDIAN JAILATROCITIES BY BURMESE NASAKAFORCES IN ROHINGYA VILLAGES ATALARMING RATE

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CONTENTS

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From P. 2 In this connection, mention may be made of the concocted case farmed against the Rohingyavillagers of Kamonseik in Maundaw Township where, for the purpose of extortion, the Nasaka blatantlyaccused the innocent villagers of having link with insurgents/Taliban. After massive extortion, theNasaka Director confessed that such allegation was unsubstantiated. Thus the actions of Nasaka becomea daily teashop gossip in North Arakan, among the public servants as well as common people, as tales ofwoe upon woe. Many believe that there would be no breathing space for them until the Nasaka apparatus isdismantled. Naturally the people want the independence of judiciary and improvement in their human rightsituation.It was Gen. Ne Win who first introduced dictatorship since 1962 military take over in Burma. He sus-pended the Constitution, Habeas Corpus and similar writs. Contrary to the four essential qualities of judgesthat the Socrates described to hear courteously to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide im-partially'' the judges in Burma have to decide according to the order of authorities.

Burma is notorious for its obscure and unjust laws and for the arbitrary manner in which they are ap-plied. In its attempts to lend itself legitimacy and to keep the democratic opposition under control, the juntamakes use of a multitude of laws, orders and decrees, many of which are new and of which the legality isdubious, often being in conflict with both international and national law. Laws used most often to deal withpolitical opponents and other critics include the Emergency Provisions Act, the State protection Law, theUnlawful Associations Act and the public Order Act.Following the wave of arrests of May 1996, the junta also passed a law that makes drafting a newconstitution illegal to anyone but the National convention. The aim is to disallow NLD to draft a constitutionthough NLD has 382 law makers. This law makes voicing ones political opinion in public punishable by 20years in prison. It is illegal to criticize the military. Detainees are denied to fair trial. There is no independentjudiciary and a complete lack of government accountability.

Thus Aung San Suu Kyi said that no meaningful change" has taken place since Burmas elections in20 years. The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power. "Until political prisoners have been released, anduntil we are all allowed to take part in the political process in the country, I do not think we can call it realchange," Suu Kyi told DW-TV. She also said that by giving Burma the chair of the Association of the South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014, would not help democracy in Burma in any way. ##

Burma and China plan to build a railroad

together that will link China's landlocked Yunnan

Province to a deep-sea port being built in Burmas

Arakan state. The state-run New Light of Myanmar

newspaper reported on Thursday that the project will

start with a 126-km rail link between Muse, on the

Sino-Burmese border, and Lashio in Burmas north-

eastern Shan State.

That first phase is expected to be built in three

years. The completed railroad will extend to a port

China is building in Burmas Kyaukphyu town in

northwestern Arakan. The China National Petroleum

Corporation already is building a 770-km pipeline

from Arakan to Yunnan. The newspaper said the

memorandum of understanding was signed on

Wednesday in the capital Naypyidaw. Published on

Friday, Apr. 29, 2011, Irrawaddy on Line ##

Burma and Bangladesh have agreed to improve

bilateral relations and mutual cooperation, including

military collaboration, said a report by the Narinjara

news agency. Burma's Air Force Chief Lt-Gen Myat

Hein met with Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman

on May 5 while in the country for a six-day visit.

Narinjara said it was the first time a high-

ranking Burmese official has visited Bangladesh since

a maritime dispute broke out in 2008. Myat Hein said

he would like Burmese forces to undergo training in

Bangladesh in the future.

Also Talks are going on with neighbouring Myan-

mar to import gas for meeting the growing demand,

Bangladesh PMs adviser Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowd-

hury said on May 5. He also indicated that the much

talked about proposal of tri-nation - Myanmar - Bang-

ladesh India - gas pipeline project might be

revived. ##

www.rohingya.org I www.rohingya.org


EDITORIAL

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COVER STORYROHINGYAS ARE TRAPPED BETWEEN SEVERE REPRESSIONIN BURMA AND ABUSE IN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIESIntroduction

The Rohingya ethnic minority ofBurma are trapped between severerepression in their homeland and

abuse in neighboring countries. Bang-ladesh has hosted hundreds of thou-sands o f Roh ingyas f l ee ingpersecution for more than threedecades, but at least 200,000 Rohingyarefugees have no legal rights there.They live in squalor, receive very lim-ited aid and are subject to arrest, extor-tion and detention. Unregis-tered refugee women and girls are par-ticularly vulnerable to sexual andphysical attacks. The inter-national community must urge theBangladeshi government to registerundocumented refugees and improve

protection for all vulnerable Rohingyas.Donor governments must also work torestart and increase resettlement ofrefugees to a third country and in-crease assistance for communitieshosting refugees.Background

The Rohingya ethnic minorityof Burma is one of the most persecutedgroups in the world. Stripped of their

citizenship by the Burmese govern-ment in 1982 and forced to flee throughviolent military campaigns andsustained persecution, over one millionRohingyas now live in exile in Bangla-

desh, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Paki-stan. Inside Burma, approximately800,000 Rohingyas live in three town-ships in Northern Rakhine State, adensely populated region and the poor-est part of an already impoverishedcountry. Rohingya children are threetimes more likely to die before theirfifth birthday than other children inBurma and malnutrition rates fre-quently exceed emergency levels. TheWorld Food Program reported that thefood security in the region has wors-ened over the past two years, with two-thirds of the population hungry.

The Rohingya in Northern RakhineState are subject to particularly severeviolations of their human rights, includ-ing systematic violence and bordermilitary, known as the NaSaKa. The1982 citizenship law left them statelessand rendered them illegal migrants intheir own country. They are the onlyethnic group in Burma restricted frommarriage, traveling beyond their

or building or maintaining religiousstructures. In addition, they aresubject to frequent forced labor,arbitrary taxationvillage , sexualviolence and land confiscations by

the NaSaKa.Family lists, the basic registration

system in Burma, include the namesof all residents of each household.For Rohingyas, the lists also includea tally of livestock, and are checkedby the NaSaKa on a regular basis. If aresident is not present during afamily list check, their name is struckoff and the resident is not allowed toreturn unless an exorbitant tax ispaid. Rohingyas in Bangladesh toldRefugees International (RI) that evenif they could survive in their home-land, they could not sleep at nightdue to the deep-seated fear of arrestand abuse by the NaSaKa.

Violent Burmese military cam-paigns have been waged against theRohingya leading to mass influxesinto eastern Bangladesh in 1978 and1991-1992, the vast majority of whomwere forcibly repatriated. Today,

only 28,000 are recognized Cont. P. 5


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From P. 4 as refugees with the Gov-ernment of Bangladesh and live inKutupalong and Nayapara camps. Reg-istered refugees receive basic healthservices, primary education and foodrations but about 5,000 of the campresidents were not properly registeredand are barred from receiving food ra-tions. At least 200,000 Rohingyas,which include new arrivals and thosewho had returned after being repatri-ated, live in unofficial refugee settle-ments and local villages, mainly inCoxs Bazar district. The Governmentonly allows the UN Refugee Agency(UNHCR) and NGOs to work with refu-gees living in the official camps andeven lifesaving activities targeting un-registered refugees are not authorized.Develop a Refugee Policy Basedon Tolerance

The central government has con-ducted a review of its policy on Rohin-gya refugees in the past year, but thecabinet has repeatedly delayed itsfinalization. Pending this finalization,the Government of Bangladesh hasincreased restrictions on aid agenciesand centralized all decision-makingpertaining to both the registered andunregistered refugees at the Dhaka-level, significantly delaying aid opera-tions. Despite reports of global acutemalnutrition rates of 30% in Kutupa-long makeshift camp, which is doublethe emergency threshold, the

Government has denied permits foraid agencies to assist unregisteredrefugees and host communities. Shel-ters are falling apart and are unlikely toresist the upcoming monsoons. In theofficial camps, government officialsabruptly halted refugee resettlementand have closed all income-generatingactivities Including small shops and

tailoring, stating that skills were pro-vided to only help refugees upon theirreturn to Burma.

Enhancing the protection andself-sufficiency of all refugees wouldimprove Bangladeshs internalsecurity and rule of law, in addition toits record on refugee rights. Keepinghundreds of thousands of peopleundocumented limits adequategovernment oversight of activities onits territory and creates an environmentpermissive to criminality, includingtrafficking, corruption and exploitation.

Furthermore, a new comprehen-

sive aid package for Coxs Bazar,would help the district meet the Millen-nium Development Goals, which isunlikely to occur on its current track.Providing refugees with the right towork would reduce tensions over jobcompetition, stabilize local wages andensure that Bangladesh workers arenot put at a disadvantage.

Register the UnprotectedThe Government of Bangla-

desh should work closely withUNHCR to establish a system toregister vulnerable and undocu-mented refugees in order to provideurgent humanitarian aid protectionagainst arrest and deportation andensure access to justice. There are

an estimated 200,000 to 500,000unregistered Rohingyas living inBangladesh. While some Rohingyashave been able to gain legal statusor integrate into local communities,which share the same language,customs and religion, a significantnumber have no documentation andare subject to arrest, detention anda litany of abuses, including rape,starvation and indefinite detentionand no recourse to justice whenthey suffer physical or sexual as-saults.

Refugees are often arrestedwhile collecting firewood in thenearby national forest or whileworking. If they are unable to pay abribe or obtain a guarantee from aBangladesh national for their imme-diate release, refugees are oftencharged with illegal entry and sentto jail. Refugees told RI that a bribebetween $110 to $400 is required forrelease, forcing Cont. P. 6



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From P. 5 many families into heavydebt. One man interviewed by RI for hisfamily to pay a $300 bribe. Over 300Rohingyas are estimated to be in se-verely overcrowded conditions inCoxs Bazar jail, which houses about3,000 prisoners in a space meant for800. Fifty-eight Rohingyas in jail havecompleted their sentence, some morethan a decade ago, but they have nofamily or relatives to pay a bribe and

the Burmese authorities refuse to allowthem back in Burma, leaving them inindefinite detention.

The 2008 national elections haveexacerbated the vulnerability of unreg-istered Rohingyas. During the voterregistration drive, thousands of un-documented Rohingyas were evictedfrom the villages where they had beenliving, often for more than a decade.They were driven to the precarious hill-sides surrounding the Kutupalong offi-cial camp where they set up crudeshelters and have since been strug-gling to survive. In 2009 and 2010, the

government launched brutal crack-downs on Rohingyas in Bandarbanand Coxs Bazar districts and the popu-lation of the Kutupalong makeshiftcamp peaked from 4,000 in 2008 toover 34,000 refugees in early 2010 -outnumbering those in the officialcamp. UNCHR was denied access andno aid agencies were officially permit-ted to provide assistance. Refugees

feared leaving the camps to find jobsor food due to the intense campaign ofarrests and violence, resulting inalarming malnutrition rates.The upcoming roll-out of national IDcards may exacerbate the exclusion ofunregistered refugees by furtherdepriving them of access to jobs and

services, making the registration of allrefugees even more urgent. Since thevoter registration drive, unregisteredRohingya children can no longer attendg o v e r n m e n t s c h o o l s d u e t orequirements to show documentationof both parents and children. Contraryto its obligations under the Conventionon the Rights of the Child, the Govern-ment of Bangladesh does not registerRohingya children born on its territoryunless both parents can prove Bangla-deshi nationality. This perpetuatesRohingyas statelessness and lack ofidentity. Aid agencies also report

increasing pressure from local authori-ties to ensure that aid beneficiariespresent identification to access nutri-tion programs and micro-creditschemes. Job opportunities could alsobecome restricted to ID card holders.Increase Security for Women andGirls in the Camps

Without any legal rights for unreg-istered refugee women, a climate of

fear and impunity pervades theunofficial settlements reinforced bythe lack of accountability and over-sight. Since last years crackdown,reports of sexual violence againstunregistered refugees haveincreased, yet services remain at abare minimum.

The registration of refugeesshould guarantee access to justicean humanitarian assistance, so thatsexual and gender-based violence(SGBV) can be adequately preventedand addressed. Despite existingobstacles to addressing SGBV inBangladesh, UNHCR has been ableto make progress with registeredrefugees by raising awareness,increasing womens leadership rolesand supporting legal cases. Nonethe-less, UNHCR staff say their effortsare only the tip of the iceberg giventhe scale of abuses. For unregistered

refugees, these crimes remaininvisible yet the deep mental andsocial trauma on survivors and theircommunities remain untreatedSexual violence, early and forcedmarriages and domestic violence areendemic in both the host and refugeecommunities, but the stressful livingconditions and the lack of access tothe police or justice system andstressful living conditions Cont. P. 7



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From P. 7 The socio-economicindicators of local residents are well-below the national averages and onlymarginally better than refugees. Thesefactors led five UN agencies to developthe Joint initiative for Coxs Bazar, atwo-year, $33 million development planto strengthen education, health, liveli-hood and governance programs, but itfailed to gain the Governments ap-proval. Government officials said thatthe improving conditions in Bangla-desh would create pull factors forRohingyas in Burma and instead, theprogram should be implemented inother poor districts.

While the rejection of the JointInitiative is deeply disappointing forboth aid agencies and local Bangla-deshis, donor governments shouldcontinue to leverage their aid effortsand increase aid to Coxs Bazar. Theyshould urge the Government of Bangla-desh to ensure national programsoperate on a non-discriminatory basisand allow joint projects for both

unregistered refugees and host com-munities. Such joint programs werepromoted in the past year on a small-scale and have reduced tensions withlocals. If expanded, these initiativescould help Coxs Bazar indicatorscatch up with the rest of the country tothe meet the Millennium DevelopmentGoals. One villager said, We are poorand they are poor. Its better if NGOshelp us all. Such a program wouldalso recognize the generosity of impov-erished host communities over thepast three decades.Improve Conditions in the

Official Refugee CampsIn order to better support

Rohingyas in the two officialrefugee camps, donor governments

should increase funding forfood and expand resettlementand education programs. First,donor governments must imme-diately mobilize $2 million forthe World Food Program (WFP)to avoid a humanitariancrisis. The U.S. and Canadiangovernments have already con-tributed cash and in-kind aid

but without additional funds,the food pipeline could break inMay. The funding gap hasforced WFP to cut rations,which no longer meet the dailynutritional needs. The currentglobal acute malnutrition rate of14.6.% in the official camps isalmost at the emergencythreshold - just months beforethe beginning of situation isserious.

With restrictions to livelihood activitiesand frequent sharing of rations withunregistered refugees in the makeshiftcamp, traditional coping mechanismshave already been degraded.

In February, 2011 the Governmentof Bangladesh reques-ted large-scaleresettlement of 28,000 registeredrefugees from the official camps and

this should move forward. First andforemost, the Government must lift itshold on resettlement processingimposed in October 2010 in order forresettlement countries to seriouslyconsider the request. The U.S. govern-ment launched a successful resettle-ment program for more than 90,000Burmese refugees from Thailand andMalaysia, but less than 100Rohingyas have been resettled fromBangladesh. The U.S. governmentshould work with other resettlementcountries such as Canada, the UK,Australia, Sweden and Norway toaccept more Rohingya refugees, whilefinding durable solutions withBangladesh for those who do not wantor are unable to resettle.

In addition, the Government ofBangladesh and UNHCR shouldexpand secondary educationprograms, as previously agreed, toprovide opportunities and hope for thelarge number of children in the camp.UNICEF only focuses on primaryeducation and is expected to withdrawfrom the camp next year. UNHCRshould be funded to bring in a new

partner, strengthen the education pro-gram and expand secondary educationopportunities.

Policy Recommendations Key donor governments, particu-larly Australia, Canada, the U.S. andthe UK, should work with the Bangla-deshi government and UNHCR to regis-ter undocumented Rohingya refu-gees in order to strengthen protectionand humanitarian assistance and re-duce sexual and gender-based vio-lence. Key donor governments shoulddevelop a large-scale, needs-basedassistance program to assist impover-ished local communities hosting Ro-hingya refugees. The U.S government, together withother recipient countries should initiatelarge-scale resettlement programs forregistered Rohingya refugees. Donor governments should

rapidly mobilize $2 million to meet theWorld Food Programs funding gap toensure the provision of full food

rations in the official refugee campsthis year. ##Lynn Yoshikawa and Melanie Teffassessed the plight of Rohingyarefugees in Bangladesh in March2011. Source

Burmese opposition leaderDaw Aung San Suu Kyi delivered avideo address to an awards cere-mony hosted by the US-based Femi-nist Majority Foundation at the Bev-erly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles onApril 26, 2011.

Daw Suu Kyi was one of fourwinners of the group's GlobalWomen's Rights Award, which hon-ors those who work tirelessly for therights of women. The other recipientswere Haitian feminist Yolette Jeanty,American journalist Renee Mon-tagne, who has reported extensivelyon the situation of women in Af-ghanistan, and Sunita Viswanath, thefounder of Women for AfghanWomen. Published on Friday,Apr,29,2011, Irrawaddy on Line. ##



Daw Suu Kyi Receives Award fromFeminist Majority Foundation

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Cont. P. 10

In the March 2011 issue ofARAKAN, we have given accounts ofthe Muslim Prime ministers, Defenceministers and ministers of Arakan in16th 17th centuries. They were notonly the ministers; some of them werePrime ministers, army commanders,judges and some were saints andreligious priests. They had vastinfluence in the country and court ofthe kings of Arakan. The Arakaneseking reposed great confidence in them.The ministers and high officers werelearned men, who patronised learningand Muslim poets and writers. Thepoets wrote in Bengali, a good numberof their poems have been discovered.

Their writings prove that those whoassembled in the court of ministerswere all Bengali specking people, or inother words many of them entered intoArakan from the neighbouring countryof Bengal. Chittagong is adjacent toArakan, and for some time Chittagongwas under the Arakanese kings. So itmay be presumed that most of theBengali speaking people of Arakanwent there from Chittagong. Theycould not forget their own languageand that is why Bengali language andliterature prospered in Arakan. This isthe secret of the culture of Bengalilanguage and literature in Arakan,where the Arakanese had their ownlanguage, but their language andliterature did not develop. In thischapter we propose to give an accountof the poets and their writings: thepoets were not only Bengalees, but sofar as known, they were mostly fromChittagong.

Abdul Karim Sahitya-Visharedshould be given credit for collectinghundreds of puthis from different partof Chittagong. He also collected

Bengali manuscripts written by Bengalipoets living in Arakan. He and Dr.Muhammad Enamul Huq togetherwrote a book entitled Arakan Rajsab-haya Bangala Sahitya giving accountsof their books and the subject matterdiscussed in those books. Theythought that the poets adorned thecourt of the Arakanese kings, and sotheir book was entitled Bengaliliterature in Arakanese court. But actu-ally it was not so, some of poets werein the service of the government, butthey were patronised by the Muslimministers and the poets adorned the

court of the minister. There were alsosome poets, who live in Arakan, butwas neither in the government servicenor did they receive patronage from theministers.

POET DAULAT QAZI OR QAZI DAULATThe earliest known Muslim poet in

Arakan was Poet Daulat Qazi or QaziDaulat. He was probably holding thepost of Qazi, or a judge but he wrotehis book by order of Lashkar WazirAshraf Khan. The poet also refers tothe name of the reigning king of Arakan

Thiri Thudamma. His book was entitledSatimaina Lor Chandrani. The poetsays as follows about how he was in-

fluenced to write the book:1

Sriyut Ashraf Khan was a great min-i s t e r , h e w a s l i k e a f u l lmoon.Sitting in the assembly, heexpressed his willingness to hear tales.There were many stories in Arabic andPersian, Gujarati, Gohari and Teth(Gohari and Teth were local languagesused in Gohar area bordering WestBengal).He was willing to hear thestory of Lorak and Mai-nar Bharati

(Satimaina Lor Chandrani)........Thepoet Sadhan told the story in Teth Go-hari, but these languages are not un-derstood by many people. So wantedthat the book should be composed inPanchali, Qazi Daulat felt the intentionof the minister and composed MainarBharati in Bengali. (Translation of theText)

1. Karim, Abdul (Sahityavisharad } &

Huq, Dr. Md. Enamul : Arakan Rajsabhaya

Bangla Sahitya, Calcutta, 1935, P. 14.

Satimaina was a ballad composedand sung by local bards in Bhojpurarea bordering ancient and medievalBengal. There were such other

ballads, which were very popular andentered into East Bengal includingChittagong, and crossed over toArakan. Two famous compositionswere Mulla Dauds Chandain andSadhans Mainasat. When theseballads were sung in the court ofLashkar Wazir Ashraf Khan, he tookinterest in the poem and asked QaziDaulat to write the book in Bengali.So Qazi Daulats work was a transla-tion but it was a free translation andthus the poetic talent of the poet wasmaintained.

The story in brief was as follows:Lor, the king of Gohari married abeautiful princess name Maina orMainabati. They were living a happylife, when once a yogi showed Lor apicture of another very beautiful ladyChandrani, the princess of Mohari.Chandrani was also married, but herhusband was a short fellow and animpotent person, Lor went to Mohari,and began meeting Chandrani in pri-vate, but when their illicit connectionwas known, Chandranis husbandfought against Lor. but was killed.Lor then married Chandrani. In themeantime, in his own kingdom at Go-hari, his first wife Maina was living inanguish and sorrow due to his sepa-ration, and another person namedSaton tried to win over Maina, butfailed. Maina remained faithful to herhusband Lor. Later Lor came backwith Chandrani to his kingdom andjoined Maina, thereafter all lived inhappiness.

Qazi Daulat could not completehis work Saimaina Lor Chandrani;before completion he died and laterAlaol completed the work at the

request of another Muslim ministerSrimanta Sulaiman about 1659 A.D.i.e. about 20 years after the death of

Qazi Daulat. 2

POET SHAH ALAOLThe poet Shah Alaol was the

most prominent of all the poets ofRoshang, in fact he was one of the

2. Ibid., pp. 13-14. Cont. P. 10


FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORYSOME MUSLIM POETS AND WRITERS OF ARAKAN ROYAL COURTWorld Renowned Historian Prof. Dr. Abdul Karim, M.A. Ph.D. ( Dhaka ), Ph.D. ( London ), FASB.

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From P. 9 greatest Bengalipoets of the 17th century, somescholars say that he was Rabin-dranath Thakur of the 17thcentury.

From his own testimony,it is known that he was the sonof a minister of Majlis Qutb ofFathabad in Bengal. He alongwith his father was going byboat, on the way they were metby Firingi pirates. Both the par-ties fought for some time, thefather died a martyr, but theson, i.e. Alaol was made a cap-tive and was taken to Roshang.Probably he was sold to theking of Arakan. First he wasappointed a horseman in thearmy. While he was passing hisdays like this, he chanced tocome across the Muslim minis-ters and high officials of thekingdom. Alaol was a learnedman, he knew various lan-

guages, Bengali, Arabic, Per-sian, Hindi and Sanskrit and he wasacquainted with famous literary worksof those languages. He was also well-versed in vocal and instrumental mu-sic. When the ministers and otherhigh officers came to know of his vari-ous qualities, they appointed him toteach their children and in this way hebecame well known to the learned andcourt circle. He was invited to attendthe assemblies in the houses of minis-ters including the Prime Ministers.Magan Thakur, a leading Muslim ofRoshang, who was minister and later

Prime Minister under several kingstook interest in him and patronisedhim in various ways. After Magansdeath, other ministers and Prime Min-isters also patronised him. In this way,Shah Alaol was in the limelight of Ara-kan social and literary circle forthirty years as a leading figure in thekingdom of Arakan.

With the patronage received fromthe ministers, Alaol wrote six books(1) Padmavati (2) Saiful Mulk Badiujja-mal (3) Haft Paikar (or Sapta Paikar)(4) Thufa (5) Sikandarnama and (6)

Last part of Satimaina Lor Chandrani.It may be mentioned that all thesewere poetical Bengali translations ofbooks of the same name in otherlanguages and written by great andrenowned poets. But the translationwas not literal but free, and Alaolmaintained his poetical talents in allthese books throughout. At times hebecame free from the text and hisknowledge in various subjects havebeen very appropriately exposed. Dr.Muhammad Shahidullah writes in his

praise as follows:3 Alaols namestands very high among Bengali poetsin the medieval period. He was agood scholar inSanskrit, Bengali,Arabic, Persian and Hindi languages.In fact it may be said in great confi-dence that there was no poet in thosedays who was equal to this Muslimpoet. (Translation of the Text)

Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sen also praises

him in the following words: 4 In thePadmavati, there is mark of profoundscholarship of Alaol. The poet exam-ined the nature of maganraganetc.eight mahaganas. He discussed indetails the quarrels and separation often conditions of eight heroines likeKhandita, Bashakshajja and Kalhan-tarita; he discussed the truths aboutAyurvedic medical science; hediscussed the good and evil of timingof journeys like Lagnacharya of as-tronomical science; he explainedYoginitantra; he explained theabstruse rites followed in the Hindumarriages like an old Hindu marriedwoman (whose husband is alive); hehas supplied a correct list of praisesand hymns uttered by Purohits.Besides he inserted Sanskrit andverses at the head of chapters like thePandits of tools (Sanskrit and ver-nacular schools). (Translation of theText)

Abdul Karim Sahitya Visharaddiscovered his manuscripts, broughtthe poet and his books from oblivioninto the limelight of history by writingmore than fifty articles in various Ben-gali journals. Before him some ofAlaols books were published fromBattala in Calcutta but these were notscientifically edited and so are notdependable for scholarly discussion.Abdul Karim Sahitya Visharad alsoedited the famous Padmavati of Alaoland Alaol was his most favorite poet.So his evaluation of Alaol is worth

quoting: 5 The great poet Alaol wasgenius in the Muslim society of Ben-gal. Apart from Daulat Qazi, the author

of Satimaina, no second man like himin scholarship was born in thissociety.

3. Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah: Bangla

Sahityer Katha, 2nd part, Dhaka 1371

B.S., p. 133.

4. D. C.Sen : Bangla Bhasha O Sahitya,

8th edition, p. 321.

5. Karim, Abdul (Sahityavisharad } &

Huq, Dr. Md. Enamul : Arakan

Rajsab haya Bangla Sahitya,

Calcutta, 1935, P. 44.


www.rohingya.org I www.rohingya.orgThe statement is not an exag-

geration. He is shining as the mid-daysun in Medieval Bengali literature.The whole Bengali literature has beenilluminated by the light of his genius.On the one hand, he is seated on thegolden throne of the great poetsamong the Muslims; on the otherhand, among the contemporary Hindu

poets also his position is very high.As he was well versed in Bengali andSanskrit languages, so he was well-versed in Arabic and Persian lan-guages. As he was a versatile geniusin Hindu religion and literature so hewas a great scholar in Muslim religionand Persian literature. Such eruditionis not found in other Muslim poets. Hewas born ) with poetic genius of veryhigh standard. ( Translation of theText )

PADMAVATIThe first book written by Shah Alaol

was the Padmavati. It was originallywritten by Malik Muhammad Jaisi inHindi, he started writing the book in923 A.H./ 1520 A.D and he completedit in 1540 A.D in the reign of SherShah. Jaisi probably died in 1542 A.D.i.e. two years after completing thebook. The story centred round RajaRatna Sen of Chitore, the famousbeautiful lady Padmini, the princess ofCeylon and King Alauddin Khalji ofDelhi. Raja Ratna Sen was leading ahappy life with his queen Nagmati, butone day he heard about the beauty of

Padmini. The king went to Ceylon withhis retinue in the guise of a Yogi, onthe way he underwent inhuman suffer-ings, but at the end he was able tomarry Padmini and lived there happily.

Nagmati, on the other hand, waspassing her days in grief at Chitore inthe absence of the king Ratna Sen.Ratna Sen later came back to his capi-tal and lived with the two queens,Nagmati and Padmini. Ratna Sen onceturned out one of his courtiersRaghav Cehtan from his Court, thelater went to Dehli, met Sultan Alaud-

din Khalji, and related to him thestory of the beauty of Padmini. TheSultan attacked Chitore to Padmini,but in the meantime king Ratna Senhad died and the two queens, Nagmatiand Padmini gave their life in the pyreof their husband. Alauddin came backwithout achieving anything. This is inshort the story of Padmavati. We havesaid above that Shah Alaol composedthe poem Padmavati by order of PrimeMinister Magan Thakur of Arakan in

1651 A.D. Cont. P. 11

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From P. 10SAIFUL MULK BADIUJJAMALAfter completing the compo-

sition of Padmavati, Prime Min-ister Magan Thakur orderedAlaol to write Saiful Mulk Badiu-jjamal. Shah Alaol began writingthis book, before completing itMagan Thakur died and so thecomposition of the book wasleft incomplete. After about adecade Sayyid Musa, anotherPrime Minister of Roshangrequested Alaol to complete thebook and the poet did so. Thisis a legendary tale in whichthere is love story of man andfairy. The story is found in theArabic Nights, Alaol probablygot the story from a Persianbook. Saiful Mulk was the sonof king Sifuan of Egypt andBadiujjamal was the princess ofShapal, king of the fairy land

Iran-Bostan. The prince along with his

friend Sayyid, the son of Wazir, wentto the fairyland and after great hard-ship met the lady of his love and ulti-mately married. His friend Sayyid alsomarried the princess of Sarandeep.Alaol completed composing SaifulMulk Badiujjamal during 1669 70A.D.

HAFT PAIKAR (OR SAPTA PAIKAR)This is the third book written by

Shah Alaol. The book was originallywritten in Persian by the great Persianpoet Nizami Ganjabi. There are sevenstories, which have found place in thisbook. King Numan of Ajam had a sonnamed Bahram, according to the ad-vice of the astrologers, the king senthis son to live in Yemen. An artistnamed Samna built for the princeseven towers in the palace; eachtower was of different type and colour.In his absence the king died and theWazir occupied the throne. The princehowever returned and defeating theWazir got back his throne. Thereafterhe conquered seven neighbouringkingdoms and married seven prin-cesses of those kingdoms. He allowed

each of the princesses to live in eachof the seven towers he had built ear-lier. When Bahram went to live withthe princesses in the tower, he askedeach of them to tell a story to pleasehim. In this way seven princesses re-lated seven stories which pleased theking, the seven stories from the sub-ject matter of the book HaftPaikar. The story began on Saturdayand ended on Friday, the first storythat of Saturday is the longest.

The stories are all interesting andpleasing. Needless to say, the storieswere all educative and full of moralprinciples. The chief aim of the storieswas to please the people. The bookwas written in 1660 A.D

TUHFA ( OR TUHAFAT-UN-NASAIH )The book was originally written in

Persian by Shaikh Yusuf Gada in 795A.H. / 1392-93 A.D. It is a book on reli-gious principles, and contains alsoadvice and admonition that are helpfulto lead a religious life of the Muslims.In those days books were not easilyavailable, printing was not known,learners and teachers had to copybooks for them. Shaikh Yusuf Gadahad a son named Abul Fath. ShaikhYusuf wrote this book to serve as aguide to his son. So the book is notproperly a Fiqh. It contains religiousprinciples on the basic of Fiqh andgeneral moral principles that help regu-

lating an honest and religious life.Alaol, in the preface, gives the subjectmatter of the book in the following

words: 6(Yusuf Gada) had a son named

Abul Fath, the book Thufa waswritten for him, whoever reads thebook will be benefited. There is forty-five Bab (chapters) written on Shariat,Tariqat, Haqiqat, Tauhid, and Imanaccording to Islamic religion. In Arabicdoor is called Bab, and without doorone cannot enter the house. The bookThufa is the house of Shariat, whichhas forty-five doors. The book dealswith religious and worldly matters likeeating, drinking, cohabiting, and wash-ing, auspicious matters on houses,works by which to go to heaven or helletc. It also deals with Namaz, Roza,Zakat, Faraz (obligaory), Nafal(optional), Wazu (ablution), Tayammum(purification by dust), and all kinds ofbath. It also deals with questions to beasked in the grave, acts forremoving the Sin, and moral principles.These are not told out of imagination,they are found in the Furqan (Quran)and traditions of the Prophet, in books

on Fiqh like Hidaya, Kafiya etc. YusufGada composed the book in Persianverse on the basis of Arabicbooks. (Translation of the Text)

The life of Muslim from birth tograve is regulated by Shariat orIslamic law and the sources ofIslamic law are the Quran, the Hadisand Sunnat of the Prophet, Irma and

6. Sahitya Patrika, Winter, 1364, BS.

pp. 139-40.

Quays. Muslims jurists have juristshave explained these sources fromtime to time for the benefit of theMuslims. Apart from obligatory bathsetc. matters like passing urine andgoing to the privy, purification thereof, greetings among Muslim breth-ren, going to ones house and takingproper permission from the owners

before entering, all these are guidedby Shariat or Islamic law. The sub-jects have been discussed in forty-five Bab or chapters and these chap-ters are as follows: 1) Tawhid(oneness of Allah), (2) Iman (belief inAllah and his Prophet, Angels, divineBook, life in the next world, Taqdir,and day of Judgement), (3) Question-Answer in the grave, (4) Knowledge,(5) Injunctions of Shariat aboutWazu, Ghusal, going to the privy andpurification thereof, (6) Ibadat, per-forming namaz, (7) Payment of Zakat,(8) Fasting in the month of Ramazan,

Shab-I-Qadr, (9) Musafir or wayfarers, and how to go, when to go,the auspicious days for travelling. Inthis chapter Hajj and Ziarat of Madinahave also been discussed. (10) Reci-tation of the Quran and dowa, (11)Qasr, i.e. to offer Qasr prayer, this isapplied to Musafir, (12) Marriage, (13)Cohabitation of husband and wife,(14) Eating, (15) Drinking, (16) Wear-ing dresses, (17) Sleeping, (18) Trad-ing, (19) Darveshi, (20) Good behav-iour, (21) Debt, (22) How to sit in ma-jlis or assembly, (23) Scandal mon-gering, (24) Namaz, (25) Qaza Namaz,

(26) Patience, (27) Tauba or repen-tance, (28) Miserliness, (29) Doinggood deeds, (30) Charity, (31) Order,ordering to do good and prohibitingfrom doing bad things, (32) Goodvoice, (33) Games, (34) Hunting, (35)What to do when first moon issighted, (36) Old age, to remain en-gaged in prayers in old age (afterforty years), (37) Morning, (38)Shahid, i.e. martyrdom, (39) Fortytype of good works, (40) Acquisitionof wealth, (41) Heaven, (42) Hell, (43)Sunnat, (words and deeds of theProphet), (44) Murder, (45) Variousprescriptions.

The subject matters discussedabove give an idea of the book. It isnot a literary work. It does not dis-cuss love affairs, nor does the bookdeal with legendary tales. Suchbooks were rarely written in Bengaliin the medieval period, in fact, this isthe first book of its type. Later, how-ever, a few more such books dealingwith religious subjects were written,

such as Nasrullah Cont. P. 12



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From P. 11 KhandakarsShariatnamah, NuruddinsDaquaeq-ul-Haqaeq and SheikhMuttalibs Kifayet-ul-Musallin.Alaol wrote this book Tuhfa in1663-64 A.D.

SIKANDARNAMASikandarnama was origi-

nally written by Nizami Ganjabiin Persian that the book wasvery popular to the scholarlyworld. Alaol composed it inBengali by order of NabarajMajlis, the Prime Minister of SriChandra Sudharma, theArakanese king. The book wasvery difficult to comprehend, itis presumed that the greatPersian poet Nizami used wordsof five languages, Arabic,Persian, Hebrew, Pahlavi (OldPersian) and Nasrani(Armenian).

Sikandarnama contains theheroic exploits of Sikandar or Alexan-

der. He was the son of King Philip ofMacedonia; after the fathers deathSikandar ascended the throne, his tutoror friend Aristotle was made hisminister. Alexander became famous byconquering various countries; he evencame to India, and defeated Porus ofthe Panjab. But his chief opponent wasDarius of the Persia, by defeating himAlexander conquered the kingdom. Heis said to be the same as SikandarZulqarnain of the Holy Quran. It is a bigvolume and among Alaols booksSikandarnama was next to Padmavatiin terms of popularity. Fortunately astandard text of the book has now beenpublished by the Bangla Academyunder the editorship of Dr. AhmadSharif.

As stated above Alaol completedthe writing of this book in 1672 A.D.This was probably the last book writtenby him. The famous Alexanderia port inEgypt was founded by Sikandar and heis also said to be the inventor of look-ing glass. He tried to get the water oflife but failed and again to be immortalhe went to Amaranagar, from there alsohe came back disappointed. A mangave him a handful of dust and he willbe merged with dust after death.

SATIMAINA LOR CHANDRANI(Concluding part)

It may be remembered that Qazi Daulatstarted writing this book, but beforeconcluding it he died. Alaol completedthis book by order of Sulaiman in 1658A.D. Satimaina is a big book, consist-ing of three parts. Qazi Daulat wrotefirst two parts, Alaol added the third

part. In his part Alaol wrote RattanKalika O Madan Manjari Prasanga andAnanda Barmar Galpa. In writingabout Qazi Daulats part we have saidthat while Lor was passing his dayswith Chandrani, leaving Maina alone,the later was passing her days in griefdue to separation. She bore her griefwith extreme patience, and at lastpatience bore fruit. Lor could realisehis mistake, he returned home withChandrani, and all three began to live ahappy life. Alaol in his part of the bookshowed that God rewards those whohave patience, and he completed thebook saying that Lor was united withMaina.

POET MARDAN NURUDDINMardan wrote his book in Kanchi

a place in Roshang. Abdul Karim Sa-hitya-Visharad discovered a manu-script of his book of which some pagesboth at the beginning and end were

lost. In the available pages the title ofthe book is not found, in one place theword Nasira is found and so AbdulKarim Sahityavisharad and Dr.Enamul Huq write that the name of thebook was Nasiranama, the book dealswith Nasib or luck. So it is also be-lieved that the name of the book wasNasibnama. The poet refers to the kingThiri Thudamma, who reigned from1622 to 1638 A.D. So the book musthave been written in between these twodates. Poet Mardan was therefore acontemporary of Qazi Daulat. In thecolophon the poets name is MardanNuruddin and the name of his Pir wasSayyid Ibrahim.

The poet praises the town of Kan-chi saying that in that town there wereliving the Muslims, the Brahmins andthe Kayasthas. Among the MuslimsMuslims there were Alims or learnedmen who were busy with the Kitab andQuran, i.e. they were busy in religiouspursuits. The Brahmins were alsolearned Pandits and they were busywith their books or Kavyas. The Ka-yasthas were also there busy in theirrespective works. Kanchi was probably

the name of a township within the king-dom of Roshang.

The subject matter of the book isfate, whatever is in fate will happen,God does not help the proud peopleand pride hastens their fall. The storyis as follows: Abdul Nabi and AbdulKarim, two friends were engaged inbusiness. The agreement was that ifone had a son and another had adaughter they would get themmarried and vice versa. Abdul Nabi had

a son, while Abdul Karim had adaughter, but unfortunately AbdulKarim lost his wealth and becamepoor. Abdul Nabi forgot his promiseand prepared to get his son marriedelsewhere. Later it so happened thattheir promise was fulfilled and AbdulNabis son married Abdul Karims

daughter. 7 QURAISHI MAGAN AND HIS BOOKCHANDRAVATI

Quraishi Magans forefathercame from Arabia to Gaur and fromthere one member of the familymoved towards the east, came toChittagong and ultimately moved toArakan. Quraishi Magan wrote abook entitled Chandravati. Dr.Enamul Huq discovered a manu-script of which pages both at thebeginning and end were lost. So hisantecedents and his identity can not

be ascertained. Abdul Karim Sahit-yavisharad and Dr. Enamul Huqthought that the poet Quraishi Maganwas the same person as Magan Tha-kur, the Prime Minister of Arakan and

the patron of the poet Alaol.8 Butnowadays scholars hold a differentopinion. They say that QuraishiMagan was a different person, he hadno connection with Magan Thakur,the Prime Minister QuraishiMagan probably wrote his book while

he was living in Arakan. 9

ABDUL KARIM KHONDKARThe poet Abdul Karim Khondkar

was born in Arakan, and his forefa-thers were engaged in state servicesof Roshang. The poet writes about

his genealogy as follows:10 Now hear how this Kitab ( DullaMajlis) became a Puthi (i.e. renderedin to Bengali verse). I will tell yousomething about it. In the town ofRoshang, there is a beautiful andheavenly village named Bandar. Inthat place many Qazis, Muftis, teach-ers and students, Faqir and darvesh

live. Cont. P. 117. Abdul Karim: Roshang BanglaSahitya. Bangla Sahitya Samity,Chittagong University, 1994, pp. 22-23.

8. Karim, Abdul (Sahityavisharad } &Huq, Dr. Md. Enamul : Arakan Rajsab-haya Bangla Sahitya, Calcutta, 1935, PP.3033.9. Abdul Karim: Roshang Bangla Sahitya,pp. 41-45.10. Descriptive Catalogue of Bengali-Manucripts in Munshi Abdul Karimscollection, tr. By S.S. Husain, pp. 217-18.



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From P. 12 Wealthy Muslimslive there and talk to the king infriendly terms. If any poor mancomes to a house he does notgo disappointed.

The people there erectedmosques to say prayer andthus left their names to be re-membered. Muslim learned peo-ple were brought there, somewere appointed Khatib, some

Imam, some offer prayer asmusulli. There was one manthere who received title fromthe king, the title was Sadi-uk-Nana. He was the chief of themerchants, and he became in-charge of the mint .. His

name was Atibar, he was so named byhis parents, but the Magh king gavehim the title of Nana .. One day hecalled me and heard the book DullaMajlis, read to him. He was happy andsaid that many persons cannot under-stand Persian, some understand, otherhear it from those who can read and

understand. So if it is rendered intopayer (or in Bengali) people will blessyou. At his order I promised to writethe book in Bengali verse. ( Transla-tion of Text )

Dulla Majlis was a book dealing withreligious subjects, it was a big volume

consisting of 33 chapters. The bookwas compose in 1200 A.H./1785 A.D. Inthis same year the Burmese kingBodawpaya conquered Arakan andannexed it to the kingdom of Burma.So the poet wrote this book in the lastyear of the independent kingdom ofArakan. Before that the poet wrote twoother books Tamim Ansari and HazarMasail.

POET ABDUL KARIMHe was also known as Shuja Qazi, he

wrote in versical from a story ofRoshang known as RoshangerPanchali (History of Roshang). He wasan inhabitant of Shadarpara of Arakanand the poet was alive during the firstpart of the 18th century.

QAZI ABDUL KARIMHe was an inhabitant of Qaim of

Arakan and was the author of five

books: Rahatul Qulub, Abdullar HazarSawal, Nurnama, Madhumalati andDarige Majlis. The first three booksdeal with religious matters, Madhu-malati was a love story, and the subjectmatter of the last book cannot be as-certained.

QAZI MUHAMMAD HUSAINHe was a man of Bandar, a place

near Mrohaung of Roshang. He wrotethree books entitled Amir Hamza,Dewalmati and Haidar Jung.

We have given above the namesof some poets who flourished inArakan and the titles of their books.

We find that Bengali literatureproduced in Arakan was very rich.Qazi Daulat and Alaol were very fa-mous for their works; they weregreatest of all Muslim poets in thewhole medieval period. The presenceof so many Muslim poets in Arakanand the production of so many booksin Bengali, show that there was aBengali Muslim Society there whowere ready to receive and read them.This is a supporting evidence toshow that there were many Muslimsliving in Arakan who were literateand highly cultured. This is also a

strong evidence to prove that Mus-lims had entered into Arakan fromvarious parts from long past. ##Source: Prof. Dr. Abdul Karim, "The Ro-

hingyas: A Short Account of their

History and Culture", Printed at Sonali Art

Press, Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2000.



DVB, Monday, May 2, 2011Dhaka has rejected a proposed$US33 million UN project to

alleviate poverty in BangladeshsCoxs Bazaar where severalhundred thousand Rohingya refu-gees have sought asylum. Theimpoverished region lies closethe border with Burmas westernArakan state, from where hun-dreds of thousands of the perse-cuted Muslim minority have fled.

But the issue of aid to thisregion has been locked in battle overassistance to the Rohingya. Anunnamed Bangladeshi official quotedby the Express newspaper said: Thefinance ministry has rejected the

scheme because the actual aim of theUN initiative is to rehabilitate refugeesin Coxs Bazar district under the pre-text of poverty reduction for locals.

Chris Lewa, from The Arakan Project,which monitors human rights abusesagainst the Rohingya, says howeverthat the four UN agencies joined to-gether to raise funds and support ac-tivities to alleviate poverty for both thecommunities, but that the Bangladeshgovernment does not want any assis-tance to go to the Rohingya.

Dhaka has been keen to not encouragethe steady flow of Rohingya out ofArakan state. Lewa says they[Bangladesh government] think itwould create a pull factor to CoxsBazaar. The UN project was supposedto be a done by UNICEF, the WorldFood Programme, UN DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) and the UN Popula-tion Fund (UNFPA).

The Rohingya have fled Burma inrecent decades because of alleged dis-crimination by the government. Thesituation has become so bad that Refu-gees International claimed in a recentreport that they are one of the mostpersecuted minorities in the world.The majority of Rohingya in Bangla-

desh live in makeshift camps, andlargely as a result of Bangladeshi pol-icy, receive little international assis-tance. Lewa says the recent refusal ofUN aid is not a new phenomenon. Only26,000 are officially registered whilstunregistered refugees are thought tonumber as many as 500,000.

Bangladesh is one of the mostdensely populated countries on earth,as well as being one of the most im-poverished. Lewa confirms that thearea where the majority of Rohingya

seek asylum, Teknaf, is identified asone of the poorest [areas] in thewhole of Bangladesh. The Bangla-deshi government official further toldthe Express that Instead of helpingcut poverty in the region, the UNproject would only increase tensionbetween the Rohingyas and the lo-cals. No doubt, it will infuriate thelocal people.

But Phil Robertson, deputydirector of Human Rights WatchsAsia division, alleges that theintention I believe is to make Bangla-desh an inhospitable spot for theRohingya to reside. He continuesthat the Bangladeshi government

tolerates hostile highway robberyagainst the Rohingya, against whomthey have declared open season.The Burmese government recentlyappointed a new ambassador toBangladesh, U Hla Win. Hereportedly told Bangladeshi Presi-dent M. Zillur Rahman that the Bur-mese government wanted to resolvethe Rohingya issue through dialogueand discussion.

Lewa told DVB however that thesituation was deteriorating further.She alleges that instances Cont. P.14

Bangladesh Rejects UN Help for Rohingya By Joseph Allchin,

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From P. 13 of Forced labour and arbitrary arrests by the Burmese border security force, known as Nasaka, are in-creasing. Relations between the two countries appear be warmer than they have been for a number of years, withBangladeshs Daily Star newspaper reporting that the country would be Burmese President Thein Seins first port ofcall since taking office in March. Bangladesh has already played host to Burmas air force chief, Lt General MyatHein, who arrived on the 23 April in what was the first high-level official visit of a Burmese official to the countrysince 2008. ##

By Our Reporter, 25 May 2011Maungdaw, Arakan State: An ArakanState c iv i l servant to ld TheIrrawaddythat in recent reshuffle, MP

Hla Han's Immigration Ministry hasnow been handed over to Col. HteinLinn, the minister of Security and Bor-der Affairs in the Arakan State govern-ment which was originally combinedwith the Religious Affairs Ministry.Now, Hla Han will remain as state min-ister of Religious Affairs of ArakanState.

On March, 21, 2011, Zakir Ahmed (UAung Zaw Win), a member of NationalParliament of the USDP raised questionon the Temporary Identification Cardsof the Rohingya voters in Northern Ra-khine (Arakan) State. He asked whether

the National Scrutiny Cards (known asPink Cards for the citizens) would beconsidered for the Rohingya citizensof Burma .

Former Home Minister of theJunta, General Maung Oo (now in theParliament) responded to the call bythe Rohingya parliamentarian that sentshock waves to the entire Rohingyacommunity. Referring to the citizenshiplaw of 1948 and 1982 (devised by themilitary), the General told the parlia-ment that residents who wish toapply can do so - apply is his key-word. Then he added another twist that

was people with ancestries living in

the only citizens. The military picks andchooses the time frame to excludeRohingya whose little strip of northernArakan (Rakhine State) unfortunatelyfell on the Burma side of the border

when the colonial British arbitrarilyestablished boundaries betweenBurma and then East Pakistan.

Knowing the motive of the mili-tary, analysts suggest that themilitarys SPDC rushed with theRohingya citizenship issue by usingtheir Rohingya parliamentarian. As ex-pected, the hard-liner General MaungOo set the stage for future handling ofthe issue by the incoming home minis-ter and former police chief, GeneralKhin Yi. The Burmese Military estab-lishment obviously takes the Rohingya

issue seriously due to the long-standing suspicion on the Rohingyaethnic minorities for several decades.

Revoking the citizenship ofRohingya was done so effectively withserious pre- calculation by the formerdictator General Ne Win that it hasaffected the Rohingya by generations.The NRC (National Registration Card)confiscation campaign began in 1960srelatively quietly as a very secretiveoperation in its early phase. The trapsfor Rohingya yielded the TICs(Temporary Identification Card), alsonotoriously known as The White

Cards. The white card is nothing more

Rohingya - just like a chip- insert inanimals in the wild used by gamewardens.

Currently, only the Rakhinestate parliament is extended with a

ministry of Immigration andReligious affairs to deal with thepending issues of nationalitytargeting at Rohingya ethnicminority. General Maung Oo hintedthat some kinds of cards may be is-sued to some of the TID white-cardholders, but there is a catch. Themilitary-led government will handthat responsibility of deciding thetype of card to the Rakhine StateParliament - an institution which isalmost entirely made up of ethnicRakhine members who have beenhistorically the driving force behindRohingya ethnic cleansing campaignin Burma. The deeply rooted historicterm Rohingya is so poisonous forethnic Rakhine and the Burmese mili-tary that there is likely to be an uphillbattle for Rohingya in retaining itsown identity in this upcomingprocess. The Burmese military andits Rakhine brethren love the termBengali for Rohingya, and there is alooming disaster that the Rohingyapopulation could easily be railroadedto the term Bengali to self-describein the highly speculated new magic

card class, category, and the colour.##


www.rohingya.org I www.rohingya.orgNEWSRohingya Citizenship Issue Briefly Surfaces at the Burmese Militarys New NationalAssembly Session : Generals Without the Uniform Send the Same Old Message

Maungdaw Authority Again Stops the Construction of Religious Building03 May 2011, Kaladan NewsMaungdaw, Arakan State: Th econcerned authorities of MaungdawReligious Council stopped theconstruction work of MaungdawCentral Juma (Big) Mosque yesterday,according to a devotee fromMaungdaw.

The Religious Council personneland police officers from theMaungdaw police station went tothe mosque and ordered no morework to be done with the con-struction. You have only a ver-bal order from an authority, not a

written order.What you have done is too much.

Please stop the work, said an officialfrom the religious council. We wantthe authority concerned with thismosque to come to our office.

The order was issued from TownAdministration Head Officer U AungKyaw Htun to our office to check theconstruction work and to summon the

concerned authorities of the mosque tothe Religious Council office. How-ever, the work of construction is car-ried out by the Union Solidarity andDevelopment Party (USDP) where the

party received permission forconstruction work. The ReligiousCouncil of Maungdaw had stoppedthe work in March, and this is secondtime, it is stopped again, said anelder from Maungdaw.

The Regional DevelopmentAssociation (RDA) with PeoplesParliament member U Aung Zaw Win(USDP) is taking responsibility for

the construction work of the mosque.The construction work includesbuilding a toilet and a prayers wash-room, which the devotees need forthe praying process. ##

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By Our Reporter, 07 May 2011Maungdaw, Arakan State: A young girlwas gang-raped by members ofBurmas border security force (Nasaka)in her house at about 2 a.m. on April29, said a close relative of the victim oncondition of anonymity.

The victim was identified as SokinaBegum (not her real name), 18, thedaughter of Ahmed (Name change),who hails from Thayegon Dan Villageof Maungdaw Township. On that day, atabout 2 a.m., a group of Nasaka num-bering three from Tun Chaung VillageNasaka out-post camp went to the saidvillage on patrol and entered the houseof Ahmed after breaking the door tosearch for his son over the allegationthat his son had crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border illegally.

A villager from the locality said,

The son of Ahmed has not crossedthe Burma-Bangladesh border. If theNasaka wants the victim, he will besummoned to the camp. It is not neces-sary to come to his house at nightand rape his sister.

At the time, the son was not presentthere, so the Nasaka officers failed toarrest him. In the guise of searching forthe son of Ahmed, the Nasaka person-nel looked everywhere in the housewith bad intentions. At last, Ahmed andhis wife were fastened with a rope to a

pillar by the Nasaka personnel whothen gang-raped their virgin daughterin the house before leaving, saidanother close relative of the victim.

The next day, the parents of thevictim went to the village chairman andcomplained about the rape of theirdaughter by the Nasaka. But the Chair-man said, It is not a concern of mine.As the parents were discouraged bythe chairman, they did not dare to go tothe Nasaka camp to complain to thehigher officials because of fear of har-assment by the Nasaka.

Burmas border security forces

untimely entering at villagers housesat night in Maungdaw Township isunendurable for the villagers, said avillage elder from the locality. Afterentering the houses, the Nasaka

pretends to search for some thingsbefore leaving the houses, but some-times they want to attack women andgirls if they get the opportunity. Atnight, if the house owner does notopen the door, the Nasaka enters thehome after breaking the door and

harassing the owner.However, earlier, Nasaka

Director Lt. Col. Aung Gyi orderedthe villagers not to open their door atnight to anybody. But the Nasakapersonnel break the order, said ayouth. Often, pretty or young girlsare raped in front of family members.

Rapes are reported to occurmore frequently when men (husband,son, or father) are absent from theirhomes. Sexual violence is beingused by the regime as an integralpart of its strategy to crush theethnic peoples, and establish control

over their lands and resources, saida schoolteacher from Maungdawtown. ##Source : Kaladan News


www.rohingya.org I www.rohingya.orgRohingya Girl Gang-raped by Nasaka of Maungdaw-South

NEWS

Rohingyas Pass Years in Stateless Limbo in Indian JailKurt Achin , New Delhi, May 19, 2011

Hundreds of men belonging toBurma's minority Rohingya ethnicgroup continue to languish in statelesslimbo in an Indian jail, after being res-

cued at sea more than two years ago.The waiting came to a welcome endfor 18 Rohingya boat people Thursday,as they crossed from India's West Ben-gal state into Bangladesh. More than200 other Rohingyas, though, remain ina prison on India's Andaman and Ni-cobar Islands, in a waiting process thathas stretched from months to years.

Rohingyas are a Muslim minoritywith historical roots in Burma. How-ever, that nation stripped them of citi-zenship in 1982, and Rohingyas saythey are systematically and violently

oppressed by Burmese security forces.More than 200,000 Rohingyas have

fled to Bangladesh, where some havespent decades in camps while beingdenied both immigration rights andformal refugee status. Increasinglydesperate Rohingyas have attempteddangerous illegal boat journeys tosouthern Thailand and Malaysia inhopes of finding work and shelter.

India rescued more than 400Rohingyas at sea in late 2008, afterthey said the Thai military removed theengine from their boat and towed themout to the ocean, abandoning themwithout provisions. With theexception of the 18 who left India Fri-day, they all have languished eversince in an Indian prison facility.

The rescue

Rohingya

boat people

by the Indian

coastguards

in the Anda-

man islands.

Getting Bangladesh to provide thenecessary paper work for their re-turn, the Rohingyas say, often can bea matter of paying police there abribe, which many say they simplycannot afford. Recently VOA man-aged to arrange a phone conversa-tion with several Rohingya prisonersinside the Indian prison in Port Blair.They are unnamed, and their voicesare masked, for their protection. Oneprisoner said desperate conditionsdrove him to where he is today.Speaking to VOA from Bangladesh,Rohingya community leader SalimUllah said Bangladesh leaders arereluctant to grant the group refugeestatus. Salim said Bangladesh has itsown serious problems with popula-tion growth and poverty. The plight

of the several hundred Rohingyas inIndian custody mirrors the muchbroader Rohingya problem. They area massive displaced population withneither a state, nor an availablemechanism, for seeking asylum.

International aid organizationssay unless the international commu-nity steps up to initiate resettlementprograms for the Rohingya popula-tion, hundreds of thousands of themwill continue to live in squalor and bevulnerable to abuse and human traf-ficking. ##

8/6/2019 Arakan May 2011

16/16

Maungdaw, Arakan State. TheBurmese Border Security Force,known as Nasaka, stepped up extor-tion, atrocities, and rape in Rohingyavillages since the Militarys GeneralElection in late 2010. The most recent

event took place in Kamaung Seik( Fakira Bazaar) of Maungdaw North,where several villagers have reportedlyfled to Bangladesh seeking shelters.Recently an Nasaka collaboratorinformed to the Nasaka Headquartersthat a group of insurgents had enteredfrom the hill-tracks of Bangladesh andheld a meeting with locals in the houseof a man named Jaffar. As a result, theNasaka Director Lt. Col. Aung Gyiordered Commander Major San WinKhine of Nasaka Area No. 2 to sendNasaka personnel to arrest theinsurgents.

The commander, accompanied bya group of Nasaka personnel to thevillage, surrounded Jaffars house, buta subsequent search yielded noresults. The angry Nasaka commanderbrought the Jaffar and Saber families,

including women and children, to thecamp and reportedly conductedphysical abuse. However, the followingday, one of the representatives ofUNHCR went to the camp and had themreleased by saying that the incidentwas not related to the women. TheNasaka officer denied the allegationthat his forces committed the rape ofseveral women.

Some of the abuses of Rohingyavillagers were fueled by the party rival-ries stemming from the last election.The Regional Development Association

(RDA) Chariman and USDP party aides

jointly moved against the supportersof NDPD party and implicated themas insurgents. The arrests ofvillagers have climbed to 35 andcounting. All the detainees havebeen brought to Nasaka Areas 3, 5,

and 6 and tortured to get confes-sional statements that the authoritiesneeded. Their beards were shaved,they forced to walk on the rivets,and they were ironed on the back-side.

At present, every day Nasaka goto the village tract and arrestinnocent villagers with allegation thatthey have connection to the so-calledinsurgents. According to crediblewitnesses, the Nasaka forces havebeen planting false evidence insidethe properties of the suspects, and

then demanding large sums ofmoney or arresting those who do notcomply with their demands. This iscausing many villagers to flee acrossthe border to Bangladesh alongwith their families for fear of arrest,torture, and rape. These are theprimary causes of steady flow ofrefugees to Bangladesh in smallnumbers seeking shelters in theunofficial camps.

The Nasaka forces have seizedthe properties of the fleeing families,including all their belongings soldthem at the market, said a residentof Walladon Village. Recently, 20detainees were produced in Maung-daw Court first, followed by a secondgroup of seven, all charged withsection 17(1). However, the courtruled that they were not guilty ascharged based on the investigationof several witnesses, according to alocal businessman.

Kamaung Seik ( Fakira Bazar )Village Tract has seven villages and1,700 houses. The incident happened

in one village, and the Nasaka forces

reportedly have arrested villagersfrom all seven neighbouringvillages. Ironically, the Nasaka forceshave been much more brazen afterthe Militarys election. Furtherincreases in atrocities and inhumanetreatments of Rohingya men, women,and children in Northern ArakanState is highly likely as the powercontinues to shift from military toprovincial assembly. ##

Source: Kaladan Press

www.rohingya.org I www.rohingya.orgAtrocities by Burmese Nasaka Forces in Rohingya Villages at AlarmingBACK COVER

arakan may 2011

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