RakhaingGuardian

Vol.3, No.10 ISBN-1906-438X December 15 , 2017

A PUBLICATION OF BUDDHIST RAKHAING CULTURAL ASSOCIATION
NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
www.rakhaingguardian.org
In DefenceOf Our Land - The PatrimonyOf Rakhaings
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THE ANGUISH OVER THE REPATRIATION OF BENGALIS

Over the past decades Myanmar has experienced several large-scale repatriations of Bengalis
from Bangladesh who were resettled in Rakhaing state of Myanmar, only to be repeated the
process of movement to and fro between the two countries. Once again the same is in the offing.
Now, and then, there seems no way out from this vicious circle.

Setting: Myanmar and Bangladesh signed on 23 November 2017 an agreement to repatriate the
Bengali Muslims who fled to Bangladesh at the outbreak of violence following the lethal attacks
on Myanmar security outposts on August 25 by the Bengali separatist terrorists, which triggered
a military clearance operation. The violence brought about exodus of Bengali settlers and
displacement of ethnic Buddhists as well as the Hindus.

Herded together in the area bordering Bangladesh the Bengali interlopers gambled on living with
uncertain future in a foreign land. It was precisely the guilty conscience that prompted exodus
making tracks back for their former homeland whenever there was a census or public tumult
wherein they were involved. The latest flight, however, grew into political muddle bringing
accusation against Myanmar of atrocities aggraviting to the point of "ethnic cleansing".

The Native Opinion Matters: The impending repatriation has sparked fear in the Rakhaing
community and other ethnic groups of the Bengali infested area at the thought of conceivable
atrocities feared to inflict on them by the Bengali returnees as they have gone through the utter
enormity of crimes perpetrated by the pugnacious Muslims. In the last August violence they
suffered brutal death and displacement at the hands of the Bengalis presumably belonging to the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement).

Despite being directly affected by the resettlement operation, the Rakhaings who are native to
the land, have been sidelined in the Bengali saga. Why is it so hard for the government to seek
the opinion of local people who are fighting for their existence in a climate of crisis.

There is no question about that Rakhaing state has inherently been neglected by the successive
governments. Social and economic suppression degraded the resource-rich state to the lowest in
its rank. Worse is political exploitation of the illegal Bengalis at the expense of the ethnic
Rakhaings. The end result is what the nation finds itself faced by today.

Meanwhile, for the first time since the current government assumed power, Minister for Social
Welfare Dr. Win Myat Aye, was reported to have visited Rakhaing state in late November and
had a brief, tepid consultation with the state-level lawmakers on the proposed repatriation.

Preceding him, however, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander in Chief, briefed in
a statement, "The situation must be acceptable for both local Rakhine ethnic people and
Bengalis, and emphasis must be placed on the wish of local Rakhine ethnic people who are real
Myanmar citizens." "Any unacceptable situation could lead to political instability", he cautioned.

The lives of the displaced Rakhaings and other ethnic groups who have recently been resettled in
their former places are now in danger as the ARSA has reportedly regrouped and collected 5,000
new recruits, as its leader Ata Ullah reinvigorated his mission with the determination to remain
relevant. Dead threats are being made to the officials who distribute National Verification
Certificates to the Bengali residents and the leaders of Muslim villages who cooperate with the
government. As recently as early December one Bengali village leader reportedly met the same
faith like fifty others who lost their lives previously in a desperate measure of intimidation by
Bengali terrorists. The Bengali villagers are urged to burn down ethnic Buddhist villages in the
conflict-torn area.

Whereas Myanmar has been berated for the plight of Bengalis, the propaganda campaign seeks
to distract the world's attention from the atrocities carried out against the indigenous people and
the Hindus by the Islamist terrorists. They targeted the civilian population as they did to the
security forces.

New Strategy: The International Crisis Group ( ICG) in its report of November 7 said the ARSA
might shift to cross-border attacks from bases in Bangladesh where most of the group members
resided in the refugee camps.

Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Taiba which has been active in the refugee camps in Bangladesh disclosed
that its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation had dangerously crossed the border and
distributed millions in cash and blankets to the Bengalis in Rakhaing state.

In the past the Bengali militants, who have long established links with foreign Islamist outfits,
carried out deadly armed forays against Myanmar from the bases across the border.

As history attests, one can never totally trust the Bengalis nor the Muslim nation next door. The
Mujtahid insurgency, the military arm of Bengali separatist movement, was trained and equipped
by East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, which picked up the clandestine patronage from where
Pakistan left off. The conspiracy of an abortive plot was unearthed in 1978, wherein the
Bangladesh Military Attache' along with Libyan assistance sought to foment a full-scale
rebellion in Rakhaing state aimed at leading to ultimate annexation of it by Bangladesh.
The generations of Bengali militants, the Mujtahid to the Rohingya Solidarity Organization
(RSO) and to the HaY-turned-ARSA continued to rely on the Bengali nation as hospitable
sanctuary and the hub of organizational activities and military training.

It was reported that efforts were being made by the ARSA to establish an organized presence in
the refugee camps in Bangladesh, where young members are willing to rejoin the group.

The Islamic state group publication, Dabiq, claims that the group has plans to establish a base in
Bangladesh. Al-Qaida has called on Muslims around the world to fight for the Bengalis and the
Islamic outfits in South and Southeast Asia have been vaunting to fight in Myanmar to avenge
for the Bengali brothers.

Given that fear grows among the natives that jihadists might infiltrate into Rakhaing state along
with the Bengali returnees. Indeed, there exists a probable risk of jihadist infiltration employing
trickery as the ancient Greeks used the Trojan Horse subterfuge to enter the city of Troy and win
the Trojan War.
Myanmar should brace for further attacks and the cycle of violence is a comprehensible reality.

Questionable Motive: It was reported that the tentative accord on the return of Bengalis was
reached between the two neighbouring countries without the external involvement, based on the
terms and conditions set out in the 1972 repatriation pact. But Bangladesh insisted on the
international participation in the resettlement process, particularly the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) which dubbed the violence "ethnic cleansing" of Bengalis.

At the same time Bangladesh sought, with the help of Saudi Arabia, the Chair of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an urgent UNHCR session leading to the adoption
on December 5 of a resolution, which stated that crime against humanity very likely occurred in
Myanmar against the Bengalis citing the unverified reports of atrocities, but without making
reference to the Muslim brutality or deadly attacks by the separatist terrorists on the security
forces that induced the army to respond.

The devious diplomatic maneuvers bringing about the United Nations Security Council meetings
on Myanmar are noteworthy.

Behind the proposed "safe zone": In an address at the United Nations Organization on
September 21, the Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheik Hasina called for creation of UN
supervised "safe zones" inside Myanmar to protect the Bengalis. Perhaps, she might have
minded the creation in April 1993 of "safe areas" in Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde for the
Bosnian Muslims under the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) deployed by the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO), whose intervention culminated in the creation of Muslim Kosovo
out of Christian Serbia.

Counting on the Prime Minister, the Bengali lobby which holds the US Administration in its
clutches lost no time to have the proposal discussed with senior officials at the United States
Department of State, along with US-based international groups, and met with the US lawmakers
and Vice President Vance's team.
The ARSA, along with the human rights groups, jumped into the "safe zones" band wagon with
the vision of its place in the proposed Bengali area under UN protection.

Ascribing to the hypothesis of international intervention, Eric Schwartz, President of Refugee

International, who was former Assistant Secretary of State for population, refugees and
immigration, slyly proposed deployment of Chinese peace keeping force in Rakhaing state lest
China, a member of the UN Security Council, which supported Myanmar, should exercise its
veto power to block up the UN intervention.

While the benefit of the doubt about her intention should be given to the Prime Minister, her
proposal, however, coincides with the decades-long quest by the generations of illegal Bengali
separatists for a "Muslim zone", separate and safe from the majority ethnic Rakhaings, which
according to their plan is to be instituted as a free Islamic state prior to being acceded to their old
country.

Given the frantic calls for the international intervention by the human rights watchdogs and
radicals in the West the Bangladesh's proposal for creating " safe zones" inside Myanmar is a
matter of speculation at the instance of Kosovo, which came into being through the intervention
of the West in the mask of NATO led by the United States.
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Maung Tha Hla, who is the author of THE RAKHAING and ROHINGYA HOAX, is founder
president of the Buddhist Rakhaing Cultural Association of the United States of America.
He was Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Organization.