Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The three townships of northern Rakhine State, namely Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and
Rathedaung have never been open to tourism - as well, tourists know nothing about the
area, and it is the most distant corner of the distant and little visited Rakhine State. On
August 25, 2017, the Bengali Muslims (some people who don’t understand the political
construct of the false identity might call them ‘Rohingya’) launched a furious jihad upon the
indigenous Rakhine Buddhists, the Hindu minority and tribal ethnicities. Once again, the
world news was on this area where essentially nobody - not even seasoned Burma travelers
have been - except me. Not only have I spent the last 37 years goin back and forth to Burma
(as it was known then) but I started going to Rakhine State in 1996 - 22 years ago. More
recently, I am the only foreigner that has been allowed to travel into the restricted townships,
on my own, and I have been in there twice, with full freedom and access, and with no
restrictions, and no minders. I know that many journalists and reporters are stupefied as to
how I got permission to get in to that restricted area, and why the government lets me in, but
nobody else. It's actually very simple.
Have any of the indignant reporters and journalists done any school projects in Rakhine
State? Or, any kind of projects for the benefit of the Rakhine Buddhist people?
Have any of the other reporters and human rights workers, etc., done anything positive for
the Rakhine Buddhist culture?
The only thing that all of them do for the Rakhine Buddhists is to demonize them,
dehumanize them, refuse to listen to them, disparage them, not acknowledge their true
history, etc.
I have built schools in Rakhine State and other humanitarian and educational projects there
for many years. For 22 years I have been going to Rakhine State. I am known and respected
by the people there. And in any new introduction I can list all of those positive points, and
invariably they have heard of me and will do anything they can for me. And, there is very
good reason why they block all of the other riff raff - because they don’t know them, and
they have done nothing positive for the true indigenous peoples, in fact, a quick search will
show all of the negative things they have done - so why should they be allowed in? They
have had too many ignorant zealots come in, and then twist and mold their ‘findings’ into an
anti-Buddhist, anti-truthful, pro-Muslim, pro-fake news, media screed.
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LEAVING SITTWE AND ARRIVING IN MAUNGDAW
We (myself and a guide whom I have
known for 10 years) left for Maungdaw
in the early morning, first by taxi to a
jetty for an hour, then by boat for a few
hours to the southern tip of the
Maungdaw peninsula, where we met
our car and driver. With my
documentation and passes I got
through the checkpoints easily. The
southern tip of the peninsula is
technically in Rathedaung Township,
however, geographically speaking, by
being on the west side of the Mayu
Mountains it is essentially southern
Maungdaw Township. It will take about five hours of driving to get to the town of Maungdaw,
the largest town in Northern Rakhine State, and we will stop at various villages on the way,
arriving in town at dusk just before the curfew. There is only one road up to Maungdaw town,
and it is dirt, except when one is about 10 miles from Maungdaw.
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police outpost in that area. In that part of the world there is no instant news, so people didn’t
know, until later in the morning, of the massive surprise attacks by the Bengali Muslims.
Reuters also conveniently didn’t mention the reason why the Inn Din Muslims did not attack
the Buddhists that early morning - as they had prepared to do. And, if they had attacked the
Buddhists it would have been devastating - 90% of the population of the 5 villages that
made up Inn Din were Muslim - roughly 4000 Muslims and 400 Buddhists. The reason they
didn’t attack was that just the day before Aug 25th,
on Aug 24th, the top Mawlawi (Imam) of Inn Din was
arrested for ‘inciting violence against the Buddhists’
as he had been doing for a year, by broadcasting
calls from his mosque loudspeakers to ‘Cut the
heads off the Buddhists’, ‘All you Rakhine men will
die, and your wives will be ours’, You don’t believe in
Allah , so you must die’, etc. So the Muslims couldn’t
attack, or they would never see their hate-mongering
imam again, but they were so riled up that they
Inn Din kids
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As we continued northward, I noticed the
hundreds of abandoned Bengali fishing boats
(the ones with the sharply upturned ends)
littering the beaches here, because that was an
easy way for Bangladeshi Bengalis to illegally
swarm into Rakhine State - they sailed over with
their boats packed with - not fish - but
Bangladeshis - who then become ‘Rohingya’
just by landing in Rakhine State. It is rather odd
that Bengalis / Bangladeshis actually were
swarming in huge numbers into the very place
where they claim a long, never-ending, savage genocide was going on. Everywhere else on
earth people try to escape genocide, but Bengalis are migrating INTO a supposed genocide.
Well, they are not very smart, they have some of the lowest literacy and education levels of
anybody around them. However, they are quite sly at lying, giving fake stories, making-up
fake atrocities, yelling ‘Allahu Akbar!’ as they are slaughtering infidels and shouting
‘genocide’ when they themselves are the ones trying again and again to carry through a
wanton genocidal ethnic cleansing.
Thousands of Bengali Muslims (nobody on earth used the term ‘Rohingya’ then) surrounded
the complex, yelling ‘Allahu Akbar!’ praises of their god, and set it ablaze, hurling bundles of
dry hay over the walls to make an inferno. Every soul in there was incinerated - more than
500 Buddhist women, children, elders, young Buddhist novices, and Buddhist monks who
were taking refuge inside the monastery complex.
The Muslims wanted the villages, the fertile land, and the fishing grounds of the Buddhists -
and they believed that it is not wrong to kill the Buddhists, in fact, their faith claims that the
‘idol-worshipping polytheists’ should be killed, and their property and women are to be taken
by Muslims, and Allah will be pleased. Buddhists never settled there anymore, there is
nothing of the Buddhist presence there, the Muslims built a large village over the ruins,
obliterating any Buddhist reference, and Ah Lei Than Kyaw became a large UNHCR supply
depot, with the UNHCR headquarters of the area - which of course, assisted only the
Muslims and not the Buddhists. Now, it is burned and abandoned - Karma at work.
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There is one old and gnarled tree that marked a
corner of the former compound according to old
survivors of the 1942 genocidal massacre against the
Buddhists.
Of the group of Buddhists who had to run for their lives, some were caught in the village and
hacked to death with swords, the others ran to this hill, with Bengali Muslims chasing them,
and sometimes catching a person and killing them. One man that was caught was a popular
and dedicated schoolmaster, well-liked even by his Muslims students, whom he let ride his
motorcycle. His name is Saya Maung Chan Tha, and his fellow teachers were among those
on the hill who had to endure watching in horror as their leader was being hacked to death -
by his young students, whose Islamic brainwashing was complete. Maung Chan Tha’s wife
was also wounded severely, but managed to escape. I interviewed her.
Human Rights Watch was very deliberately trying to make people hate the Buddhists with
this vile and malicious Crime Against Humanity, by dehumanizing the Buddhists. Most of us
know that this violence is NOT what Buddhists would typically do, but it IS what very many
Muslims to in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.
ARG CAMP
About 6 miles from Maungdaw we turned off the road at a certain unmarked place. This is
the camp of U Ba Aye’s relief group, where they have a workshop and eating and sleeping
quarters. There is a very large Muslim village named Du Chi Yar Tan, just a quarter mile away
and there are other Bengali Muslim villages surrounding the camp. At the camp there is
always somebody at the lookout, and at night they have night guard shifts every 90 minutes.
There are swords positioned around the camp, in case of attack, which has happened a few
times. U Ba Aye and his members have no guns, and they don’t want them, unless the
Bengalis start using guns against them. U Ba Aye lived in Japan for some years, and learned
some samurai swordsmanship. He showed us some good defensive stances and moves.
The most important thing is not to run - because then you have no defense. Two of U Ba
Aye's men were hacked to death when they were caught with nothing to protect themselves
with. The camp has repelled a couple of attacks with their skills. 5 men in imposing defensive
postures held off 50 or so Bengalis with swords who turned and ran when confronted by U
Ba Aye’s greatly outnumbered but skillful men. These days it is much safer because most of
the Bengalis are gone - but after losing two guys it is better to not let one’s guard down.
MAUNGDAW TOWN
Finally we got into town just before curfew. Our hotel is in a Buddhist section of town. The
hotel was bare bones but we just slept there anyway. Food was good. There is a lot to do in
Maungdaw, but the next day we will drive far away, and then back.
Now that Amnesty International has come out (belatedly) with a report that charges the
Bengali Muslims with this massacre and many other attacks and killings it is amazing to see
the responses from the ‘Rohingya lobby’.
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gave me two soldiers) and he was transported 5 hours on that bumpy dirt road to Maungdaw
Hospital. I visited the man in the hospital when I returned to Maungdaw that evening. He
looked like a mummy, he had so many bandages. His tearful wife and kids were there with
him, so thankful that he survived.
So the troops were with us for the hour that we walked around there, one stayed about 100
feet in front of us, and the other walked about
100 feet behind us - guns at the ready. This
area is quite close to the border, and one
week before, an army truck was ambushed as
it hit landmines on the road, as well, there
have been a lot of ambushes of villagers out
there.
Now we had to judge our time carefully in order to get back to Maungdaw town before
curfew. There was time for some stops, for sure.
BRIDGES
There are many of these types of wooden
bridges in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and
Rathedaung. Many of them were blown up
during the Aug 25, 2017 attacks. That was
during the middle of the monsoon, which dumps
more rain on Rakhine State than any other state.
With so many bridges blown up, there were
many villages trapped, and often the army was
stuck, not been able to cross many points with
rivers raging. As well, the Bengali Muslims laid
thousands of landmines. It was pointed out to
me which bridges were blown up.
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From Burma’s newspaper THE NATION - Nov 9, 1954
‘OPERATION MONSOON’ SMASHES MUJAHID HQ ON MAYU RANGE
REBEL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF KILLED IN FIERCE BATTLE
In a major offensive designated “Opera4on Monsoon” now being launched in Arakan, Burma, Army
troops have succeeded in smashing the Mujahid headquarters on
the western slopes of the Mayu range, killing the Muslim rebel
commander, Colonel Shiba Rashid, and the Buthidaung Regional
Commander, Colonel Abad.
When the troops entered the mountain hideout they found six well-constructed barracks, heavy
for4fica4ons, plen4ful food supplies, and five new cases of rifle and tommy gun ammuni4on
containing some 7000 rounds.
The following day, November 2, saw dawn aIacks on Mujahid camps along the western slope of the
Mayu Range. Points 714, 308 and 385 fell to the advancing army units in quick succession.
The final blow of the offense was struck on November 7 when the eastern and western columns
converged on the Mujahid headquarters near the northern end of the Mayu Range.
In this stronghold about 150 of the rebels were holding out, behind a baIery of heavy machine guns,
which from the height of the encampment, commanded all approaches. “Opera4on Monsoon” troops
had to call in the aid of mortars to silence the guns before they could take the posi4on.
Launching their assault at 7:30 AM they hoisted the union flag over the place four hours later.
(Notice, the term ‘Rohingya’ had not yet been invented, and therefore was not used.)
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VISITED PHOTOGRAPHER / VIDEO MAN
I met cameraman - U Hla Shwe - who
took the only video of the sudden
launch of Jihad here in Maungdaw on
June 8, 2012. He is a fun, fascinating
and energetic man. He shot this video
of the Muslims pouring out of the
mosque and swarming in 3 directions
killing Buddhists, starting fires, and
terrorizing Buddhists to flee. And, it
was systematically planned - I have the
evidence of that planning. Also, he took
the video from his fathers home where
the Muslims were throwing rocks at the
windows of the Buddhist family and
trying to break down the door to barge
in and massacre everyone.
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SHWE ZARR BRIDGE
We headed over to Shwe Zarr - an outer
part of Maungdaw town - where there is a
bridge - the Shwe Zarr Bridge. It was right
here, at the bridge, where a wanton
genocide of Buddhists by Bengali Muslims
was thwarted.
There were only a handful of Burmese troops at the bridge, with not even enough bullets to
stop the huge mob. The mob halted at one end of the bridge and the troops opposed them
but knew they didn’t even have enough bullets to fire warning shots. As the mob prepared to
storm over the bridge one sharp-shooter soldier fired a single shot high into a coconut tree,
and a coconut fell down onto the head of one of the Muslim leaders, most likely killing him.
The mob freaked out and ran away and their genocidal plan was thwarted.
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VARIOUS BUDDHIST TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES
There were various Buddhist temples and monasteries
around to stop at, I listened to the monks and asked
questions, was shown beheaded Buddha statues, saw
bullet holes in the buildings, etc. It is amazing - the deep
hatred that Muslims have concerning statues, images,
and any depictions of Buddha, Krishna, Shiva, Jesus,
actually any ‘idol’. Why do they have to destroy the idols
of other people with other faiths? The supremacism
rampant in the Quran, and that which the shouting angry
Mawlawis (Imams) smother their mosque attendees with is certainly NOT the best religion in
the world, as they insist it is.
The next morning we drove across the steep Mayu Mountains to Buthidaung. It’s not so far,
and the road is quite good, probably the best stretch of road in the whole area. The jungle
cover on the quite steep mountains is amazing. And, more amazing is the recounted stories
that Buddhists tell of entire village populations having to climb over these mountains to the
‘safety’ of Buthidaung, during times of Muslim slaughters, especially the 1942 massacre.
Looking at the sheer mountains one wonders how the heck people got across. I have heard
some vivid and hair-raising accounts
of those desperate treks across the
May Mountains.
Everyone, except one 17 year old boy who escaped the carnage. His name is U Shwe Tha
Aung, and it was from him that I know of this tragedy. He died last year at 92 years old. He
said the experience never left his mind - everyday, for the rest of his life, he recalled every
detail of the horror.
BUTHIDAUNG
Buthidaung is a pleasant town right on the picturesque Mayu River. We went around the
town to Buddhist monasteries where I interviewed many victims of the Bengali Muslims -
hearing again and again about the terrifying sound of Bengali Muslims yelling, ‘Allahu Akbar!’
‘Cut the heads off the Buddhists’, ‘All you Rakhine men will die, and your wives will be ours’,
You don’t believe in Allah, so you must die’. And then, as the yelling got louder the Buddhist
or Hindu village was invaded by hundreds of Muslims, with weapons, many of whom were
wearing black masks. Terrified villages recounted how they had to flee in the chaos and
darkness, with kids, babies, and elderly. Villagers who were caught by the Muslims were
most often hacked to painful death. Villagers usually ran to the nearest security outpost,
where the security forces would do their best to protect them as they themselves came
under attack. Other villagers had to run into the Mayu mountains and hide for days, or even a
week or more, with no food, no clean water, no cooking pots, until security forces could find
them and escort them out to safety. And, other villagers were trapped, with bridges blown up
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by the Muslims, and landmines laid by the Muslims, they couldn’t go in any direction until
being rescued by security forces.
RATHEDAUNG
We went by river boat to Rathedaung town - a
very pleasant town on the other side of the
Mayu River, several hours by boat. There is a
nice steep hill in the town with Buddhist
pagodas, caves and monasteries all over it.
GUDAUNG VILLAGE
We then took a small boat across the
river and down about 5 or 6 miles to a
fantastic place called Gudaung Village,
where the awe inspiring (at least for all
non-Muslims) Gudaung Buddhists caves
are - which should be (along with several
other sites) a UNESCO protected cultural
treasure - which along with the
astonishing amount of Buddhist relics,
ruins, artifacts, and statues to be found
up and down this land - convincingly
proves the very deeply-rooted Buddhist
nature of this land. In Arakan there are
numerous Buddhist caves, which are unique only to Arakan - a distinctive style, and they
need to be recognized and protected (primarily from Muslim destruction) as treasures of
humanity.
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However, besides the glories of the caves, there is a tragic side to Gudaung. On June 19,
2012, the large village was attacked by Bengali Muslims, which left 10 Rakhine Buddhists
dead, and in pieces.
But then, towards the end of the day, the Buddhists realized that ten
men and boys were missing. Some of them wanted to search for them
immediately, but the policemen said “No, it is too dangerous now, in the
approaching darkness.” The next day they searched all around, with the
policemen, for protection. Finally they went to the very large Muslim
village, where the aggressors had come from, to search. They noted that
the village had a moat around it, with water, mud and broken glass in it.
After they entered the village, with the security forces, they found a fresh
grave, under a Muslim house, with parts of the bodies of their missing
people. Then they found another grave, also under a Muslim house, and
then another.
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BACK TO SITTWE
We took another 2 hour boat ride, and then a vehicle for another hour or two, and arrived
back to Sittwe. It was truly an eye-opening experience, a discovery of truth and fact.
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