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ug. 6, p. 6

Demands for Indonesian intervention to stop the sectarian conflict in Rakhine state, Myanmar, have loomed large. Recently, Indonesian student associations (PPI) in countries like Portugal, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom wrote to House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Ali and other institutions, asking Indonesia to raise the Rohingya issue at the upcoming ASEAN meeting.

Presidential spokesperson Julian Aldrin Pasha said Indonesia would bring the issue to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) instead. (By Verdinand Robertua, Linkoping, Sweden)

Your comments:

The existence of the Rohingya people in Arakan (Rakhine) State was historically documented in a late 18th century report published by the British observer, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton. In his 1799 article A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire, Buchanan-Hamilton stated: “I shall now add three dialects, spoken in the Burma Empire, but evidently derived from the language of the Hindu nation.

The first is that spoken by the Mohammedans, who have long settled in Arakan, and who call themselves Rohingya, or natives of Arakan.” This is the unbiased historical evidence that the Rohingya lived in Arakan (Rakhine) State before 1824, and therefore, they are one of the original races of the Union of Myanmar.

Henceforth, it must be noted that the Rohingya are not Bengalis, who recently illegally entered Myanmar after its independence from the UK in 1948, and that the term Rohingya was not invented by Bengali immigrants in the 1950s. The term Rohingya was used in 1799 by the natives of Arakan, who were of the Mohammedan (or Islamic) faith.

Shwe

The Rohingya are the world’s most miserable ethnic group. No country or international human rights organization is concerned about their suffering.

Until now the United Nations, Russia and America have kept silent about the massacre, as there is no worldly benefit for helping such a poor minority group.

There are no gold mines or oil-exploration areas there.

What sad, gloomy and dark aspects we see of the UN, Russia, America, and all the other countries which are considered able to solve the conflict. Seeing this ignorance, it is the responsibility of Indonesia as a big country which has a strategic role, to solve the problem.

Given that most Indonesian people are Muslims, we must help the suffering Rohingya Muslims.

Ahmed Lats

Fellow humans, where is your humanity?

Sita

The international community has a responsibility to protect the Rohingya from systematic state-sponsored genocide by the Rakhine and the Maynmarese races.

Available evidence indicates that the Rohingya are the most persecuted minority (UN report).

To falsely associate the Rohingya with al-Qaeda and terrorism is not only preposterous, but amounts to moral irresponsibility and is unethical. Instead of raising concerns and awareness about the severe abuses of the Myanmarese military regime, chastising the Rohingya for their suffering is inhumane.

They have been living in Arakan (or Rakhine) State since the 8th century. They were Burmese citizens upon the birth of the Union of Burma on Jan. 4 1948.

Since 1982 they have been illegally deprived of their lawful citizenship by Ne Win’s military regime.

In Myanmar, the Rohingya have no freedom of speech, worship, movement or marriage. They have no access to education or healthcare. Thus we, the civilized world, who are privileged to enjoy these freedoms, must intervene to prevent them from becoming extinct. We must speak up to ensure the basic human rights of the Rohingya.

Why are Rohingya genuine Myanmar citizens? According to a scientific discovery published in the prestigious magazine Science on Oct 15th, 1999 (volume 286[5439]: pages 528-30), modern human beings originated in Myanmar about 45 million years ago.

Thus, the Rohingya and the Bengali races are derivatives of the Rakhine and Myanmar races; in
other words they are cousins of each other. Therefore, the Rohingya are not illegal immigrants into Myanmar, but are one of the original races of Myanmar.

Aung Ming