Opinion Editorials, July 2012

Rohingya Burmese Muslims Massacred, Loosing Hopes

By Syed Hassam Ahmed

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, July 31, 2012

It’s nearly about two months since the Muslim’s massacre ignited in Arakan, the western province of Burma (Myanmar). It all began on 3rd June 2012 when 11 Muslims were killed by the extremist Buddhists with an alleged assistance of Burmese Army after bringing them down from a bus.

The Muslims of Burma are loosing hopes for a better future as they do not see any sort of help, now, from the International world specifically from the Muslim Ummah who have done nothing other than the lip service. 

The attitude of civilian and military leadership of Pakistan, Saudia Arabia and others Muslim States came as a shock as they showed signs of no interest and even no condemning statement have been uttered from them till now.

Kala, a 75-year-old Arakanese who has been in Bangladesh refugee camps for many years, describes the plight of Rohingya Muslims and refugees’ despair saying, “We are waiting for death that will lessen our suffering.” 

To make the matters more disastrous, Bangladesh not only has been disallowing entrance to refugees that have been coming since June into the neighboring country but also returning those who arrived in the campsites in the past years. 

The Rohingya Muslims have been facing bottomless list of difficulties as it has been reported recently in a descriptive report on the oppression of the Muslims of Burma produced by the Turkish charity IHH, stating the dilemma of Muslims living in Burma.

Burmese Muslims are not allowed to marry without a permit. A couple wishing to get married has to pay a tax. At times they are denied a permit even if they pay the tax. They are deprived of all public services. For instance, when they get sick they cannot go to state hospitals for treatment. Muslims are not allowed into higher education institutions. Muslims are prohibited to work in public sector jobs. There is not a single Muslim civil servant in Arakan till date. Muslims cannot own fixed line telephones or cellular phones. They are not allowed to own motor vehicles. When Muslims are accused of a crime, they are not given the right to defense and are imprisoned right away The police or the army have the authority to raid a Muslim house without a warrant and charge its inhabitants of any crime. They are subjected to curfew after nine o’clock at night and cannot visit their relatives or neighbors without permission from the police. Muslims are forced to work for the state and Buddhists without wages.

The ordinary citizens of Pakistan plead the Pakistan Army for an immediate reaction in this regard as we do not expect this from hopeless Civilian leadership of the country. We see you as the authority in this country, so you must take necessary measures to rescue the Muslims of Burma if you own some courage, before we lose trust from you as well.

See the Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar-Burma in Photos

Syed Hassam Ahmed

Department of Mass Communication,

University of Karachi, Pakistan.

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