Media Release
January 31, 2024

The Myanmar Military headed by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power once again on the 1st of February 2021 following a landslide win by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party headed by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi in 2020 general elections whose harrowing rule completes three years today.

This brutal Myanmar military under the outgoing NLD regime headed by de facto ruler Ms ASSK carried out the latest episode of Rohingya genocide in 2016 and 2017 killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women, children, babies and infants, gang-raping, throwing infants from the lap of their mothers to flaming fire, destroying hundreds of villages by burning and later bulldozing them into plain areas and forcing out over 1 million people to Bangladesh literally at gunpoint.

While many Rakhine politicians and common people were complicit with the military in carrying out this ferocious genocide against the Rohingya the NLD, as the ruling party, did nothing to prevent the unfolding genocidal acts of the military against innocent civilians. Rather the so-called icon of democracy and human rights defended the monstrous military at ICJ against innocent victims of genocide by personally participating in the court proceedings.

Paradoxically those who once embraced the military in carrying out injustice, brutalities, ethnic cleansing and genocide against other peoples or ethnic groups have now been poised as bulwark of justice and democracy. In Arakan (Rakhine) the haters of Rohingya have become spokespersons of the people of Arakan and in a position to decide about the fate of the oppressed Rohingya people not because they adhere to justice but because they are in a powerful position who could not be ignored. It seems that justice, human lives and humanity are matters and principles not so important for some people whose preponderance is only benefit and power for one’s own community.

During the last 3 years of chaotic rule the whole people of Myanmar rose against military dictatorship rendering huge sacrifice. The Military was initially confident to defeat the opposition but the table turned around against them gradually and now the opposition is confident to defeat the military soon. One serious question the opposition shall confront after toppling the military is about the structure of the government and division of power between centre and periphery and territorial disputes.  If the opposition is not wise enough they may end up fighting each other giving the military to exploit the divisions in its favour. There are a lot of such possibilities in each state based on ethnicity and religious affiliation. Balkanization of Myanmar may result if the differences are not properly handled or one powerful group wants to dominate against another less powerful group and we are really apprehensive of such a situation in Rakhine and Chin states. There has been prevalence of historical animosity between Bama and non-Bama ethnic groups. All stakeholders of Myanmar should sit together to prevent the repeat of the failure of first Panglong and to ensure an egalitarian Myanmar society where there should be no discrimination between powerful groups and less powerful groups, different ethnic and religious groups.

Nurul Islam
Chairman
Arakan Rohingya National Alliance

Media contact: secretariat@thearna.org