My Suggestion to Rohingya Consultation Forum in Bangkok, August 2-3,2006 at the Faculty of Political Science,Chulalongkorn University, Organized by South Asia

Study center, Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok, Thailand

Respected Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, and distinguished guests: Thank you for organizing this conference, and it is an honour and privilege to be here. For thousands of years, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, animists, and atheists, have lived harmoniously in the area that is now Arakan, Burma. That has changed especially since general Ne Win seized power from the elected Prime Minister U Nu. (It should also be mentioned that as there was a split in AFPFL, Prime Minister U Nu handed over power to Gen. Ne Win in order to form a caretaker government till an election would be held.) Hundreds of years ago, Arakan was a separate kingdom. Burmans several times invaded Arakan. In the 15th century Burmans ruled over Arakan, and massacred the Arakenese people. The Arakanean King Min Sowa Mun (also Naramaithla) prided himself by taking a Muslim name, Solaiman Shah. He took refuge in the Kingdom of a muslim Bengal. The muslim King helped him with over twenty thousand soldiers headed by Gen. Wali Khan to overthrow the Burmese. Gen Wali Khan defeated the Burmese, but Wali Khan betrayed Min Sowa Mun, and he himself, Wali Khan, became King around 1430. The Muslim Bengal King Sultan Jalaluddin Mohammed Shah became outraged when he heard about it. So he sent Gen Sidikh Khan to help our Rakhaing King to regain his throne. (So it is, the Muslims of Arakan are known as King makers of Arakan.) As a thanks of gratitude, those muslim soldiers twenty thousandand another thirty thousand who came to risk their lives for the king of Arakan, were settled there to protect the Arakanese King. By intermarriage between Buddhists and Muslims, these fifty thousand soldiers and their offspring have been harmoniously living in

Arakan for about 600 years. (There had been harmony between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan for some periods of time before that, too.) The Arakanese king built a mosque in the name of Gen. Sidikh Khan in Maruk U (the then capital of Arakan). This mosque is still known as Sidikh Khan Mosque. One archeologist told me that he personally saw the mosque, but when he checked the area by satellite he did not see it anymore. He said that the historical mosque might have been demolished by the Burmese Army to cover up the existence of muslims in the Kingdom of Arakan. During Gen. Ne Win's reign in a caretaker government, in 1959, many names of streets in Akyab, capital of Arakan state, and in other places in Arakan, which had been established by the muslims of Arakan, were changed. For the record, I would like to mention the names of three streets which had Muslim names, but were changed. 1: Nazu Muddin Road- to -U Rai Gyaw Thu. 2: Kazi Road -to - Maung Mra Tun Road. Before noting the third name change, I want to mention that Kazi of Kazi Road was a historical figure. He was a renowned Muslim of Arakan who lived in Mizan quarter in Akyab. His real name was Abdul Karim. He was also known by the Buddhists and Muslims as Kazigri. U Kazigri along with other Arakanese leaders had tried to overthrow the British in order to restore Burmese rule in Arakan around the end of the 18th century. I would like to mention that previous to the British rule Burma occupied our country Arakan. When the British invaded Arakan, our people took the British as the common enemy of the Arakanese and Burmese, but failed to overthrow the British. U Kazigri was imprisoned by the British in Alpore jail in Calcutta,India, for many years. U Kazigri's grandson, Saya Gyi U Zainuddin, dedicated his whole life as a principal of the National School at Akyab. The third name change: 3:Hazubza Lane was renamed to Tha Zan Hla Road. After World War II when our leaders were struggling for independence, Gen. Aung San came to Akyab and sought cooperation of the muslims of Arakan. He met the muslim leaders at Youngman Society in Thet Kaybin, at Akyab. I was old enough to remember a meeting Gen. Aung San called at

Chekaingdan (World War Two British army air field) in Akyab when leaders and the people of Arakan were united and assured support for the struggle for independence. If we Muslims were not citizens of Arakan, Burma, he would not have sought our support and cooperation or invited us Muslims to attend the meeting. In 1950, that was two years after we gained independence from Britain, instigated by some ultranationalist Arakanese Buddhists taking advantage of the turmoil all over Burma, B.T.F. started looting and killing and terrorizing the muslims in Northern Arakan in Maungdaw, Buttidaung and Raithaydaung Areas. The Prime Minister immediately sent Minister of Minorities U Aung Zan Wai (who was an Arakanese Buddhist) to restore a cordial relationship between the two sister communities, the Buddhist and Muslim communities. U Aung Zan Wai set up an office in Akyab. With the help of commonwealth countries including East Pakistan where Arakanese Muslims took refuge, he managed to bring some of them back. The rest scattered all over the world. The elderly people and leaders of both communities were in close touch and did everything possible to keep communal harmony. But the network of some of those racists who engaged in spreading communal hatred was always there. Some of the children of these racist Arakanese Buddhists joined Ge. Ne Win's B.S.P.P. I'll return to a description of what they did in a moment. But first I would like to mention some events that took place in and around 1960 and 1964 During the demarcation in 1960 between Burma and China along Kachin state, three villages(1) Kawlan,( 2) Kunphan,( 3) Phimaw were given to China. The people who lived in those three villages were given the option either to live as Chinese citizens or to be resettled in Burma. Again in 1964 during demarcation between East Pakistan and Burma, Parrot Island was given to Arakan Burma with a similar option to the people who lived in what had been East Pakistan's Parrot Island. Mr. Bhotto, the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, before signing the transfer of Parrot Island, raised the issue of Arakanese Muslims who, owing to discrimination and oppression, left the country of Burma and were becoming a burden on East Pakistan, creating a problem for the international community and neighboring countries. The then Foreign Minister of Burma, U Thi Han, in consultation with Gen.

Ne Win promised that the Burmese Government would take care of the situation, and not let it happen in the future. Arakan would be a peaceful zone. These events in 1960 and 1964 are clear demonstrations of how nonborderline Arakanese Muslims had been regarded as native citizens of the overall state that included Arakan, that is, Burma. Also it shows how the nonborderline Arakanese Muslims received a commitment from the Government under Gen. Ne Win to continue to be regarded as native Burmese and citizens of Burma, and that the attitudes that had practically undermined their civil regard would cease, so that continuity of their regard as native citizens would be restored, and strengthened. These events also show that even borderline Arakanese would be regarded as citizens of whatever state was to include them under their choice of place of location. Let us come back now to the children of the racists of 1950. In the early 1980's, having higher positions, they managed, sometimes through bribery, to influence the so called law makers to decitizenize all the Muslims of Arakan in a constitution drafted in 1982, with a view to make all the Muslims of Arakan stateless in our own country. An order was issued by the ministry of citizenship and manpower Letter number La-3 (0159) Na Hta Ya/ La Pa Ah, dated 30-8-96, and also Letter number 05/2-5/Pa Ta Sa Rakhine to restrict the foreigners from travelling from their townships without permission. Now we Muslims are restricted even to travel from village to village, and are not allowed to continue higher education. Even marriage is restricted. I also want to mention that in 1978, before the decitizenisation of the Muslims of Arakan, the people of Arakan were oppressed; many were massacred; the military government called its program the Dragon Operation. Over two hundred and fifty thousand people fled to neighboring countries, including Bangladesh. Most of them were returned to Arakan. But the situation in Arakan was not improved. Later, in 1992 a similar process occurred. There are still roughly twenty two thousand Arakanese people in a Bangladesh camp; their situation in the camp is deplorable, and the situation in Arakan is also intolerable. We Muslim people of Arakan, Burma, have exhausted all venues including U.N.H.R. commission or council. A remedy for this crime against humanity, depriving people of their birthrights and the decitizenisation of 1.5 million people, a crime worse than genocide, is urgently required. Historians have written about how complicated is the history of Arakan, given that under the jurisdiction of an Arakanese King, Arakan once occupied parts

of what is now Bangladesh, and various other features of Arakan's history. However, I do not believe that history will solve the problem of Arakan. The problem of Arakan will not be solved unless we simplify it, have a sincere desire to resolve it, and find a way for the progressive members of the two main sister communities, the Buddhists and Muslims, to stand on one united platform. What we see here is that Gen. Ne Win's government seized power in 1962 in a coup, without broad support, and suspended the constitution arising from the Panglong conference of 1947. This was in utter violation of the very terms of the Panglong agreement. No military coup dtat government has the right to dissolve a previous constitution, in this case, the 1948 constitution, without following the legal procedure of that constitution. But Gen Ne Win drafted one constitution in 1978 and again, another, in 1982, in which 1.5 million Muslims of Arakan were decitizenised. Now the present Junta has been drafting a new constitution since 1990 and this drafting of the new constitution amounts to an effort to prolong their stay in power. If there is a genuine democracy in the Federation of Burma, the right of all citizens of Burma regardless of race, ethnicity, and religion should and would be equal. For being a so-called indigenous race, one should not expect special privilege. Once one of the most prominent political leaders of Burma said that ethnicity or race has little or no meaning in Burma. Though he didn't say it clearly, Burma should be a state of its citizens, which means that all citizens are equal under the law. Citizens should not be categorized or graded according to race or ethnicity. We now have seven states, and seven divisions. To implement the equality of citizen plan, we should rather have 14 states or provinces, and no divisions, so that people in the seven divisions cannot play the big brother role any more. The children of the racists have not yet learned to live peacefully, but are trying to make the land of Arakan more and more blood thirsty. I warn the people of Arakan to beware of the morally bankrupt individuals who do not want peace and prosperity of Arakan. Now is the time we, the progressive democratic people of Arakan, need to recognize, and to act on our recognition, that the main sister communities of Arakan should be unified. Our country, Rakhine Pray, Kingdom of Arakan, is reduced to Arakan state. The progressive democratic forces of Arakan should now join hands for our peaceful coexistence in the future Federal Union of Burma.

Summing up I would like to mention that the ultranationalists of Arakan have misrepresented the history of Muslims in the kingdom of Arakan, knowing how complicated the history of Arakan has been. This has only wounded the sentiment of communal harmony of the two main sister communities of Araken, the Buddhist and Muslims. In my view, the central point we should emphasize has nothing to do with the Bengali origin of the Muslims in Arakan. It is obvious that the originally Hindu status of the area that is now Arakan also is of no relevance to the current problems. Nor is the complicated relationship between the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Christians, the Muslims, and so on. The central point we should emphasize is that the Muslims in Arakan, for hundreds of years, were recognized as citizens and native of Arakan. This can be seen from many legal documents, and many events, a few of which were just reviewed. In addition, of particular importance is the recognition by the United Nations once Burma became independent in 1948, of long time resident Muslims of Arakan as native citizens of Burma. This recognition, of course, continued from independence in 1948 till 1962. It should also be mentioned that during this period, the Arakanese Muslims were voters in Burma; Arakanese Muslims were elected into the Burmese Parliament. Some were ministers in the cabinet. This is the central feature of the recent history that needs to be our guide. It can create a single unified platform for progressive Buddhists and Muslims of Arakan. In this way, it seems that bringing peaceful coexistence among the various groups is best done without disputing over ethnicity. In democratic countries, citizenship is the central notion. If there are to be equal rights for Arakanese, then the Arakanese can call themselves Rohingyas or by any other name. It doesnt seem to matter. With an end in view to normalize the relation between the Buddhists and Muslims of Arakan, I request two things. First, to have a common organization that include and welcome on an equal basis all persons entitled to citizenship in Arakan without regard to ethnic origin or religious creed the (Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and so on of Arakan) that is (Rakhine and Rohingya) and so on, in one organization. Second, for the Chairperson and Mr. Harn Yawnghwe Director of National Reconciliation of Burma, and Mr.AFK Jilani, Community Head, to propose that the NCGUB, PDP, and ALD, and the concerned organizations, include one of the leaders of an active Muslim organization of Arakan in the consultative committee of the new constitution to be drafted in the would be Federation of Burma. I prefer to reinstate the suspended 1948 constitution with necessary changes and

amendments with the constitutional safeguard and guarantee of equal rights for all the citizens of Burma. In any case having a representative of the Muslim community of Arakan in the consultative committee would parallel recent events: For example, General Aung San included a Muslim leader in his organizational work, namely U Razak, a martyr who was assassinated along with martyr Gen. Aung San and other martyrs from ethnic groups on 19th July 1947. As such I would like to suggest that this Forum ask the Arakanese to hire an international or constitutional lawyer for this historically complicated Arakan state to work with the consultative committee to find a permanent solution once and for all for the people of Arakan, with constitutional safeguards and guarantees for proportional representation of minorities in political, economic, and social affairs of the states. Thank you, Maung Tin 8300 St Albans Road, Richmond BC V6Y 2K9
Relevant documents to substantiate the atrocities are attached