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1942 - 100s of Villages Burned
1942 - 100s of Villages Burned
By W. S. MUNDY
Fighting in this war, which the world knew nothing about, including a five-day battle for the
Thakin - nationalist, pro-Jap Burmese - stronghold of Buthidaung and since it began three
weeks ago, thousands of men, women and children have been killed, towns have been
captured, and hundreds of villages have been burned.
[Note: Thakin is the term for the Burmese involved in the struggle for independence]
1
Now the Moslems, who have formed their own war council
and raised their own armed forces, not only are a threat to the
Japanese hold on Akyab [Sittwe] but their war is certain greatly
to strengthen the sympathy for the Allies throughout the
Islamic world.
Concessions Promised
The Japanese are so perturbed about this civil strife that they
sent emissaries to the Moslems in their main headquarters at
Maungdaw, promising them “Pakistan” – self–government –
and other concessions in the area they have won if they lay
down their arms.
[Note: Already the Muslims wanted to seize the land for themselves
and not be in the future country of Burma, so Japan tried to woo
them by promising their dream-land in exchange for giving up their
weapons]
1,000 Massacred
Omra Meah told me that Japs and Thakin hooligans in the
Akyab district began to “play hell and havoc” with the Muslims
and their property as soon the British had withdrawn. The civil
administration, including police, had left Arakan last March 30.
By May 1, I was told, at least 1000 Moslems have been
massacred by Thakins.
[Of course Omra Meah neglected to say anything about the 30,000 or
so, Buddhists killed in May, consNtuNng the only true qualifying
genocide in Burmese contemporary history]
The Japs’ jackal allies had looted seven towns, burned many
villages, slaughtered the inhabitants, and were pressing on
toward Maungdaw when the Moslems seized the town and on
May 15 formed a war council to hit back at their enemies.
2
They named Nur Ahmed Ba Failed, bearded head clerk of
the district court, as their general, and with 15 rifles and a
supply of bamboo sticks he began training his army of 300
men while the council recruited a police force and extended
its control over the Moslems of northern Arakan.
War Proclaimed
Meanwhile, 100 Japanese-led Thakins, who had fought for
the Japanese with the Burmese quisling army, and 2000
other traitors who had joined them, had established
themselves at Buthidaung, where they were ravaging the
countryside and leaving paths of death and destruction.
Mob Surprised
The following morning, Nur Ahmed, carrying one of the
Moslem army’s two tommyguns under his arm and wearing
khaki shorts and shirt, led his force of 300 soldiers, 30
policemen, and 3000 volunteers out of Maungdaw. The
Moslems arms included swords, spears, lathis, bows and
arrows with a few rifles and shotguns. They knew the enemy
had more rifles and light 25-bore machineguns given them
by the Japanese. But the Moslems with the blood of Arab
adventurers thick in their veins, quickened their pace as they
saw the smoke of burning villages curling into the sky.
[Note: Letwaidet is a large Bengali Muslim village at the boQom of the Mayu mountains, on the track
to Buthidaung. It had the infamy of tricking and slaughtering groups of Buddhists escaping the horrors
of the massacres in Maungdaw, climbing up and over the Mayu mountains, and having to pass
through Letwaidet on the way to Buthidaung. The Muslims of Letwaidet had just killed hundreds, if
not thousands, in the previous several months, so if their village was finally being burned it was
because of their savage cruelty.]
3
Machinegun Seized
The machine gun was their first spoils of war and with it the
Moslems sent the enemy fleeing from the battlefield and
swept on into Buthidaung. The victory cost the Muslims 19
men and the Thakins lost several hundred dead and 700 of
their women and children drowned when an overloaded
launch in which they were being evacuated capsized.
Japanese Departed
Immediately after the occupation of Buthidaung, a strong detachment of Moslems hurried on
to Thegan, where it was reported the Thakin were murdering Muslims in surrounding villages.
Thegan also was captured after heavy casualties had been inflicted on the Burmese traitors.
While the Thegan forces was absent with the army’s guns and rifles, two Japanese officers
and 14 men came up the river from Akyab to Buthidaung in two launches. They opened fire
with machineguns mounted on the boats and killed a number of persons, most of them
unarmed Moslems, who attempted to prevent them from landing.
The officers, one of whom was second in command of the Japanese forces at Akyab, then
tried to win over the Moslems still in Buthidaung, and when his advances received a cold
reception the Japanese loaded everything of value they could find in their launches and
departed without harming the Moslems further.
[Note: When reporter Mundy got there, to Arakan, during the acNve war, there were essenNally no
Buddhist villagers or townspeople there anymore. A huge number - around 30,000 - were slaughtered,
and all other Buddhists escaped into Kyauktaw, Myebon, Minbyar, Myohaung, or the refugee camps in
BriNsh India, such as Dinajpur. So, Mundy heard the Bengali Muslim narraNve only.]
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