http://theamericanmuslim.org/ 20 November 2005,
by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
An often-practiced devious way to grab someones land is to deny his
right to that property. Nothing could be more horrific when a government
itself gets into such a criminal practice. The most glaring example of
such a crime can be seen in the practices of the regimes that have ruled
Burma (now Myanmar) since its independence from Britain in 1948 (esp.
since 1962 when Gen. Ne Win came to power). In our times, one can hardly
find a regime that has been so atrocious, so inhuman and so barbarous
in its denial of basic human rights to a people that trace their origin
to the land for nearly a millennium. [1[ The victims are the Rohingya
Muslims living in the Arakan (now Rakhine) state. They have become the
forgotten people of our time. The Burma Citizenship Law of 1982 has
reduced them to the status of ғStateless.
The ruling junta in Myanmar do not want to know and let others know that
the Rohingyas have a long history, a language, a heritage, a culture
and a tradition of their own that they had built up in the Arakan
through their long history of existence there. Through their criminal
propaganda - to garner support among the Buddhist majority - they have
been feeding so much misinformation against the Rohingya that even
Joseph Goebbles must be amazed in his grave! The level of disinformation
has reached such an alarming level that if you were to talk with a
Burmese Buddhist, he/she would say that the Rohingyas are foreigners in
Arakan; they donԒt belong to Burma; they belong to Bangladesh.[2] Such
allegations are unfounded. Distinguished scholar Abdul Karim writes, “In
fact the forefathers of Rohingyas had entered into Arakan from time
immemorial. [3]
Brief geography and history about the region and its people:
The word ԓRohingya comes from the word ‘Rohang,’ which was the original
and ancient name of Arakan. In the medieval works of poets of Arakan and
Chittagong, e.g., Alaol, Qazi Daulat, Mardan, Shamsher Ali, Ainuddin,
Abdul Ghani and others Ԗ Arakan is frequently referred as Roshang,
Roshango Des and Roshango Shar.
The Arakan State of Myanmar, bordering Bangladesh, is mostly inhabited
by two ethnic communities - the Rakhine Buddhist and the Rohingya
Muslims. The Rakhine Buddhists are close to the Burmese in religion and
language. The Rohingya Muslims are ethnically and religiously related to
the people from the region of Chittagong in south-eastern Bangladesh.
The Rohingya Muslims number approximately 3.5 million.[4] Due to
large-scale persecution through ethnic cleansing and genocidal action
against them, nearly a half of them, about 1.5 million Rohingyas, are
forced to live outside their ancestral homes since Burmese independence
in 1948. This uprooted people are now living in exile as refugees and
illegal immigrants particularly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Thailand and Malaysia.
Origin of the Rohingya:
The original inhabitants of Rohang were Hindus, Buddhists and animists.
From the pre-Islamic days, the region was very familiar to the Arab
seafarers. Many settled in the Arakan, and mixing with the local people,
developed the present stock of the people known as ethnic Rohingya.
Some historians mention that the first Muslims to settle in the Arakan
were Arabs under the leadership of Muhammad ibn Hanafiya in the late 7th
century (C.E.). He married the queen Kaiyapuri, who had converted to
Islam. Her people then embraced Islam en masse. The peaks where they
lived are still known as Hanifa Tonki and Kaiyapui Tonki.[5]
The second major influx of early Muslims dates back to the 8th century
(C.E.). The British Burma Gazetteer (1957) says, About 788 AD Mahataing
Sandya ascended the throne of Vesali, founded a new city (Vesali) on the
site of old Ramawadi and died after a reign of twenty two years. In his
reign several ships were wrecked on Rambree Island and the crews, said
to have been Mohammedans, were sent to Arakan Proper and settled in
villages. They were Moor Arab Muslims.Ӕ [6]
The third major influx came after 1404, when the Arakan king, dethroned
by the Burmese, took asylum in Gaur (the capital of Bengal) and pleaded
for help from Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, the Sultan of Bengal, to regain
the lost throne. The Sultan sent tens of thousands of soldiers to
conquer Arakan. Many of these Muslim soldiers subsequently settled
there. (See the section Muslim Influence in the Arakan - for more
details.)
Later, other ethnic groups, namely - the Mughals (e.g., with the flight
of Mughal prince Shah Shuja in 1660), Turks, Persians, Central Asians,
Pathans and Bengalis - also moved into the territory and mixed with
these Rohingya people. The spread of Islam in the Arakan (and along the
southern coastal areas of Bangladesh) mostly happened through the
sea-borne Sufis and merchants. This fact is testified by the darghas
(shrines), which are dotted at the long coast of the Arakan and
Myanamar.[7] The Burmese historian U. Kyi writes, ֓The superior
morality of those devout Muslims attracted large number of people
towards Islam who embraced it en masse. [8]
Hence, the Rohingya Muslims, whose settlements in Arakan date back to
the 7th century C.E., are not an ethnic group, which developed from one
tribal group affiliation or single racial stock, but are an ethnic group
that developed from different stocks of people. The ethnic Rohingya is
Muslim by religion with distinct culture and civilization of its own.
Origin of the Rakhine:
The other dominant group that lives in the Arakan is the Rakhine
Buddhist. In the year 957 C.E., a Mongolian invasion swept over Vesali
(Vaisali) - the capital city - and killed Sula Chandra, the last Hindu
king of Chandra dynasty. They destroyed Vesali and placed on their
throne Mongolian kings. Mohammed Ashraf Alam writes, ԓWithin a few years
the Hindus of Bengal were able to establish their Pala Dynasty. But the
Hindus of Vesali were unable to restore their dynasty because of the
invasion and migrations of Tibeto-Burman who were so great that their
population overshadowed the Vesali Hindus. They cut Arakan away from
Indians and mixing in sufficient number with the inhabitants of the
eastern-side of the present Indo-Burma divide, created that
Indo-Mongoloid stock now known as the Rakhine Arakanese. This emergence
of a new race was not the work of a single invasion. But the date 957 AD
may be said to mark the appearance of the Rakhine in Arakan, and the
beginning of fresh period.[9] They were a wild people much given to
plunder, violence, cruelty, kidnapping, enslavement and sea piracy, and
came to be known as the Maghs of the Arakan.[10] History researcher
Alamgir Serajuddin writes, ԓTheir cruelty, comparable only to that of
bargi marauders of later days, was a byword in Bengal. Shihabuddin
Talish thus described it: “They carried off the Hindus and Muslims, male
and female, great and small, few and many that they could seize,
pierced the palms of their hands, passed thin canes through the holes
and threw them one above another under the deck of their ships.Ԕ [11]
After the Portuguese established their settlements in Chittagong,
Sandwip and Arakan during the Mughal rule of India, the Rakhine Maghs
entered into a scheme of plundering Mughal territory in Bengal by making
an alliance with the Portuguese pirates.[12] The Magh-Portuguese
piracy was such a menace to the peace and security of Bengal that the
Mughals had to step in. In 1666, Shaista Khan (1664-1688), the Mughal
governor of Bengal, conquered Chittagong from the Arakanese control.[13]
That year (1666) marked the decline of the Arakanese Empire. [The
Arakanese (Rakhine) Maghs left Chittagong, never to reoccupy it, which
became a part of Bengal (and now Bangladesh). [14] However, plundering
by the Magh-Portuguese pirates continued throughout the 18th century.
Historian G.E. Harvey writes, RenellӒs map of Bengal, published in 1794
AD marks the area south of Backergunge deserted on account of the
ravages of the Muggs (Arakanese)ђ. The Arakan pirates, both Magh and
feringhi, used to come by the water-route and plunder BengalŅ.
Mohammedans underwent such oppression, as they had not to suffer in
Europe. As they continually practiced raids for a long time, Bengal
daily became more and more desolate and less and less able to resist
them. Not a house was left inhabited on their side of the rivers lying
on their track from Chittagong to Dacca. The district of Bakla
[Backergunge and part of Dacca], which formerly abounded in houses and
cultivated fields and yield a large revenue as duty on betel-nuts, was
swept so clean with their broom of plunder and abduction that none was
left to tenant any house or kindle a light in that region. Ņ When
Shayista Khan asked the feringhi deserters, what salary the Magh king
had assigned to them, they replied, Our salary was the Mughal Empire. We
considered the whole of Bengal as our fief. We had not to bother
revenue surveyors and ourselves about court clerks but levied our rent
all the year round without difficulty. We have kept the papers of the
division of the booty for the last forty years.ђ [15]
Because of their centuries of savagery, the Maghs of Arakan earned such a
bad name that they started calling themselves the Rakhines. [16]
The Rakhines practice Buddhism and their spoken language is pure Burmese with slight phonetic variation.
Muslim Influence in Arakan:
Arakan, sandwiched between Muslim-ruled India in the west and
Buddhist-ruled Burma in the east, at different periods of history, had
been an independent sovereign monarchy ruled by Hindus, Buddhists and
Muslims. As the threat from the Burmese court of Ava grew, it turned
westward for protection. After Bengal became Muslim in 1203 C.E.,
Islamic influence grew significantly in Arakan to the degree of
establishing a Muslim vassal state there in 1430 C.E. In 1404, the
Arakan king, dethroned by the Burmese, took asylum in Gaur (the capital
of Bengal) and pleaded for help to regain the lost throne. Jalaluddin
Muhammad Shah, the Sultan of Bengal, sent General Wali Khan at the head
of 50,000 soldiers to conquer Arakan. Wali Khan drove the Burmese and
took control of power over Arakan for himself, introduced Persian as the
court language of Arakan and appointed Muslim judges (Qazis).[17]
Jalaluddin then sent a second army under General Sandi Khan who
overthrew Wali Khan and restored the exiled monarch (Mong Saw Mwan who
took the title of Sulayman Shah) to the throne of Arakan in 1430. [18]
Mong Saw MwanԒs Muslim soldiers settled in Arakan and established the
Sandi Khan mosque in Mrhaung. They eventually became the kingmakers
during the Mrauk-U dynasty. The practice of adopting a Muslim name or
title by the Arakanese kings continued until 1638. Bisveswar
Bhattacharya sums up the position thus, As the Mohammedan influence was
predominant, the Arakanese kings, though Buddhist in religion, became
somewhat Mohammedanized in their ideasӅ [19]
In 1660, the Mughal Prince Shah Shuja fled to Arakan. This important
event brought a new wave of Muslim immigrants to the kingdom of Arakan.
[20]
Dr. Muhammad Enamul Haq and Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharad in their
work ԓBengali Literature in the Court of Arakan 1600-1700 state that
ԓ[T]he Arakanese kings issued coins bearing the inscription of Muslim
Kalema (the profession of faith in Islam) in Arabic script. The State
emblem was also inscribed Arabic word Aqimuddin (establishment of Gods
rule over the earth).Ҕ The Arakanese courts adoption of many Muslim
customs and terms were other noteworthy signs to the influence of Islam.
Mosques began to dot the countryside and Islamic customs, manners and
practices came to be established since this time. [21]
From 1685 to 1710, the political power of Arakan was completely in the
hand of the Muslims. Muslim rule and/or influence in Arakan lasted
altogether for approx. 350 years until it was invaded and occupied by
Burmese king Boddaw Paya on 28 December 1784. Boddaw Paya may rightly be
called the harbinger for destroying everything Islamic in Arakan and
sowing the seed of distrust between the two communities Җ Rohingya and
Rakhine.
Arakan in post-1784 era:
Arakan was neither a Burmese nor an Indian territory till 1784. It had
managed to retain its independent (or semi-independent) status for most
of its existence. In 1784 thousands of Arakanese - Rohingya and
Buddhists alike - were killed, and their mosques, dargas and temples
destroyed by the Burmese soldiers. During the 40-year Burmese tyrannical
rule (1784-1824), nearly two-thirds or 200,000 Arakanese were forced to
take refuge in Chittagong (Bengal).
The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) ended on 24 February 1826 when
Burma ratified the Treaty of Yandabo and ceded Arakan and Tenasserim to
British India. At that time, nearly a third of the population of Arakan
was Muslim. Burma was separated from British India on 1 April 1937 under
the Government of India Act of 1935. Arakan was made a part of British
Burma against the wishes of its people and thus finally Arakan became a
province of independent Burma in 1948. [22]
For centuries, the Rohingya Muslims coexisted relatively peacefully with
the Rakhine Buddhists. [23] However, this changed around the Second
World War, when communal riots erupted between the two ethnic groups at
the instigation of third parties, most notably the British Raj. The
bitterness was fuelled by the pogrom of March 28, 1942 in which
approximately 100,000 Rohingyas were massacred and another 80,000 had to
flee from their ancestral homes.[24] Two hundred and ninety four
Rohingya villages were totally destroyed. [25] Since then the
relationship between the two communities deteriorated to the extent that
for the Rohingya there remained hardly any option open other than
self-determination in an autonomous territory that would protect their
basic human rights.
After Burmas independence in 1948, Muslims carried out an unsuccessful
armed rebellion demanding an autonomous state within the Union of Burma.
This resulted in a backlash against the Muslims that led to their
removal from civil posts, restrictions on their movement, and
confiscation of their property. [26]
Under the military regime of General Ne Win, beginning in 1962, the
Muslim residents of Arakan were wrongfully labeled illegal immigrants
who had settled in Burma during the British rule. Their history and
culture to their ancestral land was conveniently ignored. The Burmese
central government made all efforts to drive them out of Burma, starting
with the denial of their citizenship. The 1974 Emergency Immigration
Act took away Burmese nationality from the Rohingyas, making them
foreigners in their own country. Then came the ғBurma Citizenship Law of
1982 violating several fundamental principles of the international law
and effectively reduced them to the status of ԓStateless.
As of 1999, there have been no less than 20 major operations of eviction
campaigns directed against the Rohingyas that were carried out by the
successive Governments of Burma. In pursuance of the 20-year Rohingya
Extermination Plan, the Arakan State Council under direct supervision of
State Council of Burma carried out a Rohingya drive operation code
named Naga Min or King Dragon Operation. It was the largest, the most
notorious and probably the best-documented operation of 1978. The
operation started on 6th February 1978 from the biggest Muslim village
of Sakkipara in Akyab, which sent shock waves over the whole region
within a short time. News of mass arrest of Muslims, male and female,
young and old, torture, rape and killing in Akyab frustrated Muslims in
other towns of North Arakan. In March 1978 the operation reached at
Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Hundreds of Muslim men and women were thrown
into the jail and many of them were being tortured and killed. Muslim
women were raped freely in the detention centers. Terrified by the
ruthlessness of the operation and total uncertainty of their life,
property, honor and dignity, a large number Rohingya Muslims left their
homes to cross the Burma-Bangladesh border.[27] Within 3 months more
than 300,000 Rohingyas took shelter in makeshift camps erected by
Bangladesh Government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) recognized them as genuine refugees and started relief
operations.
On 18 July 1991 a more dreadful Rohingya drive extermination campaign
code named ԓPyi Thaya was launched. This involved killing and raping of
Rohingyas, and destroying their properties, plus places of worship. It
forced Rohingyas again to seek shelter in Bangladesh. In recent years,
while some Rohingyas have returned to Arakan as a result of
Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral agreement, still there are many who are
afraid to return to their ancestral homes.
Due to the divide and rule policy of the Myanmar government, the
relationship between the Rakhine and the Rohingya have become
increasingly strained without any mutual trust. The Rakhines, as a
matter of fact, have become RohingyaԒs worst enemies. With very few
exceptions, the Rakhines want to cleanse the Arakan of the Rohingya.
[28]
Current Status of the Rohingya:
In Myanmar, the Rohingyas have been denied their citizenship, uprooted
from their ancestral homes and forced to live as refugees and illegal
immigrants in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Malaysia and
Thailand. Truly, their plight is worse than those being suffered now by
the Native Americans in the USA, the Mayans in Latin America, and the
Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
There is a systemic program by the ruling Myanmar regime to ethnically
cleanse the Rohingya from their ancestral homeland of North Arakan. They
are altering the demography of the region through extermination and
displacement of the Rohingya population, demolition and confiscation of
Rohingya properties (including Muslim endowed Waqf properties), and
construction of Pagodas and monasteries on the sites of demolished
mosques and Muslim shrines. As if these measures are not enough to
obliterate Muslim identity, new non-Rohingya settlements with Pagodas
and Buddhist monasteries are being built at every nook and corner of the
North Arakan,
The Rohingya Ulema (religious leaders), women and youngsters are often
the targets of harassment from the SPDC troops. Most of the
Rohingya-community leaders are now serving long prison times on false
charges, related to citizenship. [For example, on 29 July, 2005 U Kyaw
Min (alias Mohammad Shamsul Anwarul Hoque) the leader of the National
Democratic Party for Human Rights and Member of the Parliament,
Committee Representing the People֒s Parliament (CRPP) from Buthidaung
Township constituency Number 1 in the Arakan State - was sentenced to 47
years imprisonment on charges related to his nationality. His wife and
three children were also sentenced to 17-years term on the same ground.
Their arrest is in violation of the Articles 1-3, 5, 9, 10, 15-21 of the
Universal Declarations of Human Rights.] Other leaders are forced to
opt for a life of uncertainty as refugees outside.
Riots between Buddhists-Muslims are often engineered that invariably
result in heavy losses to Muslim lives and properties. Anti-Muslim
propaganda is routinely fed in the government-controlled media. As of
February 2003, books and taped speeches, insulting Islam and Muslims,
have become rather common and are being openly sold and distributed.
Of particular concern is the fact that as of 2004, Rohingya villagers
are forced to practice Buddhism and take part in various Buddhist
festivities. They are forced to pay for Buddhist festivals held every so
often. Even Muslim cemeteries are not immune from desecration and
abuses of the government. Buddhist dead bodies are now routinely buried
at Muslim cemeteries, while the Rohingyas are forced to pay funeral
fees.
The North Arakan has been turned into a militarized zone with increased
violations of human rights practiced by the military troops. The
Rohingya people are exploited as forced laborers into building military
establishment, roads, bridges, embankments, pagodas, schools
dispensaries and ponds without earning any wage. Their women and girls
often face rape and sexual harassment from these troops and their
contractors. They are also forced to work for free in the new
settlements. The forced labor situation has become so excruciating that
the Rohingya have been rendered jobless and shelter-less.
In order to extinct the Rohingya, the authorities have imposed undue
restrictions on marriage between Rohingya couples. For example, not a
single marriage contract was allowed in May 2005. Without payment of a
huge sum of money, something that is unaffordable for most poor
Rohingyas, as bribe, the corrupt officials dont allow any marriage to
take place. Even after such payments, thousands of applications for the
permission to get married remain pending in Maugdaw and Buthidaung
Townships.
Rohingyas are restricted from moving outside the Arakan. Even for
movements within the same locality they require clearance from the
authority. Because of such restrictions, they are not permitted to
travel to Rangoon or Myanmar (Burma) proper for serious medical
emergency.
Since promulgation of the new Burma Citizenship Law in 1982, the
Rohingya students are denied their basic rights to education outside the
Arakan. It is important to point out that all professional institutes
are situated outside Arakan. Thus, the Rohingya students are unable to
study there because of such travel prohibition. In recent years, the
Rohingya students are prohibited from even going to Akyab, the capital
of Arakan, to attend Sittwe University for their studies. These
draconian measures barring Rohingyas from attending universities and
professional institutes are marginalizing them as the most illiterate
section within the Myanmar population. They are forced to embrace a very
bleak future for them.
Traditionally, the Rohingya are a farming community that depends on
agricultural produce and breeding of cattle and fowls. Unfortunately,
they are forced to pay heavy taxes on everything they own: cattle, food
grains, agricultural produce, shrimp, tree, and even roof of their
homes. Even for a minor repair of their homes, they are forced to pay
tax. They are required to report birth and death of a livestock to the
authority while paying an arbitrary fee.
Extra-judicial killing and summery executions, humiliating movement
restriction, rape of women, arrest and torture, forced labor, forced
relocation, confiscation of moveable and immoveable properties,
religious sacrileges, etc., are regular occurrences in Arakan.
As a result, severe poverty, unemployment, lack of education and
official discrimination are negatively affecting every Rohingya,
especially its youths and workforces. The future of the community
remains bleak and exodus into Bangladesh has become a recurrent theme.
The new arrivals unfortunately often face arrests and/or ғpushback from
the Bangladesh security forces. These refugees are also blocked from
nominal opportunities of re-settlement in a third country or settlement
within Bangladesh.
There is no international agency to look after the interest of the
stateless Rohingya. Because of their lack of legal identity, they are
not allowed to work or hold work permit by any name. To survive, many
work as illegal workers in Thailand and other places where they and
their children are deprived of basic human rights.
Solution to the problem:
The Rohingya people need help to publicize their plight and their right
to live as a free nation. The Buddhist military regimes that have ruled
Myanmar are brutal, savage and tyrannical. They cannot be either a
guarantor or a protector of human rights of minorities. They will use
and have been using their barbarity against the minority Rohingyas to
justify prolonging their illegitimate ruling in Buddhist-majority
Myanmar. So, the plight of the Rohingyas, regrettably, is not a matter
of concern for many otherwise good-natured Buddhists. Under the
circumstances, the Rohingyas have no way to protect their basic human
rights but to opt for freedom. Freedom is a God-given right of all
humanity and can neither be denied nor snatched away from disadvantaged
groups for either political expediency or diplomatic acrobatics.
The Rohingyas need world body to wake up to the reality of their
sufferings and pains. They need to mobilize world bodies, esp. the UN,
to grant them the same privilege that has been granted to the people in
south Sudan and East Timor. There is no other way to solve this problem
now. Citizens around the globe simply cannot afford to remain silent
spectators to this gruesome tragedy of our time. They must act and help
to solve the problem.
In the meantime, for easing the sufferings of the Rohingya Diaspora community my recommendations are that
ԕ The UN should immediately consider forming a fact finding mission to
investigate violations of human rights against the Rohingya people of
Arakan in Myanmar and take all measures to ease their pains and
sufferings, including putting pressure on the ruling junta to release
political prisoners.
The UNHCR must maintain its support for the material well being of Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
Օ The UNHCR must continue its direct involvement in refugee protection,
ensuring the voluntary nature of refugee returns to Myanmar, and
providing logistical support to repatriation as required.
The Government of Bangladesh must cease all pressure on Rohingya
refugees to repatriate and consider the possibility of providing options
for either local integration, with the financial support of
international donors, or re-settlement in a third country.
Notes:
1. http://www.freerohingyacampaign.com/
2. See, e.g., http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2005-08-10&hidType=OPT&hidRecord=0000000000000000055839
3. The Rohingyas: A Short Account of their History and Culture, Arakan Historical Society (A.H.S), Bangladesh, June 2000. See also: Mohammed Ashraf Alam, Historical Background of Arakan, the SOUVENIR, Arakan Historical Society, Bangladesh, 1999; Moshe Yegar, The Muslims of Burma, A study of Minority groups, Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1972
4. http://www.rohingya.org/summary.htm
5. Mohammed Ashraf Alam, A short historical background of the Arakan people: http://www.rohingyatimes.i-p.com/history/history_maa.html ; M.A. Taher Ba Tha, The Rohingyas and Kamans (in Burmese), Published by United Rohingya National League, Myitkyina (Burma), 1963, P.6 Ֆ 7; Maung Than Lwin, Rakhine Kala or Rohingya, The Mya Wadi Magazine, issue July 1960, PP.72-73; N.M Habibullah, Rohingya Jatir Itihas (History of the Rohingyas), Bangladesh Co-Operative Book Society Ltd., Dhaka, 1995, PP.32-33.
6. R.B. Smart, Burma Gazetteer Akyab District, Vol. A, Rangoon, 1957, P.19.
7. British-Burma Gazetteers of 1879, page 16
8. The essential History of Burma by U Kyi, P.160
9. Op. Cit.
10. Note the similarity of the word Magh with Mog, Gog and Magog ֖ the Mongolian tribes (also known in history as Scythians). Others contend that the name Magh originated from the Magadha dynasty that was Buddhist by faith.
11, Muslim Influence in Arakan and the Muslim Names of Arakanese kings: A Reassessment by Alamgir M. Serajuddin*(From Asiatic Soc. Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. XXXI (I), June 1986.
12, G.E. Harvey, The History of Burma, London (1928), pp. 142-4. [Note also that there are still places in Chittagong that go by the names Arakan Bazar, Feringhi Bazar, etc. showing its Arakan and Portuguese heritage.]
13. During Sher Shahs rule, Chittagong was under his rule. At a later time, it became a zone of contention between Mughal and Arakanese rulers.
14. Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430-1666 A.D.) by Mohammed Ali Chowdhury, Kolkata, Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd., 2004.
15. Alam, op. cit.
16. Mohammad Ashraf Alam, op. cit.
17. Bangladesh District Gazetteers, P.63 (See: http://www.rohingya.org/not_settler.htm)
18. Journal of Burma Research Society (JBRS) No.2. P.493. Historians disagree on whether or not the Arakanese rulers themselves became Muslims. (See: Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430-1666 A.D.) by Mohammed Ali Chowdhury. Kolkata, Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd., 2004; and http://www.rohingyatimes.i-p.com/history/history_maa.html)
19. Serajuddin, op. cit.
20. The Arakanese Maghs treacherously killed Shuja and his family members in 1661. (G.E. Harvey, Outline of Burmese History, Longmans, London (1947), pp. 95-6)
21. Dr. Enamul Haq O Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharad, Arakan Rajshabhay Bangla Shahitya, Calcutta, 1935, PP. 4-
22. D.G.E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia, Third Edition 1968, the Macmillan Press Ltd., London, U.K.; G.E Harvey, Outline Burmese History, Longman, Gree & Co., Ltd., London, 1947; Nurul Islam, The Rohingya Muslims of Arakan: Their Past and Present Political Problems, THE MUSLIM MINORITIES, Proceedings of the Six International Conference of World Assembly of Muslim Youths (WAMY), Vol. I, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1986.
23. The SLORC Publication ‘ Thasana Yongwa HtoonkazepoҒ p.65.
24. http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/BNI2005-03-08.htm
25. Sultan Mahmud, Muslims in Arakan, The Nation, Rangoon, April 12, 1959.
26. ibid.
27. Genocide in Burma against the Muslims of Arakan, Rohingya Patriotic Front (RPF), Arakan (Burma), April 11, 1978, PP.2 4; Dr. Mohammed Yunus, A History of Arakan Past and Present, 1994, PP.158 ֖ 159.
28. Dr. Shwe Lu Maung, Dr. Aye Chan, U Mra Wa, Dr. Khin Maung (NUPA), and Major Tun Kyaw Oo (president of the Amyothar Party) are few of the exceptions that recognize birth rights as well as genuine citizenship of the Rohingya people.. Even Dr. Than Tun, rector of Mandalay University and former professor of history, Rangoon University makes strong recommendations on Rohingyas as ethnic group and bonafide citizen of Arakan. (Ref: http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/BNI2005-03-08.htm)
2. See, e.g., http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2005-08-10&hidType=OPT&hidRecord=0000000000000000055839
3. The Rohingyas: A Short Account of their History and Culture, Arakan Historical Society (A.H.S), Bangladesh, June 2000. See also: Mohammed Ashraf Alam, Historical Background of Arakan, the SOUVENIR, Arakan Historical Society, Bangladesh, 1999; Moshe Yegar, The Muslims of Burma, A study of Minority groups, Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1972
4. http://www.rohingya.org/summary.htm
5. Mohammed Ashraf Alam, A short historical background of the Arakan people: http://www.rohingyatimes.i-p.com/history/history_maa.html ; M.A. Taher Ba Tha, The Rohingyas and Kamans (in Burmese), Published by United Rohingya National League, Myitkyina (Burma), 1963, P.6 Ֆ 7; Maung Than Lwin, Rakhine Kala or Rohingya, The Mya Wadi Magazine, issue July 1960, PP.72-73; N.M Habibullah, Rohingya Jatir Itihas (History of the Rohingyas), Bangladesh Co-Operative Book Society Ltd., Dhaka, 1995, PP.32-33.
6. R.B. Smart, Burma Gazetteer Akyab District, Vol. A, Rangoon, 1957, P.19.
7. British-Burma Gazetteers of 1879, page 16
8. The essential History of Burma by U Kyi, P.160
9. Op. Cit.
10. Note the similarity of the word Magh with Mog, Gog and Magog ֖ the Mongolian tribes (also known in history as Scythians). Others contend that the name Magh originated from the Magadha dynasty that was Buddhist by faith.
11, Muslim Influence in Arakan and the Muslim Names of Arakanese kings: A Reassessment by Alamgir M. Serajuddin*(From Asiatic Soc. Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. XXXI (I), June 1986.
12, G.E. Harvey, The History of Burma, London (1928), pp. 142-4. [Note also that there are still places in Chittagong that go by the names Arakan Bazar, Feringhi Bazar, etc. showing its Arakan and Portuguese heritage.]
13. During Sher Shahs rule, Chittagong was under his rule. At a later time, it became a zone of contention between Mughal and Arakanese rulers.
14. Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430-1666 A.D.) by Mohammed Ali Chowdhury, Kolkata, Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd., 2004.
15. Alam, op. cit.
16. Mohammad Ashraf Alam, op. cit.
17. Bangladesh District Gazetteers, P.63 (See: http://www.rohingya.org/not_settler.htm)
18. Journal of Burma Research Society (JBRS) No.2. P.493. Historians disagree on whether or not the Arakanese rulers themselves became Muslims. (See: Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430-1666 A.D.) by Mohammed Ali Chowdhury. Kolkata, Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd., 2004; and http://www.rohingyatimes.i-p.com/history/history_maa.html)
19. Serajuddin, op. cit.
20. The Arakanese Maghs treacherously killed Shuja and his family members in 1661. (G.E. Harvey, Outline of Burmese History, Longmans, London (1947), pp. 95-6)
21. Dr. Enamul Haq O Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharad, Arakan Rajshabhay Bangla Shahitya, Calcutta, 1935, PP. 4-
22. D.G.E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia, Third Edition 1968, the Macmillan Press Ltd., London, U.K.; G.E Harvey, Outline Burmese History, Longman, Gree & Co., Ltd., London, 1947; Nurul Islam, The Rohingya Muslims of Arakan: Their Past and Present Political Problems, THE MUSLIM MINORITIES, Proceedings of the Six International Conference of World Assembly of Muslim Youths (WAMY), Vol. I, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1986.
23. The SLORC Publication ‘ Thasana Yongwa HtoonkazepoҒ p.65.
24. http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/BNI2005-03-08.htm
25. Sultan Mahmud, Muslims in Arakan, The Nation, Rangoon, April 12, 1959.
26. ibid.
27. Genocide in Burma against the Muslims of Arakan, Rohingya Patriotic Front (RPF), Arakan (Burma), April 11, 1978, PP.2 4; Dr. Mohammed Yunus, A History of Arakan Past and Present, 1994, PP.158 ֖ 159.
28. Dr. Shwe Lu Maung, Dr. Aye Chan, U Mra Wa, Dr. Khin Maung (NUPA), and Major Tun Kyaw Oo (president of the Amyothar Party) are few of the exceptions that recognize birth rights as well as genuine citizenship of the Rohingya people.. Even Dr. Than Tun, rector of Mandalay University and former professor of history, Rangoon University makes strong recommendations on Rohingyas as ethnic group and bonafide citizen of Arakan. (Ref: http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/BNI2005-03-08.htm)
