With the first flushes of democratisation and the tentative unraveling of Myanmar’s decades of military rule, let’s not kid ourselves, there are still many problems to resolve.
In early June 2012 we were confronted with the lacerations of violence pitting Buddhist Rakhine against Muslim Rohingya. While Myanmar’s old wounds fester – across the gamut of political, economic, social and cultural issues – new incisions have cut to the bone of a brittle body politic, still scarred by generations of hardship and horror. Big questions are raised by the fresh wounds in western Myanmar, where at least 90 people have been killed and around 90,000 displaced in recent spurts of sectarian violence. We want to know how bad the damage has been, whether the prognosis is bleak, and what remedies can be prescribed.
Introducing the violence that erupted only 3 months ago requires sensitivity to the competing interpretations of these events. Today, it is my task to briefly summarise the violence; providing a general framework for our discussions. I will, first, very briefly describe the recent violence in western Myanmar; second, highlight the broader social and demographic situation; third, explain the reception in the media and online; and fourth introduce a brief interpretation of the political and geopolitical ramifications.
First, there is a long history of communal disquiet in westernmost Myanmar. The catalysts for this most recent upsurge of violence are therefore not difficult to find. What is worth emphasising is that the spark in this round appears to have been a relatively simple, criminal matter: a rape and murder, followed by retribution killings. But in a system where the rule of law is notoriously thin, and where sectarian sentiments have been fanned by decades of authoritarian repression, this was sufficient cause for rampages and blood-letting. Accusation and counter-accusation have led Rohingya activists to claim that they are facing genocide.
Second, the Myanmar government is now staring down a humanitarian calamity alongside an awkward domestic and international political standoff that will not be resolved quickly. There are as many as 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, many of whom now fear for their future. Many seek to flee. Around 300,000 Rohingya are already in Bangladesh, and much smaller numbers have gone to Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. There are also some who have made their way to countries like Australia. Nonetheless the majority of Rohingya remain in western Myanmar, in Rakhine State, where their status as residents, let alone citizens, is heavily contested.
Third, the outbreak of violence in western Myanmar was followed by a spike in media and Internet commentary, much of which invoked a narrow range of hateful rhetoric. Under military rule, Myanmar was trundling right past the digital age. One of the outcomes of political reform has been an astonishing proliferation and liberalisation of the Internet. In June and July 2012, chat forums, newspaper comments pages and blogs, in both English and Burmese, were arenas for dueling vitriol. Indeed, one of the issues that has been overlooked in the rush to congratulate Myanmar’s rulers on their democratic footwork is the squabbles, new and old, that are being fertilised by this political system.
Fourth, many analysts wonder what the National League for Democracy and, in particular, its iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi really make of the violence. Aung San Suu Kyi has disappointed some of her allies with her silence. She has, in general, opted to avoid heavy discursive entanglements related to Myanmar’s ethnic issues. Some suggest she appreciates the electoral damage that a mis-step could cause, particularly if it alienated her Buddhist, Burman base. Others wonder whether her sympathy for ethnic minority political interests is more fragile than some had imagined.
Internationally, the violence in western Myanmar has met with mixed reactions. While there has been significant coverage and criticism by human rights advocates and elements of the western media, their outrage has not led to any palpable change in the policies of Western governments. I wonder whether allegations of Islamist sentiments among some Rohingya help to shape the international reception of this violence.
By contrast, in the Islamic world there has been dismay about the treatment of the Rohingya. From Morocco to Mumbai voices have been raised against President Thein Sein and his security forces. Among the Muslim-majority societies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations protests have come thick-and-fast. The Indonesian government has, for instance, postponed some interactions with their Myanmar counterparts, delaying planned investments from Indonesian state-owned enterprises.
To conclude, what you will hear today is that the recent violence in western Myanmar introduces new dynamics into the country’s social, political and geopolitical matrices. I suggest we take stock of these new dynamics to acknowledge that our old analytical and political frameworks do not necessarily help us understand Myanmar in 2012.
This is the edited text of a presentation made at “‘The western gate is broken’: Myanmar’s Rohingya problem”, an event held by the Department of Political and Social Change, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, on 27 September 2012. A podcast of the event is available here. The others speakers were Nick Cheesman, Obaidul Haque and Trevor Wilson.
“By contrast, in the Islamic world there has been dismay about the treatment of the Rohingya.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic world remains silent as Syria wages war against its own people or when mobs in Indonesia attack religious minorities. While I sympathize with the plight of the Rohingya, the Islamic world’s response strikes me as hypocrisy.
Quality comment or not?
7 
2
Nich,
Please let my previous post go. This is a very serious and necessary debate.
Since that post, a young Arakan boy, selling ice lolly on foot by himself has been beaten to death in day light with NO provocation by Rohingya youths in Sittwe.
It is this sort of time it would be truly helpful for people like Tun Khin, Narul Islam or even Chris Lewa , Ben Rogers, Francis Wade to comment whether they feel this boy deserve to be beaten to death because of these horrible talks in the internet by so many unknown typists, or because of the monks or other scores to settle or if they think there must be something different done to stop such hatred and violence to come forth as we all know that nominal Thein Sein government’s reaction would be saying the Rohingya being animals and should be exterminated like vermins again.
All these tragedies are opportunities (sad as it is) as well for people with good intention.
For example, there were boats lost at sea at the time of height of the riots. And there were Burmese navy boats nearby. If there were genuine good will, easiest thing would be to rescue them and treat them well and they, by virtue of not really being animal, will think twice before they bite the feeding finger.
Same goes with current treatment of the majority Rohingya. With current buoyant Arakan nationalism and bullying attitude, the tragedies are likely to snowball especially after the global Muslim community’s attention is once again refocussed.
Quality comment or not?
1 
2
Re-posting. Apologies for being long.
Thanks for the post Nich. Well timed. There has been a perceptible gap of Burma related posts since this affair erupted.
It is also, in the calm of the aftermath, nice to see no mentioning of the usual features by “neutral observers”, indignant of the vitriol of the netizens (again Burmese versions are thousands of time worse than the English ones) and on the ground action of the players, describing the affair as all out Burmese Buddhists trying to banish the whole Islamic communities from the country.
For people growing up in Burma, rumours or genuine news of a Muslim man raping a Burmese girl starting a riot is pretty standard occurrence. Some may be genuine and spontaneous, some may be staged for desired results by people wanting some diversion or benefit out of it . But there is always that availability of this particular trigger all the time. But one must also note that most of the rumours and real events do not lead to any significant violence.
We now still has the scenario of the Taung Koke massacre which is totally out of the usual events. Never in the history of Burma, a mob has pulled down any religious group to kill them all violently. Whether one agrees with Lintner’s assumption or not, it is eerily similar to the event staged by the military on Aung San Suu Kyi’s entourage all those 9 years ago in Daparin.
Spontaneous looking mob, yet well armed with make-shift but efficient weapons, solid organization, choice of ideal location and victims. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have approved. Who were they? None are convicted thus far.
Simultaneously there was truly palpable tension especially in Mandalay concerning the overbearing Chinese influence in social, financial and political scene of Burma with many predicting a very near future violent out burst. That indeed has been, for now, put in the back burner. Taking down the Chinese letter billboards in Mandalay shows that more than a few people were concerned about that then.
It is also significant that you choose to post the “official” number of the casualties which most would believe are wrong and made up number in true military junta tradition just as well as the other numbers you could easily quote from publications of Rohingya advocates.
Specific point of usage of word is also notable. If one looked back the contemporaneous interviews, it seems that the journalist interviewers were very eager to put words into the mouth of the interviewee. A lot of them are still available in the You Tube. ” Would you say it is an ethinc cleansing going on?”, one asked.
Here it must also be noted that Arakanese have historically disliked the Burman ( both Buddhist by the way, and it is the reason) as the latter stole ( It is the usual word used to describe in Burmese but in fact it was robbery) four most important statutes of Buddha and managed to get two lost, one put in an indistinct place inside Burma and one is now second most important Buddhist shrine in Burma- Maha Myat Muni in Mandalay. The reason U Nu cozied up the Rohingya with radio station and all that was because of the Arakanese animosity towards the Burman. But it seems that time has passed.
Again Ne Win’s rabid nationalistic/ xenophobic attitude is not only notable but perhaps felt more than ever now as his ideological successors today are million times more organised and more powerful than he ever was and to top that they also enjoy the international acceptance and recognition of their immoral selves. (As an aside Ne Win was half Chinese like Khin Nyunt, hence more nationalistic, just like Radovan Karadiz, a born Montenegran (even though Serbian parents), Napoleon, a Corsican of Italian descent,and Bavarian Hitler).
The hate-speech in the internet is most felt by the uninitiated out side observers. It may perhaps need to be seen with cultural backgound. Burmese naturally simply talk loose, most they do not mean. Eg. They routinely call their friends “Ma aye pay” meaning “you who gave me your mother” or “Khwe Thadaung zar” meaning “Begging dog” or at the least “Hey Kaung”, a phrase usually one uses to call animals.
It was no doubt objectionable and condemnable. But the international press, academics and organizations got stuck on this particular issue and reacted violently in kind in their own way taking away the chance for cool reflection. This would have inflamed the sentiments among the Muslim world against the Buddhists and Burmese in particular. There has been death and destruction as well as threat to Burmese overseas even today. There were emotional uncalled for generalizations and condemnation by most commentators which is still going on and has been counter-productive except for catharsis on the part of the writer.
Most legitimate brand new news agencies in Burma were following up the nationalistic hyperbole almost comparable to Radio Rwanda at the time of the killings in 1994 following the lead from Facebook misinformation campaign of one of Thein Sein’s staff- a fact people conveniently ignore to point out about their favourite “President”.
If any thing, the military timed this harsh/inhumane crackdown right. After calling bluff of the international community putting up the sanction for that amorphous “Human Rights”, there is no doubt that no one would much as think of a single ill word, let alone retribution for the sake of 800,000 odd inconsequential poor, mostly illiterate peasant Rohingya. That goes in fact for the Muslim countries as well. The Indonesian reaction was a one month postponement of engagement, purely symbolic more akin to waiting for the domestic disquiet to settle rather than any conviction. And of course no one wants the Rohingya people. There are simply arm chair charity cases.
There is a distinct worry of the current rocketing rise of Salafism around the world looking for a uniting cause for all Muslim to champion. That current Anti- Islam You Tube video affair may have done a favour to the Burmese in this matter.
Aung San Suu Kyi really has not done any open public policy decision on any thing to help any of the Burmese citizens in the last year and a half since she had a chance and all she come out again is usual high school essay type musing of no practical value which people scramble to interpret high value and meaning. She did not call for the talk with Muslim community in Rangoon at the time. The misleading picture in the Irrawaddy with her talking to two Muslim men was at a public meeting where those two went to see her and were simply comforted. That’s all. There was no wider policy decision/ discussion or advice. The suggestion that she simply does not want to antagonise the Buddhist voters is pure speculation on people who routinely interpret non-existent significance of her inactions. Even if it is true, that inaction is not worthy of any little leader aspirant.
The timeliness of this post is the article in Mizzima of U Tun Khin.
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/commentary/8115-an-appeal-for-peace-in-rakhine-state.html
For the first time ever publicly, there is a conciliatory and constructive, positive note in his communication. He did not mention usual rhetoric of thousands of bodies piled in the rivers or millions of displaced Rohingya around the world or Burmese government must give compensations to millions who had to flee sort of non-constructive weave. But harks back to his own personal experiences to persuade the reader.
And for the first time he recognises the suffering of the Arakanese. A fact international NGO’s and most journalists has studiously avoided. He also said Rohingya should try to understand the Arakanese, again not something ever recommended by Chris Lewa or Ben Rogers or Zoe Daniels. None mentioned how BOTH sides should try to understand each other. This has been a sore point for the Arakanese on the ground as they do live perpetually in fear of physical violence- real or perceived. Only last week someone’s cut up body photo surfaced in the internet. Violent as it was, most probably it was a robbery but could easily have triggered another round of killings, and would have put more fear in the community. A frightened community for any reason at all is a dangerous one.
Here Tun Khin again suggested talks between and to the LOCAL community leaders of both sides and for the international communities to help them. And to focus on solving community problems together and fight poverty together.It is the most sensible solution put forth by any body. Significant exception was not having anything to do with Thein Sein which was perceived as counter-productive. Quite rightly.
It is indeed totally ridiculous that totally ridiculous and insane demand of rooting out the whole Rohingya community by none other than the “highest” authority of the country, the President, Thein Sein was let pass un-condemned. By the international community. It is symptomatic of the moral bankruptcy of the world run by international conglomerates siding with the insane aggressor ignoring the plight of inconsequential people.
The monks’ demonstration led by Wirathu was most predictable. He has been known to have good relation with some of the regime members like Aung Thaung who ostensibly does not hold any official position now but are truly powerful by virtue of being “IN’ man. Just like Tin Aung Myint Oo.
The Burmese public reaction which caught most of the observers off guard is indeed ironic. The military has its foundation of extreme nationalism and chauvinism. Now they are literally getting away with murder in Kachin, Arakan, Karen land, Shan State, everywhere. Yet there are more and more recognition and accolades as well as material support for them by the international communities. And by the Democracy Poster Girl Aung San Suu Kyi. If this is not the message for the Burmese populace to ape the thugs and be arrogant, nationalistic and aggressive, nothing will be.
Yet it would pay to remember that in spite of the low, low opinion of the “international observers”, majority Burmese traditionally were and are one of the most tolerant people who have lived peacefully side by side with people of other religion and persuasion for millennia.
Whether the international community choose to pamper the chauvinistic regime in changed clothes just because they hold the resource keys or genuine public who are still struggling on the street while their erstwhile leaders hobnob with their own jailers and torturers will have lasting effect not only on this nasty affair which is currently heading to a sticky end, but the future of stable, peaceful Burma.
Quality comment or not?
1 
1
Nich
Again absolute no mention of the West contribution to this quagmire.
Allowing a military government since the 60′s to govern as has had with accelerated period of the last 3 decades of absolute deprivation.
Yahkine state, one of the least economically endowed, is the example of clashes b/t 2 immovable civilizations due to economic desperation as historical examples abound within Myanmar.
Never too late to reverse deprivation.
Will like to see a balance instead of implicating “only Myanmar government well documented short comings”, which everyone here are quick to chime in.
One of the important short coming in ‘developing citizenship/residency status laws’ instead of promoting chauvinism and other acts that have led to this present quagmire.
The radicalization with destruction of historic Buddhist relics are ongoing within Yakhine as well as in Bangladesh.
Merely using HRW conveniently as well as declaring the obvious Rohingyas right do not absolve the West contributions as well as
How long b/f a suicide bomber appear on the pavilion of Shwedagon?
Quality comment or not?
0 
2
The unprecedented demonstration, first time ever against the USA, one of the greatest benefactor to Bangladesh, over a purported insult against Islam must serve as a reminder of the extend of radicalization.
A country known for perpetual victim of repeated natural disasters, diseases, heart wrenching social ills, now poised on becoming a force similar to other areas, dominated by extremists.
Next door to Myanmar, the daily persecution of the Buddhist within is well underway yet only the the Rohingyas plight is mentioned here at New Mandala.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0