Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya ethnic group is a deeply distressing injustice. A Muslim minority in a majority Buddhist country, they are perceived as ‘illegal immigrants from Bangladesh’ by the government, and continue to face discriminatory policies despite International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings.
Prevented from voting and completely stripped of citizenship, they are denied the right to exist in a land that has been their home since the 15th century, when thousands of Muslims migrated to what was then the Arakan Kingdom. In 2017, the situation reached a brutal crescendo, when a military crackdown destroyed Rohingya communities and prompted a refugee crisis of unprecedented proportions. Intervention is needed to avert further misery.
India’s option in Myanmar post-military takeover: Primacy of strategic interests February 5, 2021, 3:22 PM IST
S D Pradhan has served as chairman of India s Joint Intelligence Committee. He has also been the country s deputy national security adviser. He was chairman of the Task Force on Intelligence Mechanism (2008-2010), which was constituted to review the functioning of the intelligence agencies. He has taught at the departments of defence studies and history at the Punjabi University, Patiala. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Illinois, US, in the department of arms control and disarmament studies. The ministry of defence had utilized his services for the preparation of official accounts of the 1971 war and the counterinsurgency operations in the northeast. In the JIC/National Security Council secretariat, he was closely involved with the preparation of the reports of the Kargil Review Committee and the Group of Ministers on national secu
The United States officially still calls the country Burma.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State thought to number about one million people at the beginning of 2017. Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country. According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment.
Timeline
1824-1886 – Burma becomes part of British India after fighting three wars with Great Britain over 62 years.
January 1947 – After negotiating with the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL), Great Britain agrees to give Burma its independence.
Myanmar Fast Facts
About Myanmar
Area: 676,578 sq km (slightly smaller than Texas)
Population: 57,069,099 (July 2021 est.)
Median age: 29.2 years
Capital: Naypyidaw
Ethnic Groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
Religion: Buddhist 87.9%, Christian 6.2%, Muslim 4.3%, Animist 0.8%, Hindu 0.5%, Other 0.2%, None 0.1% (2014 est.)
Unemployment: 4% (2017 est.)
The United States officially still calls the country Burma.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State thought to number about one million people at the beginning of 2017. Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country. According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment.
Bangladesh has condemned the military coup in Myanmar but Sheikh Hasina-led country has urged that process of repatriation of Rohingya refugees to continue