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Political Transition in Burma/Myanmar: Status of Rohingya Muslim Minority

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Political Transition in Burma/Myanmar: Status of Rohingya Muslim Minority VOLUME 41 NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2017 Political Transition in Burma/Myanmar: Status of Rohingya Muslim Minority Md. Mahbubul Haque Abstract Burma/Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diverse and largest countries of Southeast Asia. Since the early days of independence, Burma failed to establish multi-party democracy and a federal system of government. After the NLD’s landslide victory in 2015, it has introduced major positive changes especially the freedom of expression and association. Burma is currently undergo- ing a political transformation that could see the end of the decade-long conflict. However, the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority are still marginalized from the society and have not been in- cluded in the ongoing peace and democratic development process. This paper explores the political transition in Burma/Myanmar and how Rohingya minority has been excluded from this process. In order to develop as a democratic country, Burma/Myanmar should incorporate all minorities into the political life. The Rohingya minority had strong involvement in the government before and after independence in Burma. Even in the last parliament (2010-2015), three Rohingya MPs were elected from the Muslim dominated constituency in Rakhine State. However, the situation changed for Rohingya and other Muslims after the 2012 Buddhist-Muslim riots. As a result, no political party nominated any Muslim candidate in the last parliamentary elections. Indeed, Aung Sun Suu Kyi and her NLD government failed to take any effective measures to protect them. In this context, democratic transformation will not be complete in Burma/Myanmar without the full participation of Rohingyas and other Muslims in the country’s economic, social and political life. Keywords Political Transition, Rohingya, Muslim, Minority Corresponding Author Md. Mahbubul Haque, Email: [email protected] 22 Political transition in Burma/Myanmar: Status of Rohingyam muslim minority Introduction The status of Rohingya Muslims under the Myanmar state framework was not complicated before the 1982 Citizenship Law. At the time of independence, their separate identity was recognized by Premier U Nu who led the Anti-Fascist Peo- ple’s Freedom League (AFPFL) government (1948-1962). Historical facts and figures suggest that Rohingya Muslims have had a strong involvement in the gov- ernment since the British colonial period and their ethnic minority culture was nurtured by the Rangoon-based central government. Simultaneously, the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority have been confronted by the ethnic Rakhine Bud- dhist religious majority since pre-independence days. Their situation worsened after the military takeover in 1962 leaving them subject to humiliating restrictions and harsh treatment by the State. After the 2012 riots, the situation worsened. Islamophobia is now being used against the existence of Rohingyas in Myanmar. The UN and other international bodies firmly believed that the situation would improve for the Rohingyas after the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a majority win in Myanmar’s first openly con- tested election in 25 years in November 2015. The present constitution forbids her from becoming the president because she has children who are foreign na- tionals. Suu Kyi is widely seen as a de-facto leader in Myanmar. The NLD gov- ernment has introduced major positive changes especially the freedom of expres- sion and association. Myanmar is currently undergoing political transformation that could see the end of the decades of conflict. However, the Rohingya and other ethnic Muslim minorities are still neglected in Myanmar’s political life and Buddhist extremists brand them as Islamist terrorists and a threat to national integrity. This paper argues, field work in Myanmar/Burma and other documentary rec- ords show that the circumstances for Rohingyas are not conducive as yet. In fact, the NLD-led civilian government has no clear position to address this longstand- ing crisis. Uncertainty looms large in Myanmar’s political transformation. The military is still the most powerful institution and meddles in all vital affairs while prolonging civil war and raising false security alarms. The NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi lacks the guts to exercise its power to protect the mi- norities and bring about real peace through negotiated settlements of all ethnic issues, particularly the problems of unprotected Rohingya Muslims. Instead, she is whitewashing the atrocious crimes committed against the Rohingya people by the military and security forces. South Asian Journal of Policy and Governance 23 Methodology This research article focuses on the status of Rohingya Muslims minority during the political transition in Myanmar. The nature of this research demonstrates an intensive review of the Rohingya Muslim’s participation in Burma/Myanmar politics and how they became excluded from the state framework. This research also incorporates the ongoing situation in Myanmar and the difficulties faced by the Rohingyas under the NLD-led democratic regime. During fieldwork, the researcher collected data from the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Yangon, in April and October 2016 and May 2017. The researcher also inter- viewed ruling NLD leaders, 88 Generation leaders and members of Yangon- based civil society, international agencies and then checked with relevant experts on the subject. For security reasons, it was not possible for the researcher to di- rectly collect data from Rakhine (Arakan) State. Key informant interviews are helpful for qualitative research especially people who have in-depth knowledge about what is going on inside the community. The key informant technique is an ethnographic research method, which was original- ly used in the field of cultural anthropology and is now being used more widely in other branches of social science investigation. In this study, the researcher con- ducted ethnographic interviews with different Rohingya political groups based in Yangon including former lawmakers (two former MPs) and senior political lead- ers. All of them originated from Arakan (Rakhine State) and now reside in Yan- gon. The Rohingya leaders were from different professions and had different socio-economic backgrounds. The discussion was focused on the political status of Rohingyas during this democratic transition. Ethnographic interview with non- Rohingya Muslim community leaders were also carried out, including a Kofi Anan Commission member, about their perception on Rohingyas in the Myan- mar political discourse. It was necessary to understand the opinions of others Muslims on the issue of the Rohingyas in Myanmar because it is an ethnically diversified country. Myanmar’s Muslims views and their relations with the State are not uniform. Three non-Rohingya Muslims from different social-economic and professional backgrounds were also interviewed. The researcher got the bulk of the information from the exiled Rohingya leaders. Their valuable information enriched this study. All of them provided data as to how their ethnic identity was excluded in Burma/Myanmar. The researcher also got expert opinion from subject related experts, university teachers, government officials, human rights activists and journalists through the open-ended and un- structured interviews. Two key informants in each professional group were inter- 24 Political transition in Burma/Myanmar: Status of Rohingyam muslim minority viewed. In this stage, researcher tried to get information as to why Rohingyas were excluded from this democratic transition and the role of NLD. In addition, interviews were also conducted with the ruling NLD, 88 Generation leaders and members of Yangon-based civil society. Through the open-ended questions, the researcher explored the attitudes on Rohingya Muslims of the rul- ing party members and Yangon-based civil society. It was necessary to under- stand the viewpoints of mainstream communities on transitional democracy and the situation of Rohingyas in Myanmar. This research is also based on observa- tions of the political and socio-economic situation, which provided unique insights into the whole scenario of Myanmar. The overall research findings provided an overview of the Rohingya Muslims’ political life in Myanmar from the historical context and also explored the policy of exclusion against them. Rohingyas in Myanmar’s/Burma’s mainstream political process The British Burma and independent Burma’s political history suggest that the Muslim-dominated Northern Arakan’s constituency was always dominated by the Rohingya Muslims until the 2010 election. The Rohingya Muslim minority has had a strong presence in mainstream politics since the colonial period. The par- liamentary government (1948-62) had officially declared Rohingyas as one of the indigenous ethnic groups of Burma. The declaration read by the then Prime Min- ister of the Union of Burma, Prime Minister U Nu, said “the people living in Maungdaw and Buthidaung regions are our nationals, brethren. They are called Rohingyas. They are at par in status of nationality with Kachin, Kyah, Karen, Mon, Rakhine and Shan. They are one of the ethnic races of Burma. ” i Many researchers, historians and journalists have elaborately discussed the role of Mus- lims in Myanmar’s/Burma’s electoral process. The former Israeli diplomat Moshe Yegar (1972 and 2002), AFK Jilani (2002), J. A. Berlie (2008) and various rights groups’ documents clearly stated that Rohingya Muslims
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