Mizzima
Bangladesh has expressed strong objection to Myanmar’s recent applications to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued on 23 January.
According to the statement, those applications include creating a narrative that calls Rohingya people as “Bengalis” and depicting them as domestic security hazards, hence attempting to legalize the “clearing operations” conducted during 2016-2017 as anti-terrorist acts and the inhumane crime committed against them. This is seen as trying to distract from the crime.
According to the ministry statement, Rohingyas belonged to Burma in 1785. It is a separate tribe that has been developed in the Arakan region for centuries before it became part of it. They lived in Arakan, Old Town, North Oo, Rohaung (Myo-Haung / Mrauk-U / Rohaung), so they called people from Sitta Kaung region and wider Bengal region as “Rohaung/Roshan” region. It is called an exonym that was initially pronounced by an outside name. Lately, Rohingyas in Myanmar have adopted the name “Rohingyas” to identify themselves when they have faced multiple repression.
The Rohingyas have deep historical, cultural and social connections to the Arakan region and today’s Rakhine State. Theirs existence was long before the emergence of borders today and is clearly recorded in historical records, colonial population records and independent research. Attempts to describe Rohingya people who recently gained independence and settled in Arakan region as foreigners or immigrants are inconsistent with historical truths.
The Rohingyas played an important part of Myanmar politics, social and government system until the 1982 national law was enacted. However, the Myanmar government decided to remove them from the state and society based on ethnic and religious bases. Rohingyas continued to vote until the 2015 general election despite planned economic, cultural and political repression aimed at destroying ethnicity. And then they lost their voting rights completely.
Myanmar has continuously refused to give Rohingyas equal citizenship and rights under constitutional law. The plan was to destroy them as a race. As the last step, Rohingyas were expelled from Rakhine State and made homeless.
Rohingyas possess their own ethnic identity, cultural heritage, customs, social practices and language, and are similar to Bangla but are different through the Sattakai Dialogue. “Calling Rohingyas Bengalis” is a denial of the right to self-determination and an act used to legitimize the ethnic cleansing done during 2016-2017, the statement says.
Calling Rohingyas as “Bengali” is part of the systematic movement by Myanmar to deny civil rights and human rights.
Creating a story like this is of the Rohingya crisis. Intending to divert distract from fundamental causes and undermine international efforts to achieve justice, accountability and sustainable solutions. Denial of the right to self-determination is an attempt to destroy the Rohingya people.
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