Book review: Trauma of 2017 atrocities haunts the Rohingya

The Korea Times

Kang Hyun-kyung

2021-03-21

Rohingya refugees walk at their makeshift camp on the outskirts of Jammu, India, on March 9. Authorities have begun identifying Rohingya Muslims who have taken refuge in Jammu in the past few years. AP-Yonhap

Ronan Lee's 'Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech' traces the roots of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

Ronan Lee's "Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech" is an informative, timely piece that helps readers deepen their understanding of the 2017 ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people and its lingering tragic impact on them.

In his knowledgeable and detailed account, the author explains how and why the Rohingya ethnic group has been subjected to brutal human rights violations and faced forced deportation from their ancestral homeland.

Lee is not shy about revealing that he's an ally of the Rohingya.

Based on historical documentation and other evidence, Lee reveals the fallacies of Myanmar's military rulers' official portrayal of the Rohingya as illegal aliens who deserve to be deported. He views the persecution of the Rohingya as the result of political maneuvering by the military rulers, who tried to divert the general public's attention away from their problematic rise to power through illegitimate means.

"Misnaming the Rohingya as foreign has been used as a tactic to generate domestic political support for anti-Rohingya practices. Myanmar's former military dictatorship and the leaders of the quasi-civilian administration that followed it from 2011 stubbornly used the name 'Bengali" in place of Rohingya and encouraged others to do likewise," his book reads. "Official portrayal of the Rohingya as foreign has had serious consequences for the group, contributing to domestic support for the military's anti-Rohingya actions …"

Contrary to what the military rulers of the Buddhist majority country claimed, he says in an unequivocal tone, the Rohyingya are legitimate citizens of Myanmar and thus the brutal campaign launched in the name of driving illegal residents out cannot be justified.

His rigorous research traces the "accidental" migration of the ancestors of the Rohyingya, from Bangladesh and the Indian subcontinent, to the kingdom of Arakan following a shipwreck. He analyzes the revision of the constitution and citizenship laws that followed after Myanmar's military rulers took power through a coup.

The human rights violations against the Rohyingya grabbed the keen attention of the global news media in 2017 when their villages were burned and women were raped during Myanmar's military operation. An estimated 700,000 people fled the country, mostly on foot to neighboring Bangladesh, creating a refugee crisis.

Burma's military rulers claimed that the crackdown came in response to attacks by Rohyingya militants, but few bought into their justifications for the ethnic cleansing.

The government of Myanmar has drawn international condemnation for the atrocities.

The trauma of the 2017 genocide has haunted the Rohingya following the Feb. 1 military coup, through which General Min Aung Hlaing seized power. Aung San Suu Kyi, and key members of her party, National League for Democracy (NLD), were arrested and deposed.

The military coup came months after Suu Kyi and her party won the general elections held in November and was about to form a government.

Myanmar's return to military rule has terrified some 600,000 Rohingya who still live in the country. Gen. Hlaing is accused of masterminding the 2017 genocide and the ethnic minority group fears that they will be the next target if the military succeeds in cracking down on pro-democracy protestors and solidifies the junta.

Anti-coup protesters prepare against a police crackdown at Taketa township in Yangon, Myanmar on March 20. AP-Yonhap

Persecution of the ethnic minority group steadily intensified after Myanmar's first military coup in 1962, over a decade after the nation was liberated from British colonial rule in 1948, according to Ronan Lee.

Lee characterizes the military rulers as xenophobic Buddhist nationalists.

Their resentment toward the mostly Muslim ethnic minority formed during British colonial rule.

"Myanmar's Buddhist majority were often resentful of their British rulers and of those perceived to have benefitted from British rule," Lee wrote in his book. "In recent times the Rohingya and other Muslim groups in Myanmar have borne the brunt of this bitterness. Animosity was fueled by often valid perceptions that the British administration gave privileges to those of Indian origin, frequently Muslims with darker skin than the country's Buddhists, for plum jobs within the colonial apparatus."

Lee's extensively-researched book is thought-provoking. The timing of its publication ― the book was officially released on Jan. 28, three days before the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar ― has made his work prophetic.

His work argues that recurrent military coups have become conduits for appalling human rights violations in Myanmar as the greedy, brutal leaders try to stay in power at the expense of ethnic minorities.

It is no wonder that dictators are vulnerable to the abuse of power in the face of popular protest and resistance from the public, as we've seen in Myanmar after the Feb. 1 coup. To thwart those challenges and quell the rebellious public, dictators often resort to undemocratic, inhumane tactics, such as censorship, repressing the press or brutal crackdowns on protestors and dissidents. These extreme measures, ironically, reflect the insecurity of dictators.

Myanmar's persecution of the ethnic minority group poses a grave threat to multiculturalism, which has become a norm all across the globe, as transnational migration has been facilitated by trade and many other reasons. Multiculturalism calls for accepting minority groups who are different from the majority in a society. However, in Myanmar, the ethnic minority Rohingya has instead triggered a witch hunt and resulted in tragic atrocities.

Ronan Lee's "Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech" published by I.B. Tauris

"Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech" published by I. B, Tauris effectively narrates the vicious circle of the rise of illegitimate military leaders, their abuses of power and the tragic consequences for the nation.

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