How Arakan mosque symbolising Muslim-Buddhist unity was destroyed to rewrite Myanmar history

The Print

Habiburahman and Sophie Ansel  

3 November, 2019 

Habiburahman is a Rohingya who escaped detention, torture and persecution in Myanmar on a boat. He recounts how the Rohingya identity was erased. 

A camp in Rakhine State in Myanmar | Source: Foreign & Commonwealth Office/Flickr

 I am 13 years old and I live in a world full of anguish. Sinister stories are passed around our community in whispers. Fear has become our daily lot. Soldiers and nationalist extremists continue the ethnic cleansing in Arakan State. Many Rohingya prefer to relinquish their birth names for safety reasons, but this is no guarantee.