8/3/2019 Muslims in Burma by Nurul Islm Uk
1/3
MUSLIMS IN BURMA
Burma is a resource-rich and diverse Southeast Asian nation. It
shares borders withChina, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. It
is home to numerous ethnic groups. Burmaofficial information shows
that 4 percent population practices Islam, but independent
scholarlyresearchers place the Muslim population at between 6 and
10 percent1 while Muslim leaders
estimate that approximately 20 percent of the population is
Muslim.2Burmas statistics are notreliable, and many millions of
Arakan Muslims or Rohingya are not included in these
statistics.3
Sometimes, Muslims themselves prefer to hide their religious
affiliation to circumventdisapproval. However, Muslim population
can be estimated to be 12-15 percent of the Burmaspopulation of 55
million.
Islam reached Burma through Muslim seamen as early as eight
century. Since 8 th
century Islam spread and deeply rooted in Arakan from where it
spread into interior Burma.4Insubsequent centuries, Arab, Persian
and Indian Muslim traders settled in coastal trading towns.Muslims
also served as mercenaries and administrators to Burmese
kings...Beginning thesixteenth century, Burmese kings settled
Muslim prisoners, refugees and soldiers in centralBurma. Chinese
Muslims, referred to as Panthay, arrived in Burma as early as
thirteenth century,and greatest numbers in the late nineteenth
century following the Ching governments crushingof the Islamic
sultanate in Yunnan.5The heyday of Arakan began with the influence
and spread
of Muslim civilization when Arakan was virtually ruled by
Muslims from 1430 to 1531.6
.Generally, the current Muslim population of Burma are
descendants of Arabs, Persians, Turks,Moors, Indian-Muslims,
Sheikhs, Pakistanis, Pathans, Bengalis, Chinese Muslims and
Malayswho settled and intermarried with local Burmese and many
Burmas ethnic groups such asRakhine, Shan, Karen, Mon etc.7
Muslims in Burma are dispersed geographically and are highly
diverse in ethnicity:--Rohingya in Arakan, Panthay or Chinese
Muslims in north-eastern Burma, Malay speaking Pashuin Kaw-thaung
in southern Tenansarin, and Bama Muslim or Burmese Muslims
(sometimescalled Pathi) mainly in cites with some pockets in lower
and central Burma. North Arakan, theTraditional Homeland of the
Rohingya, is the largest Muslim concentration. The
Rohingyaspopulation is estimated to be more than 3 million,
including those in Diasporas or overseas thatnumber about 1.5
million.
Burmese regime policy towards Muslims
Like State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the ruling
quasi-military regime ispursuing a subtle strategy of
de-Muslimization, Burmanisation and Buddhist-isation. Itpractices
policies of intolerance, bigotry and hostility towards non-Buddhist
people, particularlytowards Muslims. The regime wants Burman
Buddhism to dominate. They want all people to beBuddhist.8 Burma
has been ranked as one of the worlds worst violators of religious
freedom, aCountry of Particular Concern by the US State Department
every year since 1999.
Generally all groups of Muslims in Burma have become third class
inhabitants. They arenot considered to be citizens and are not
accepted for government services, particularly inmilitary service.
National Registration Cards (NRCs) are no longer issued to them.
They havedifficulty obtaining birth certificates and acquiring
permission to build new or repair existingmosques, although many
historic mosques are standing in ruin across the country. Lots
of
1 US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report,
20092 US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report,
20063 J.A. Berlie, The Burmanization of Myanmars Muslim, White
Lotus Co., Ltd,G.P.O. Box 1141, Bangkok 10501, Thailand, p.1.41.
Sasana Ronwa Htunzephoin Burmese , official publication of the
militarygovernment, SLORC about the religions in Burma, 1997,5
Voice of Islam in Southeast Asia, compiled by edited by Greg Fealy
and VirginiaHooker,Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore,
2006, pp.23-24.6 The Coming of Muslims to Burma, 1700AD, A paper
presented by ColonelBashin, Chairman of the Burma Historical
Commission, at a Seminar held in AzadBhavan, New Delhi, in 1961,
p.4.7 The Muslims of Burma, A Study of a Minority Group, by Moshe
Yegar, 1972,
Otto Harrzssowitz Wiesbaden, pp.31-32.8 Christian Solidarity
Worldwide: Briefing Burma: Visit to Kachin State, Burma, 25August-1
September 2006, p.5.
1
8/3/2019 Muslims in Burma by Nurul Islm Uk
2/3
mosques, religious sites and schools were desecrated,
demolished, closed down mostly. Theancient Sandi Kahn mosque of
historical importance in Arakan and was razed to the
ground.Publication and distribution of holy Quran and other
religious texts are restricted. Historically,Muslims have often
been the targets of communal violence, and many live a tenuous
existence,especially under the military government that has ruled
since 1962.9
Rohingya problem
The Rohingya problem is a problem ofreligious, ethnic and
political persecutionto ridArakan of the Muslim population. The
Rohingya are one of the most persecuted and forgottenpeoples on
earth.10 The regime has rendered them stateless while subjecting
them tosystematic, consistent and widespread human rights
violations, which amount to crimesagainst humanity, and are similar
to the abuses discussed by the United Nations. They includedenial
of citizenship rights, severe restrictions on freedom of movement,
education, marriageand religion, land confiscation, destruction of
settlements, expulsion, extrajudicial killings, rape,torture,
disappearance, arbitrary arrests, relentless taxation, food
insecurity, forced labour andextortion. They have become landless
and jobless, with illiteracy rate running near 90% andmalnutrition
rate 60%. These systematic criminal measures indicate the regimes
intention towipe out this Muslim minority from Burma. Thus
Rohingyas are listed as one of the ten worldspopulations in most
danger of extinction.11 It is an attempted genocide.
Bangladesh is the first country of asylum for most Rohingya
refugees. There were massexoduses to Bangladesh in 1978 and again
in 1991-92. Each time, international pressurepersuaded Burma to
accept them back and repatriation followed, often under coercion.
But theoutflow still continues, despite intimidation, arrest and
pushback by the Bangladeshi securityforces. There are about 28,000
official refugees resisting repatriation while more than
200,000undocumented refugees are languishing in villages of
southern Chittagong. In addition, largenumbers of refugees or
forced migrants are living in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Thailand;
butthe host countries seldom arrested and sent them back to
Bangladesh, Burma or borderingcountries, where they were at
risk.
In early 2009, the tale of horror by Rohingya refugees escaping
poverty and repressionin Burma and Bangladesh had again highlighted
their suffering particularly at the hands of theBurmese regime. But
they found their reception, especially in Thailand, equally
inhumane, asmore than a thousand were pushed back out to sea with
little food and water, and no engines;they were effectively set
adrift to die. Many of them ended up in India and Indonesia where
theywere treated with some dignity. There were many such
occurrences. Nevertheless, they arerefugees with well-founded fear
of persecution and deserve international protection..
The Rohingyas are on the horns of dilemma. The regime and
Rakhine Buddhists ofArakan reject the existence of Rohingya as an
ethnic group in Burma. They are lying thatRohingyas are not the
products of Arakan. They accuse them of illegal immigrants, British
timesettlers ignoring their bona fide historical roots in the
region. These campaigns of vilificationhave currently become
vigorous. This unjust view has influenced the Burmese
democracymovement greatly. No Rohingya political organization has
been admitted into any of thenumerous Burmese alliances. Mr. Tomas
Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the Situation ofHuman Rights
in Burma stated, Despite being in this region for generations, this
population isstateless. This population is not recognized by the
Government as one of he ethnic groups ofthe Union of Myanmar and is
subject to discriminationit should be granted all other
privileges,including the citizenship, which recognized ethnic
groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the
Union.12
Burma should guarantee human rights and freedom, including total
religious freedom,to all Muslims. Muslims should not be made
scapegoats. They should be treated justly onequal terms. The
Rohingya problem, having political and humanitarian aspects, is
essentiallya regional problem with international perspective that
calls for a permanent solution. TheRohingya should be allowed to
coexist as equals in Arakan. Their citizenship and ethnic rightsare
to be guaranteed, and their rights and privileges are to be
ensured, on par with othernational groups of the Union of Burma.
Meanwhile, all political and democratic process in
9 J.A. Berlie, The Burmanization of Myanmars Muslim, White Lotus
Co., Ltd,G.P.O. Box 1141, Bangkok 10501, Thailand, p.23.10 Mike
Thompson, Burmas Forgotten Rohingya, BBC News, Saturday, 11 March
2006,00:26 GMT11
The Statement of MSF dated 26th
November 2006.12 Statement of Special Rapporteur on the
Situation of Human Rights in Burma atthe 10th session of the Human
Rights Council in March 2009.
2
