In the name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer to
Question
The question: Kindly give us an
overview about the political reality of Myanmar (Burma) and the reasons for the
terrible persecution of Muslims there, as well as the regional and
international stances towards it, with thanks and appreciation.
The Answer: Below is an overview
of what is necessary regarding this issue.
1- The population of
this country is more than 50 million, including around 20% Muslims who are
concentrated in the capital city of Rangoon, the city of Mandalay and the
province of Arakan. 70% of the inhabitants are Buddhists and the rest embrace
Hinduism, Christianity and other religions. Burma, however, recognizes only a
tiny 4% of the Muslims and considers the remaining Muslims as foreigners.
Consequently, it works to expel them and neither grants them the country's
nationality nor does it recognizes any rights for them. Hence,
they are exposed to attacks by Buddhists, with the support of the government
machinery to the extent that they are being killed and forced to emigrate.
2- The historians
mention that Islam entered the country in 788 AD at the time of the Khaleefah
Harun al-Rashid, when the Islamic Khilafah was the leading state in the world
for many centuries. Islam began to spread throughout Burma, when
the Burmese saw its greatness, truth and justice. The Muslims ruled Arakan
province for more than three and half centuries, between 1430 AD and 1784 AD. In
this year, the kuffar got united against the province. Subsequently, the
Buddhists occupied it and wreaked havoc in the province, killing the Muslims
and shedding their blood, particularly their scholars and da’I, besides looting
their resources and destroying the Islamic architectures such as the Masajid and
schools, due to their hatred and fanaticism from their Buddhist ignorance.
3- There existed in the
region colonialist division and competition between Britain and France. The
British occupied and colonized Burma in 1824 AD, whilst the French occupied and
colonialized the neighboring Laos. In 1937, Britain separated its colony Burma from
"the Government of British India". So, it became a separate British
colony to be administered by this government under the
name "the Government of British Burma" and the Arakan province was
made subservient to this government,t under the control of Buddhists.
4- In 1940 during the World
War II, a movement known as the, “thirty militia comrades – the Burma
Independence Army,” was established in this colony. This movement was formed by
thirty people of Burmese nationality, who received their training in Japan and
vowed to expel the British occupiers. They entered their country with Japanese
occupiers in 1941. At that time, Burma was one of the lines of confrontation
between Britain and Japan, until Japan was defeated at the end of World War II
in 1945. Then, Britain once again managed to extend its colonialization of
Burma. In 1942 AD, the Muslims were exposed to massacres at the hands of the
Buddhists, which claimed the lives of around one thousand Muslims and led to
the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of them out of the country. In 1948 AD,
Britain granted Burma formal independence and one year later, i.e. in 1947 AD
Britain held a conference preparing for independence and called on all the
groups and ethnicities in the country to the conference, barring the Muslims.
At the conference, Britain laid down a clause stipulating that rights shall be
given to every group and ethnicity within ten years of the independence.
However, the Burmese government did not implement that and continued
persecuting Muslims.
5- In 1962 AD, a
military coup occurred in Burma under the leadership of the military general,
Ne Win. He established a military council in the name of the State Council for
Restoring Law and Order and ruled the country directly until 1988, with the
Council remaining until 1997 under the control of Ne Win In 1990, elections
were held and the opposition National Democratic Party got a majority of the
seats.
However,
the military government did not recognize the transfer of power until a new
constitution was drafted and continuous meetings have been held since 1993 to
draft a new constitution. In the wake of this coup, the Muslims became
vulnerable to the persecution from the fanatical Buddhist military rule, which
forced more than three thousand Muslims to migrate to Bangladesh. More than
half a million Muslims were expelled from the country in 1978, with more than
forty thousand of them, including elderly, women and children, dying due to the
harsh conditions imposed on them, according to statistics of the refugee aid
agency of the United Nations. In 1988, more than 150 thousand Muslims migrated
abroad and more than half a million Muslims became subjected to migration and
expulsion from the country, in retaliation for their support to the opposition
party, which won a majority of the seats in the Council in 1990 AD. The
government of the country turned to looking at the Muslims as strangers and not
as the inhabitants of the country, depriving their children of education and of
marriage before thirty years of age. It even imposed on them a bar on any
marriage for a period of three years, so as to reduce their number and the
worst practices were implemented against them by the government. in 1989 AD,
the government changed its name from Burma in English, to “Myanmar.” There are
countries which recognized the second name, whilst some other counties
recognize and use only the first name.
6- The military
continued to rule Burma, sometimes directly supported by the English and at
some other times through the British agent India. The system of governance in
Burma/Myanmar has ostensibly been made closer to the communist one, to win
support of Russia and China, thereby drawing a cover over its reality, just as
many regimes in the Arab world draw covers over their loyalty to America or
Britain, thereby trying to establish good relations with the communists, particularly
Russia and China. America had previously protested India's role in supporting
the military regime and its close cooperation with it. France's news agency,
whilst reporting the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's, visit to Burma on
28/5/2012 and concluding a series of the agreements, stated that "India
established good relations with Military Council during the nineties of the
last century, particularly in the area of security
and energy. In 2010, Washington condemned India's silence on the human rights'
violations in Burma. Even Suu Kyi, who completed part of her studies in India,
where her mother is ambassador, expressed her grief at India's support for the
military rule in her country". In November 2007, the news agencies quoted
Washington's appeal to both India and China to stop providing the military
regime in Burma with weapons. The military regime in Burma granted China
military facilities in its ports in the Bay of Bengal and in the Indian Ocean, with
the aim of gaining China's support in view of the US attack on it and also it
is in China's interest to establish a port in Burma, towards the Indian Ocean. India
shares with China a land border of two thousand kilometers, to its north-east,
and India also shares a land border with Burma, to the latter's north-western
side, which used to follow the government of British India. And after Britain's
formal departure from Burma, India became its guardian and so Burma stood under
India's protection and support.
7- America raised public
opinion against the military rule and focused the attention of public opinion
on the leader of the opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, until she was
released in November 2010. Then it increased pressure on the military council and
raised public opinion against it so that the Council dissolves itself and hands
the reign over to the civilians. But Britain along with the government of India
treated the matter shrewdly. They prompted the Council to call for general
elections, applying the methods that they are well-versed in… So the elections
were held in 2010 in which the Solidarity and Development Party won about 80%
of the seats, which is the party of Military. The Military Council dissolved
itself and handed the reigns over to the civilians. These civilians are retired
generals, led by the retired General Thein Sein who took the reigns in March
2011.
8- America is still putting
pressure on the regime in Burma, in order to remove the military regime of
retired generals and bring the opposition leader, demonstrating its full
support to Aung San Suu Kyi and her National Democratic Party. So, they are
publishing future analysis with the possibility of opposing leader winning the
general election of 2015 AD. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, paid a
visit to Burma on 1 December 2011 and announced that her country would appoint
an ambassador for the first time in twenty years and that it would ease
sanctions in line with progress of democratic reforms in Burma. On 01/04/2011 partial
elections were held over 45 seats and the National Democratic Party, headed by
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, won 43 seats. In spite of this, U.S Secretary
of State clarified saying, "it is still early to judge how much progress
has been made in the recent months in Burma and whether it shall continue
to," (as quoted by the French news agency, AFP). In this way the US Secretary
of State wanted to exert pressure on the Burmese regime, making the credibility
of progress in the democratic process doubtful, because the military in their
civil form are the ones who are ruling the country and imposing their control
on the political scene of Burma. Under the constitution drafted by the military
in the nineties of the last century, a quarter of the seats in Parliament can
be appointed by the military, without elections.
Thus, America is not satisfied with the
political situation in Burma, although they have made progress by getting the
opposition leader released, whose party is undertaking political activity. However
they are continuously applying pressure on the regime and apparently
questioning its credibility, seeking to apply more pressure so that they can dislodge
the military, which is loyal to the British government, from power.9- On the other hand,
Britain's position was supportive as its Foreign Minister, William Hague,
positively commented on what is happening in Burma and said, "The UK,
which is regarded as the largest provider of bilateral aid to the people in Burma,
stands ready to support the political process in Burma" (Associated Press
on 3/4/2012). Its Prime Minister, David Cameron, after the elections, visited
Burma
and
is considered the first Western head to visit Burma, since the coup of 1962 AD.
He praised the Burmese regime saying, "Now there is a government which
asserts that it is determined to carry out reformations and has taken certain
measures in this regard and I think this is a
good time to come here and encourage these measures," (according to Associated
France Press). He met with Burmese president, Thein Sein, who said, "we
are delighted at your support on the efforts we are making to promote the
democracy and human rights in Burma." And so, Britain is satisfied with
the political situation in Myanmar, being supported by it.
10- On 3/6/2012, a group
of Buddhists attacked a bus carrying Muslim and killed nine of them. In the
wake of this mishap, events such as killing and burning of houses and expulsion
broke out between Buddhists and Muslims, until it covered several populated
areas of Muslims and tens of thousands of them started to migrate from their
homes. The government of Bangladesh refused to assist those fleeing to its
land, rather it sent them back and closed the borders for them. In the same
season last year, Muslims got exposed to similar attacks and were forced to
flee the country. For decades, every year they are faced with such incidents of
killing, displacement and expulsion from their homes, as well as demolition of
their houses at the hands of spiteful Buddhists by the support of Burmese
regime. The West, led by America, applauds the new regime for releasing the
leader of opposition and for democratization of the country, without paying any
attention to the sufferings faced by the Muslims. The US
Embassy in Burma issued a statement mentioning that the Charge d'Affaires of
the Embassy, Michael Thurston, had met with local Muslim organizations in
Yangon and with the National Development Party in Arakan separately. Thurston said, "The most important thing
now is that all parties should remain calm and that there
is a need for more dialogue which can occur only when there is calm. He further
said, “The Embassy encourages the Government of Myanmar to investigate the
incidents in such a way that it respects the legal process and the rule of law."
(Associated Press of America on 14/6/2012 AD), i.e. America advises the people
who are exposed to killing and expulsion that you have to remain calm and you must
adhere to dialogue and respect the legal procedures. This is
because those who are being killed and made homeless are Muslims. But when the
Buddhist monks marched in the 20/9/2007 AD and were repressed by the military
regime in Burma, America stood up, raised concern and imposed harsh sanctions
on Burma and then other western countries followed suit. This shows that
America is not bothered by the suffering of the Muslims, nor does it pay any
heed to it. Moreover, it is only interested in realizing its interests and
extending its influence and in general this is the position of the whole West,
which is hostile to Islam and Muslims.
11- In summary; the
regime in Burma, which in the past was directly controlled by the generals in
military uniform, and is now being controlled by the retired generals in civilian
dress, is still loyal to the British, who have supported the regime secretly
and openly, directly and indirectly, through their agents in India. Also the
British have supported the Buddhists in the killing and torturing of Muslims,
not only in recent times, but ever since the Islamic rule came to an end in
that country.
In their method of political deceitfulness,
the British have brought the military regime in Burma closer to the communists
from Russia and China, in order to gain their support in case the US launches
an attack against this regime.With regards to the US, it supports the
National Democratic Party led by Aung San Suu Kyi and made her win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Her father
Aung Sang was opposed to the British and was killed in 1947 AD, with the
opposition leader accused of killing him. Her father was considered a champion
of the independence.
In spite of the political tussle between
America and Britain in Burma, they agree to support the Buddhists in torturing
the Muslims, without the West being moved by any alleged humane
feelings, except in some hollow public statements. However, they protest if the
monks are faced with the repression of their protest or get exposed to prison by
any rival Buddhist.
As for China, it supports the regime to
achieve the economic and strategic interests therein without gaining any
political influence in the country.And as for the rulers in the Muslim
countries, they are subservient to America and the West in totality. So they are
completely inactive, even the neighboring Bangladesh does not support its
Muslim brothers, who are exposed to severe persecution and ethnic cleansing for
over hundreds of years. In addition, not only do they not help them but they
also clamp down on those who take refuge in Bangladesh and close the borders
for them. These rulers instead of responding to the command of Allah, وَإِنِ اسْتَنْصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ
فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ
“and if they seek your help in religion, it is your duty to help them” [Surah
Al-Anfaal 8: 72], respond to America and other Western countries and
send troops to other conflict zones, bearing marks of the forces of United
Nations on their heads and shoulders!
Good deeds are not expected from these rulers;
rather they are bent on evil and the security will not return to the Muslims in
that country unless the Khilafah returns under which they took refuge and
sought protection since the rule of Khaleefha Harun al-Rashid and for more than
three and half centuries, because it is only the Khilafah which will provide them
security and will spread the good deeds throughout the world and the Khilafah is,
inshaaAllah, on the horizon.6 Sha'ban 1433 AH26/06/2012 AD