When the entire world is witnessing gruesome genocide of Rohingya Muslims in their land in Rakhine State in Myanmar by the military and Buddhist ultra-nationalist forces, the country’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is busy to misled global public opinion resorting to utter lies.
She branded Rohingyas as ‘terrorists’ in a BBC interview justifying Myanmar military’s ethnic cleansing operation in the state as legitimate fight against terrorists. She has dismissed global media reports on army’s brutalities and exodus of refugees as a ‘huge misinformation campaign’ against her country aims at promoting interest of so-called terrorists.
The question is how Rohingya are terrorists when they are helplessly tortured and forced to leave their country. It is true some young people are trying to fight back now but fight in self-defense is not terrorism. In fact Myanmar military is pursuing state terrorism on a defenseless people to vacate their land.
In the past Burmese government had occupied the Rakhine State from its own dynastic rulers and now they are forcing the Muslim population to leave to make it an entirely Buddhist nationalist land.
In a rare letter to the Security Council on Tuesday the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned violence in Rakhine State may spiral into humanitarian catastrophe calling for action. He also did not miss to warn that the unfolding situation may destabilize the entire region.
It appears that military violence in the region is only growing and may not stop short of achieving the goal – that is to entirely clean it from Muslim population. It is not only a new apartheid system based on religious intolerance and hatred, it is also not acceptable in our time. We may suggest that the UN may weigh in the possibility of deploying peace keeping force in the Rakhine State to protect the remaining number of Muslims before they are totally cleared of.
According to the latest estimates issued by UN workers operating in Cox’s Bazar, arrivals in just 12 days stood at 146,000. This brought to 233,000 the total number of Rohingyas who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since last October
The International Community can’t imagine how a Nobel Laureate in peace will become so brutal, selfish and heartless to disdain of her own respect when it comes to justify killing by her military. They are now torching Rohingya villages, beheading people, raping women and throwing children to fire to force people to leave the country.
Global news media and social networks have been flooded with such terrible tales and images of mutilated bodies and burnt villages. But she dismissed the big humanitarian crisis as an ‘iceberg of huge misinformation’ to befool the world.
Many believe she has compromised her position with Myanmar military to lead the government but in doing so she has abandoned protection to the Muslim minority from being totally exterminated.
When Suu Kyi lived in prison over the years as a democracy leader against the Burmese military Junta, the International Community had raised voice in defense of her cause. But when the global opinion is now calling for her intervention to save the Rohingyas, she is defiant.
The Nobel Peace Award to her seems to have been a wrong choice and when many demand to take it back now that she does not deserve, they are not wrong either.
It appears the statement that Suu Kyi’s office issued after BBC interview, did not even mention of the Rohingya issue and the refugee exodus. Obviously it raises question why the people are abandoning land to become refugees in thousands if the military is not carrying out cleansing operation.
Meanwhile Suu Kyi on Wednesday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the news that he shared Myanmar’s concern about “extremist violence” in Rakhine State has come as a big surprise to the people of Bangladesh. Modi can’t betray Bangladesh. But he vowed Rohingya refugees now over 40,000 in India would be deported.
Suu Kyi has proved unworthy of Nobel Peace Prize for her no feelings for brutal genocide. She was just greedy for power and now she is nothing but a stooge of the armed forces. Have some shame and a sense of dignity.
