Sagar Biswas :
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi though finally broke her silence on the Rohingya refugee crisis Tuesday, her some remarks and observation drew widespread criticism.
In her 30-minute televised speech, Suu Kyi only once referred to the ‘Rohingya’ by name and said that her country was not ‘afraid of international scrutiny’. At the same time she did not denounce the atrocities committed by the military against the Rohingya Muslim minorities. Besides, she claimed her government needed more time to investigate that over 400,000 Rohingyas fled the country to escape violence.
Questions have been raised about Suu Kyis assurance over “taking back of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh”. Several believed that it is nothing but a strategy to ‘passing time.” Not only that the international media have also harshly criticised Suu Kyi for not properly addressing the issue of Rohingyas.
According to history, the Rohingyas are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state thought to number about 1 million people. But Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups in the country. Rather, Myanmar regards them as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in Bangladesh. The New York Times said: “In her address, Suu Kyi, whose official title is State Counselor, said the Myanmar government needed time to find out ‘what the real problems are’ in Rakhine state, despite the fact that the UN, numerous rights groups and the Myanmar government itself have issued reports detailing the causes behind the inter-ethnic bloodshed.”
“But asking why the world did not acknowledge the progress made in her country, she also boasted that Muslims living in the violence-torn area had ample access to health care and radio broadcasts. And she expressed uncertainty about why Muslims might be fleeing the country, even as she sidestepped evidence of widespread abuses by the security forces by saying there had been “allegations and counter-allegations”-the NYT said.
The CNN said: “Much of the speech appeared intended to frame the crisis as a complex internal issue and contrasted the violence-which she depicted as isolated-with the government’s ongoing development agenda, specifically its efforts to deliver ‘peace, stability, harmony, and progress’ to the nation as a whole..”
Analysts said Suu Kyi had made a political calculation that speaking out more strongly on the Rohingya would have cost her support within the country. “She’s no longer a peace campaigner, she’s evolved and transitioned into a full-time politician,” said Azeem Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy and author of ‘The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Hidden Genocide.’
Claiming that most parts of the Suu Kyi’s speech untrue, the BBC said: “In more than 70 years of recorded abuses by the Burmese armed forces, there are almost no records of military officers being disciplined in Rakhine State or in the many other areas where armed conflicts continue inside the country.” “It is hard to see that happening now, with the military insisting all of the more than 400,000 Rohingyas who have fled did so because of their involvement in the attacks by the militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.”
The Voice of America said: “Aung San Suu Kyi has come under strong international criticism for not speaking out more forcefully on the situation. Suu Kyi condemned human rights violations taking place in western Rakhine state, where ongoing violence has led more than 400,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh in recent weeks.”
“But in a highly anticipated national speech from the capital, Naypyitaw, Tuesday, the Nobel Peace laureate refused to assess blame on Myanmar’s security forces, who have been accused of engaging in “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya,” the VOA added.
Expressing surprise, The Los Angeles Times said: “With nearly half of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim population having fled the country in the past three weeks, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the crisis publicly for the first time – and called it a mystery.”
Correspondents of international media who covered the Suu Kyi’s speech reported that ‘outside Yangon’s city hall, many reiterated their belief that Suu Kyi had been portrayed unfairly in international media and that she was standing up for her country’.
Suu Kyi in her speech claimed that no military operation was conducted in Rakhine after September 5. But it was nothing but a blatant lie. BBC’s South East Asia Correspondent Jonathan Head on September 7 in his report said he saw a Muslim village that had just been set on fire, apparently by a group of Rakhine Buddhists.
Criticizing sharply, the Amnesty International instantly said: “Aung San Suu Kyi has demonstrated that she and her government are still burying their heads in the sand over the horrors unfolding in Rakhine State. At times, her speech amounted to little more than a mix of untruths and victim blaming.
“There is overwhelming evidence that security forces are engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing through murder and forced displacement. While it was positive to hear Aung San Suu Kyi condemn human rights violations in Rakhine state, she is still silent about the role of the security forces in this,” the AI statement added.
