Burmanization of Myanmar’s Muslims (2008) by Jean. A. Berlie (ISBN 9789744801265). This is a timely publication, given the focus of this year’s ANU Burma Update on education in Burma. After a survey of the history of Burma’s diverse Muslim minorities, Berlie analyses the state of Islamic education under the Burmese government’s policy of “Burmanization” - a socio-political strategy aimed at the assimilation of ethnic and religious minorities of Myanmar. The government promotes national identity through an emphasis on “one dominant ethnic group (Burman), one united country (Myanmar) and one religion (Buddhism).” Muslims and other religious minorities are not protected by the state. This book includes short biographical notes on prominent Muslim leaders in Burma and lists of known mosques throughout the country. A fascinating introduction to one of the lesser known groups in Southeast Asia, and well worth reading, especially in order to compare with the situation - and the similar feelings of disenfranchisement - in Thailand’s Muslim south.
[This post is provided by the National Library of Australia as part of our Book Zone feature.. For further information on the featured publications contact Anya Dettman at adettman@nla.gov.au]
3 responses so far ↓
1 Lleij Samuel Schwartz // Dec 7, 2007 at 12:45 am
This book sounds interesting and I look forward to reading it. It would also be interesting to compare this situation to the Islamization of Malay world. Back to the library for me!
2 Abid Bahar, Ph. D. // Mar 25, 2008 at 7:56 pm
It is not easy to be a Muslim in Burma.
This is despite the fact that Muslims settled in Burma before the establishment of the first Burman empire that was by Anawrahta in 1044 A.D. It is hard to understand the meaning of being indigenous in Burma.
In the end it is all about racism and Theraveda Buddhist fundamentalism that also caused genocide in Cambodia, ethnic unrest in Sri Lanka, and Thailand. As opposed to the Mohaiyana Buddhism, Theraveda Buddhism is a fundamentalist branch of Buddhism. Make no mistake, Buddhism here helps in the persecution of minorities. See the link, monks destroying Mosques.
http://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2007/12/15/photos-of-anti-muslim-riots-in-bagopegu/
3 Abid Bahar, Ph. D. // Mar 25, 2008 at 8:00 pm
This is about the Rohingya Muslims of Burma
A Short Review of Aye Kyaw’s “The Burma we love” and “The Rohginya and the Rakhaing”
by Abid Bahar
Aye Kyaw’s “The Burma we love” and The Rohginya and the Rakhaing are two maliciously written papers with a chauvinistic tenor, written against Burmese minority peoples who are neither mongoloid by race nor Buddhist by religion. The lines in his paper are as if taken directly from Hitler’s Mein kampf. Aye Kyaw is trying to develop a victim complex among his Burmese Rakhine hoodlums against Rohingyas, says about the Rakhines, “they lost their religion-Buddhism, that they preserved and promoted for many many centuries; and, more importantly they lost their race that they love and respected for many many centuries.”(1) Here, in this work he seems to be addressing/ inciting people that Rakhine Burmese“…lost their race”i. e. the “purity of their race”due to the presence of other races among the Rakhines; justifying the reasons to his followers for committing crimes against humanity through encouraging genocide and producing refugees so as to create room for his kind.
Aye Kyaw presenting himself as a historian says: “Rakhaing have been enjoying their life since the beginning of their history with King Marayu in B.C 3325. In ancient time Rakhaingland comprised the area of present Bangladesh and the area west of the Rkhaing Roma (Arakan Mountain Range). In 1853 the Governor of Pathein annexed the southern portion of Thandwe District. By 1935 Burma Act, the Paletwa Township was given to the Chin Division. These areas had been in the Rakhaing Kingdom for more than two thousand years. We ask whether or not these areas would be in the newly created Rakhaing State under the new Federal Constitution?”(2) Aye Kyaw writes so inconsistently, but while promoting racism, ironically he boldly mentions his educational background. This is an oxymoron of a smart –flat mentality.
Aye Kyaw confesses about his collaboration with the military junta to declare the Rohingya and some non Buddhist minorities as the noncitizens of Burma. He says, “Present at that meeting in his office was U Kyaw Nyein who later became Misnister of Education. I submitted my proposal that those people who appeared in the Inquest (census) of King Bodawpaya taken in the 1880s ought to be regarded as ethnic minorities. Through the discussion, we agreed that those people who were in Burma before the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826 should be regarded as ethnic minorities. Those people who came along with the British colonial administration were regarded as non-ethnic minorities.”(3) Clearly, he demonstrated the Burma he loves is a nondemocratic, uniracial and military ruled xenophobic Burma.
It is not difficult to understand who will benefit from this type of xenophobic propaganda. I am also surprised seeing this xenophobic person’s writing style. Firstly, while he pretends himself as a scholar/ authority, he however, doesn’t care to cite any source for his information about history. He says:“… the Rohingyas are a new creation, which is not found in the Arakanese chronicles and in the British records as well. Their primary objective is to establish a State. On the other hand, The Rakhaing lost their land that they owned for many many centuries; they lost their religion-Buddhism, that they preserved and promoted for many many centuries; and, more importantly they lost their race that they love and respected for many many centuries.”(4) Whereas Francis Buchanan found some people of Burma identifying themselves as Rohingyas before the British occupied Burma. (5)
Is Aye Kyaw a historian? Surely it doesn’t demonstrate in his works! On the contrary, the paper shows he could only be a popular proto-historian of contemporary Arakan. If I am right, here he seems to be addressing not an educated audience but his ultra-nationalist Arakanese-Burmese exclusive club, the ANC. The ultra-nationalists are also the believers of Arakan’s independence and are against the Burman rule in Arakan. To them both the Burmans (Burmese military) and the Rohingyas (the“Kulas”) are enemies.(6)
Aye Kyaw’s spurious expressions can be forgiven for the reasons that his first language is not English. But what unwarrantable is his chauvinism; and here ofcourse, his ideas are to deny Burmese people’s birth rights. Surely, it derives from his impulsive mind-set of hating Burmese people of other races of mankind for the Burma he loves is clearly a racist Burma.
Surprisingly, these half baked and prejudiced papers are now put on the net for distribution. The xenophobic Arakanese websites and yahoo groups feed these ideas to ordinary Arakani citizens creating more obstacles to democratic development in Burma. The pumped up and prejudiced Aye Kyaw’s xenophobic thinking shows he has strayed away from the classical Arakanese Buddhist tradition of compassion and his expression in these papers further show him the disappointing medieval Mogh pirate that still lives in this fake Buddhist heart.
Endnotes
(1 ) Aye Kyaw,”THE BURMA WE LOVE” A Position Paper of the Arakanese Perspective Presented at the Oslo Burma Seminar on January15-17, 2004 http://www.arakanland.com/index_4.html
(2) (This paper was written in response to a conference on the Rohigya and the democratic movement of Myanmar, July 16, 2007 held in Tokyo. } Original Message from AYE KYAW to kunyia@freerohingyacampaign.org ; wao-global@yahoogroups.com, wao-global-team@yahoogroups.com, Thursday, August 09, 2007.
(3) Ibid
(4) Aye Kyaw,”THE BURMA WE LOVE”
(5) Francis Buchanan, “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire.” in SOAS Bullitin of Burma Research 1.1 (Spring 2003), 40-57; Also “Francis Buchanon” in South East Bengal (1798) His journey to Chittagong, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Noakhali and Comilla, Edited by Willem van Schendel, (Dhaka: University Press Ltd. 1992.)
(6) In the Arakan poll taken by these ultra-nationalists Who is serious Arakanese antagonist?
http://www.arakanland.com/index_4.html
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