By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Akola, Maharashtra: Indian Human Rights Association has written to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in an attempt to save the Rohingya Muslims from persecution and asked for immediate intervention along with extending every possible help to them.
In a strongly-worded letter, Ali Raza Khan, President of the NGO and an advocate, said, “In Myanmar, the personnel of the Government of Myanmar and Army, particularly in Rakhine Province which is dominated by Muslims, is being specifically targeted by Army and the mob supported by Army. The innocent and unarmed Muslims are being brutally executed exhibiting Army’s and anti-social elements’ hatred against Muslims. Despite these evident atrocities, not only the state media but also the international news agencies are keeping silent and not broadcasting the brutal killings of the Rohingya Muslims by the hands of Myanmar people who are being given free hand by the government.”
There are about 1 million Rohingya Muslims living in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, and despite living in Rakhine state for generations, Rohingya Muslims are seen by many as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Three years ago, religious and ethnic tensions between Rohingya Muslims and the Rakhine Buddhists (who make up the majority of the population in Mayanmar) escalated into widespread, deadly rioting and since then, the Rohingya Muslims have been facing a series of vicious attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people are refugees across Southeast Asia, and the UN has called them the “most persecuted minority in the world.”
They have been denied citizenship under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law, which effectively renders them stateless.
“The extremists supported by Myanmar Army are doing serious and heinous cruelties against these innocent people and finding new tactics of brutalities each day as no one is there to protect them from their highhandedness. The gravity of these cruelties and brutality meted out to Rohingyas Muslims is such that even the whole of humanity will bow down its head in shame because not even animals are tortured in that way for their faults. However, in this case, innocent people have been tortured and killed for not fault of theirs except for being Muslims. It is very shocking and surprising as to why all the countries are paying no heed to the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and not playing any role to help the innocent Rohingya Muslims, ” Khan added in his statement.
Khan also questioned the lack of action from Aung San Suu Kyi, saying, “It is surprising to see that such atrocities happen in the state under the very nose of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the State Councilor of Myanmar and was conferred with the Noble Peace Prize. It makes no sense if such a personality also chose not to utter any kind of word against the inhuman brutal killings of Muslims in her Nation. Doesn’t the award conferred to her for peace be withdrawn as she is not endeavouring to maintain the peace in her own country?”.
It is important to point out that more than a dozen Nobel laureates criticised Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to uphold the human rights of Rohingya Muslims. In an open letter to the United Nations Security Council last week, 23 global icons, including 13 laureates and 10 global leaders, expressed their disappointment at Aung San Suu Kyi’s failure to ensure Rohingya rights.
“Despite repeated appeals to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi we are frustrated that she has not taken any initiative to ensure full and equal citizenship rights of the Rohingyas. Daw Suu Kyi is the leader and is the one with the primary responsibility to lead, and lead with courage, humanity and compassion,” said the laureates in their open letter.
Speaking with Twocircles.net, Khan said, “Whatever we can do in our capacity, we should do it legally. We can also send letters to our government for raising the issue at a diplomatic level; after all, we are a signatory to the International Convention for Human Rights.” He added that the culprits should be tried for war crimes by the International Criminal Court so that in future no one should try to repeat such inhuman atrocities with any other human being.