The Stateless Rohingya Blog

The radical Buddhist Monk Ashin Wirathu of Myanmar By Daya Gamage  Asian Tribune News Analysis September 27, 2014 Washington, D.C. While the United States Department of State is deeply concerned about public discourse of a section of Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka of its radicalism toward the Muslim minorities, and official pronouncement by the American Embassy in Colombo about the radical Buddhist organization called the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS- Buddhist Power Force) accusing it of instrumental in attacking Muslim places of worship and business institutions, it will be an added concern for the US officials here in Washington when they learn the arrival of a radical Buddhist monk from Myanmar to attend a BBS-organized even in Sri Lanka on September 28. It has been reported that the radical and outspoken Buddhist monk from Myanmar Ashin Wirathu iis expected to attend the BBS Great Sangha Council meeting on 28. Time magazine, with venerable Ashin Wirathu on their...

By Zin Linn Asian Tribune July 13, 2014 Burma’s media realm has been shocked as Pakokku district court in Magwe Division on Thursday (July 10) sentenced the chief executive officer of a weekly news journal and four of its reporters to 10 years in prison with hard labor for publishing a report that covered a huge mysterious government complex – established in Pauk Township, Magwe Division in Burma - was designed to produce chemical weapons. The five journalists - Yazar Soe, Sithu Soe, Lu Maw Naing, and Paing Thet Kyaw, and chief executive officer Tint San – working at the Unity weekly news journal were sentenced ten-year jail term by Judge U Maung Maung Htay of Pakokku District Court, according to the domestic media reports. They were arrested in February and put on trial under Burma's 1923 State Secrets Act, which forbids anyone from entering a prohibited place for any reason “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state,” reports said. Such an unbeli...

Dr. Habib Siddiqui January 20, 2014 At the Milwaukee International Conference last year it was noted with great concern that what was going on in the Arakan State was nothing short of genocide. The current events in Myanmar again confirm our fear. In a recently published article, journalist Dr. Ismail Salami of Press TV demonstrated how the 8-stages of genocide, first coined by Dr. Greg Stanton, are in play when it comes to the Rohingya people. He writes [extra phrases or sentences within the parentheses are mine]: 1) Classification: People are classified into “us” and “other”, the first stage towards sociocide and colonization. In Myanmar, Muslims are seen as the ‘other’ and therefore inferior. 2) Symbolizations: People are given names or symbols in order that others may tell them apart. This stage is not, per se, dangerous unless it turns into dehumanization. [The Rohingya people are called ‘Kala’ people, or Chittagonians or Bengalis - to symbolize that they are ...

By Zin Linn  Asian Tribune October 22, 2013 Burma or Myanmar has received a new great reward on 10 October for its over-the-top political changes, taking the wheel of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) even with critics’ warnings that the step was hasty. A long time ago, friendless rogue was properly granted the rotating chair of the ASEAN routinely for 2014. It won the seat at the end of the group's summit in Bandar Seri Bagawan, Brunei. When Burma/Myanmar became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian nations in 1997, many countries criticized ASEAN leaders because of its questionable human rights records. Myanmar has suffered under military’s ruthless ruling since 1962. The regime has earned a reputation as one of the world's worst human rights violators. It brutally suppressed pro-democracy movements in 1988, during the Depayin conspiracy on May 30, 2003, and the Saffron Revolution in September 2007, as well as many other sporadic ...

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui Asian Tribune  September 29, 2013 The U.S. Congressional panel recently had a hearing to examine the current political environment inside Burma (Myanmar), the growing human right abuses among its ethnic groups, and assess U.S. policy towards the country. Amongst other dignitaries Professor Wakar Uddin of the Arakan Rohingya Union was invited to answer a series of questions on the above subject. Hearings of this kind do show that the U.S. Congress is mindful of Myanmar and is interested to better the situation for all inside the country. I welcome such an initiative. In my opinion, the changes that have happened in the state of Myanmar in the last couple of years are mostly cosmetic and not genuine. I wish I could have sounded more optimistic. But I can’t and I shall share why I feel this way. 1.On the positive side, hundreds of political prisoners have been released from the prisons where once they had been rotting for years. A notable examp...

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui Asian Tribune  September 08, 2013   Most news reports coming from Myanmar are bad, often atrocious and painful to read or watch in video. But once in a while some good news reports are also showing up in the media these days. Thanks to the world-wide condemnation of one-sided, anti-Muslim justice in this Buddhist country that has seen unfathomed savagery and crime by the Buddhist mobs, often aided and led by Buddhist monks, security forces and political leaders, in recent days, the Myanmar government has put some criminal elements within its Buddhist community behind the bar. They have been found guilty for crimes that have resulted in internal displacement of some 140,000 Rohingya Muslims inside the Arakan (Rakhine) state, and tens of thousands of other Muslims in other parts of Myanmar, let alone wholesale destruction of Muslim-owned properties, including mosques, schools, orphanages, and hostels. Nothing was spared by the racist sav...

Washington, D.C. 10 February (Asiantribune.com):  The new US Secretary of State John Kerry will make no changes to US policy on Burma, the State Department said, adding that Kerry met with a group of Burmese women leaders on Wednesday, February 7 while one of his assistant secretaries is due to visit Burma next week. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday met with a group of Burmese women leaders who are visiting the US “Yes,” said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, when asked if Kerry is likely to continue with the US’ Burma policy that was started under his predecessor Hillary Clinton. Earlier on Wednesday, Kerry met with four Burmese women activists who are visiting the US as part of a program supported by Goldman Sachs and The McCain Institute. The group included two members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Khin Than New and Zin Mar Aung. The latter is on the party’s women’s affairs committee. “I think he was very moved ...