New Delhi, Apr 10: Indian Muslim organizations and human rights bodies today demonstrated near Myanmar embassy in the capital against the violation of human rights, atrocities and acts of cruelty meted out on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Indian Muslim organisations and civil society under the banner of an umbrella body of Muslim organisations All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) today condemned the Burmese government for its inaction to stop violence against its minority Rohingya population in the Rakhine (Arakan) state.
The demonstration was planned in front of Myanmar Embassy at Chankyapuri Delhi but Delhi police stopped Muslim leaders and protesters at Teen Morti Marg, near Chankyapuri police station. Therefore, protesters were forced to stage the stir in front of Chankyapuri police station near embassy, instead of Myanmar Embassy.
“We wanted to hold a symbolic protest outside Myanmar Embassy, but the Delhi Police have forced us to protest here,” said Dr. Zafrul Islam Khan, president, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and condemned the Delhi Police for not allowing them to demonstrate outside the embassy.
“We want to tell the world that Muslims in India are not silent, they know how Rohingya Muslims are the most oppressed community of the world, their citizenship has been snatched through a law which asks Rohingya Muslims to prove their citizenship since 1832. I have written a letter to Myanmar Ambassador that if that law is applied to all communities in Myanmar, the entire country would be empty, as hardly anyone would prove their citizenship,” said Dr. Khan, who is also Editor of English fortnightly The Milli Gazette.
“Roghinyas are stateless community, they can't get education and job, and even passport, over five lakh Rohingya Muslims are living outside the country. Buddhist monks are leading killer mobs,” he said while addressing the demonstrators.
“The persecution of Rohingyas started way back in the 1960s. In 1982, under a strange “law” they were stripped of their Burmese citizenship unless they proved that their ancestors live in Burma way back in 1832. No such law exists anywhere in the world and most Burmese will lose their citizenship if is applied to all in Burma. Rohingyas have lived in that part of Burma continuously for around a thousand years and have ruled the area for centuries. As a result of this persecution and maintaining curfew-like situation in Rohingya towns and villages, close to a million have been forced to flee to the neighbouring countries especially Bangladesh. The current wave of persecution and ethnic cleansing spearheaded by Buddhist monks started in February last year when murder, destruction and torching of thousands of houses and community facilities and expulsion of Rohingyas from their villages started with the connivance of the Burmese government. An estimated 150,000 Rohingyas have since fled their country taking refuge in Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Malaysia where they are living in pitiful conditions. Many have died while attempting to flee in small boats,” he pointed
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind's all India secretary Mohammad Ahmad said, “we find it highly disappointing that supporters of the on-going democracy process in Myanmar, led by the Nobel Laureate Ang San SuuKyi, have refused to stand for these hapless citizens of Burma.”
Addressing the gathering, SQR Ilyas, General Secretary of Welfare Party of India said Myanmar is becoming a Palestine for Rohingya Muslims. “As Palestinians have been removed from their homes and forced to migrate, Rohingya Muslims are also being uprooted, they are being killed and their homes demolished,” said Dr. Ilyas lamenting over the silence of 52 muslim nations.
National Coordinator of Association for Protection of Civil Rights, Akhlaque Ahmed termed the violence in Myanmar as the worst case of human rights violation. He criticized world bodies of human rights for remaining tight-lipped over the plight of Rohingya Muslims.
He expressed anguish over the silence of Myanmar's democratic activist Aung San Suu Kyi on this issue.
Markazi Jamat-e-Ahle Hadees leader Shees Taimi also condemned and expressed support for suppressed Rohingya Muslim minority. Students Islamic Organisation of India all India secretary Khaliquz Zafar expressed his views and condemned the so called champions of human rights who are silent over the issue.
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