“How much blood we have to give to have peace in our life?”
Rohingya Imam
Today is the second anniversary of “Rohingya Genocide Day”. The day takes back to the event where 700,000 Rohingyas were forced to flee cause of Myanmar’s genocidal campaign in 2017. In a world where so many borders are closed the people and Government of Bangladesh have opened their borders and received Rohingyas after such dreadful event.
The day commenced with a rally where refugees have protested and urged the Myanmar government for full citizenship. The police chief in Cox’s Bazar A.B.M. Masud Hossain said, at least 50,000 refugees protested peacefully for hours in the camps. “We alerted all, including the aid agency officials, but the situation was under control and peaceful,” he said after the rally ended.
At the Kutupalong refugee camp, some carried placards and banners stating “Never again! Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day” and “Restore our citizenship.”
Following the rally, the Rohingyas raised their hands during a prayer session and cried, as an imam led the sermon with an emotional narration of their sufferings. The prayer was held for the victims of the killings, rape and arson attacks by Myanmar military.
Holding the microphone the Imam announced, “Oh Allah, how much blood we have to give to have peace in our life? We have been shedding our blood for decades and now we are here. Please help us, we want to go back.”
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) in its press statement said, “Today we remember the genocide that continues to be perpetrated against our innocent people. These crimes never happen overnight. The Rohingya genocide is the last step in the continuity of persecution and a deliberate campaign of terror, violence, killings and rape waged against our people that began decades ago.”
” Today we remember and honour all those who were killed as heroes and martyrs. We will remember them forever. We also salute our female survivors of violence, for their courageous efforts to survive, even as refugee widows and orphans. The carnage is more than a tragedy. The extent of barbarity or methods employed in Arakan against our people surpassed everything else that took place in Burma/Myanmar. That will not and cannot be forgotten,” said ARNO chairman Nurul Islam.
Muhib Ullah one of the organizers of the rally in the refugee camp said,” Myanmar is our country. We are Rohingya. We want to tell the world that we want our rights back, we want citizenship, we want our homes and land back.” At the end of the day, the refugees have insisted on receiving Myanmar citizenship and other rights that the Buddhist-majority country has refused to grant them.
Apparently, Shalbagan camp (camp 26) and Jadimura refugee camp (camp 27) were not able to be a part of the celebration due to an ongoing unreset.
