- Stars (0)
Addressing the Rohingya Problem
Nehginpao Kipgen — University of Hyderabad, India.
The simmering tension between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Western Myanmar escalated into a violent conflict in 2012, first in June and again in October. The violence led to the loss of over a hundred lives, destruction of thousands of homes, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people. The Myanmar government intervened to end the bloodshed but tension continues to linger. This article argues that, instead of alienating the Rohingyas politically, consociational democracy should be pursued to address the problem. The support and cooperation of both Buddhists and Muslims, and perhaps assistance from a neutral organization like the United Nations, would help achieve a political solution.
Since the country’s independence, Myanmar has been plagued by ethno-religious tensions and armed conflicts. While the majority of conflicts have been between the central government and ethnic minorities on the question of autonomy, inter and intra tensions also exist within ethnic minorities. One among them is the simmering tension between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state in the western part of the country. In recent years, the international community has shown great interest in the Rohingya problem, especially in the aftermath of the violence in June and October 2012. While scores of writers in international media have focused on the subjectivity of the conflict, there are others pondering what could be done to achieve long term solutions to the inherent problem. Myanmar has myriad problems, but what makes the Rohingya issue unique and why has it caught the attention of the wider international community? Is it because the Rohingya Muslims are a less fortunate community than the other groups or is it because they are distinctive?
This article attempts to understand the nature of the conflict between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists in the western part of Myanmar in 2012. The violent conflict first started in June, and seemingly subsided for three months, but later erupted again in October. While the two sides blamed each other for inciting the violence, they could not find a mutually acceptable peaceful solution among themselves. The Rohingyas accused the Rakhine state government and the central government of deliberately attempting to eliminate their population and termed the violence as a state-sponsored ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar government denied such allegations, but failed to produce a concrete plan for long-term solutions. I attempt to explain the underlying factors causing such mayhem and argue that consociational democracy should be pursued to achieve
long-term solutions to the problem. In order to understand the nature of violence in 2012, I will briefly discuss the historical context of the problem. I will then analyze the policies of the Myanmar government toward the issue, and discuss the general perception of the Myanmar people toward the conflict. I will also study the reactions of the international community vis-à-vis the Rohingya conundrum. After presenting the different perspectives, I will discuss why I believe consociational democracy is the ideal approach to solve the problem.
