Rohingya Khobor Op-Ed | August 4, 2025
In the battle over land, identity, and power in Rakhine State, bullets are not the only weapons used against the Rohingya. Stories are.
These stories—carefully curated, politically weaponized, and ethnically charged—are spread not just from army barracks or government podiums, but through the pixels and headlines of Rakhine and Burmese nationalist media. They reinforce a dangerous myth: that the Rohingya are outsiders, threats, invaders, and somehow less human.
In doing so, this machinery of misinformation and disinformation does more than obscure the truth. It paves the ideological ground for violence, silence, and impunity.
The Myth of the “Bengali Invader”
Perhaps the most persistent narrative churned out by Burmese and Rakhine media is that the Rohingya are “Bengali illegal immigrants”—foreigners who crossed into Myanmar during British colonial rule or post-World War II turmoil. It’s a claim designed not to question but to erase—an effort to de-indigenize an entire people.
Newspapers, television channels, and nationalist blogs routinely deny Rohingya identity, instead branding them as “so-called Muslims” or “Bangladeshis.” These labels are not mere semantics. They serve a state logic: if the Rohingya are foreigners, then Myanmar owes them nothing—not safety, not rights, not citizenship. In fact, expulsion becomes an act of “national preservation.”
This historical distortion has proved convenient, both for military regimes seeking scapegoats and for civilian administrations unwilling to challenge decades of majoritarian belief. The media doesn’t just reflect this narrative—it amplifies it.
Fear, Not Facts: The Demographic Panic Machine
Another narrative gaining traction across nationalist outlets is the idea that Rohingya Muslims are expanding in number at a threatening rate, supposedly poised to outnumber the Buddhist Rakhines in their own ancestral lands.
No evidence is offered. No credible statistics cited. But the emotional impact is profound.
By framing Rohingya birth rates as a demographic “threat,” these media channels justify draconian restrictions on marriage, movement, and family planning—policies that have long plagued Rohingya communities. The aim is not to protect anyone; it is to fuel fear and deepen the wedge of ethnic division.
Visual Propaganda: Manufactured Hate in High Resolution
In a media ecosystem where emotions often eclipse ethics, visuals are weaponized ruthlessly. Misleading photographs, doctored images, and recycled footage from unrelated events are circulated to stir anger and reinforce a sense of perpetual crisis.
Images from other countries are labeled as proof of Rohingya aggression. Scenes of violence from distant conflicts are passed off as “recent attacks” by Muslims on Buddhists. The goal is to fabricate a sense of siege—one that justifies retaliation, segregation, and silence.
By the time fact-checkers catch up, the viral lie has already done its damage.
When Truth Is Denied, Justice Is Delayed
Even when international investigations have uncovered evidence of mass killings, systematic sexual violence, and the burning of entire Rohingya villages, many Burmese and Rakhine outlets respond not with alarm—but with denial.
Reports from the United Nations and human rights groups are often dismissed as biased. Testimonies from survivors are framed as manipulations. Journalists and researchers who present uncomfortable truths are labeled “anti-national” or accused of “siding with foreigners.”
The result is a national narrative where the perpetrators walk free, and the victims are blamed for their own suffering.
Why This Matters
This isn’t just about media ethics. It’s about lives.
When disinformation becomes dominant, violence follows. When a population is stripped of its name, its history, and its right to be heard, it becomes easier to strip them of their homes—and harder for the world to care.
The Rohingya have endured decades of this erasure, both physical and narrative. And as long as Rakhine and Burmese media continue to deny their existence, humanity, and suffering, the cycle of impunity will persist.
At Rohingya Khobor, we stand firmly against the machinery of lies that sustains this injustice. We believe that reclaiming truth is not just an act of journalism—it is an act of resistance.
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