Mercenary Heart

Why We Care For Some,
And Yet Neglect All Others...
(PLUCK series)

(Athens woman repeatedly kicks Romani child...)

The image of the 'humanitarian' is one that far too many try to hide behind. As for me, and most the team here, being called a 'humanitarian' is one of the greatest insults we could ever strive for. For me the term is one I have come to regard with a tremendous amount of disdain. It is nearly as much a disgraceful title to me as labeling oneself a Democrat, Republican, or by any other political or religious affiliation. For it is a title that the bleeding hearts hypocritically hide behind, an image of caring for all of humanity while tragically wrapping one's self in a given flag of their choosing. It is a term that carries no real weight or meaning. It is hollow and only serves to mask the one wearing it in much the same way cowards hide behind Guy Fawkes while reading from scripts. It's inherently heartless.

It may very well be part of human nature, and if it is then I've lost something inside, to first focus on one's own particular group before branching out to help others. We even came up with a term for it and yet rarely apply said term to it... ethnocentrism. 

Rally Around The Family

We have all heard of Gaza, the West Bank, and the rest of Palestine's many oppressed regions. We have all seen pictures and heard the stories of Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation and oppression. Of course this is not how large portions of 'humanitarians' see it. And by me pointing out the fact that we have (those of us they spend all day preaching to) I will undoubtedly be called a Zionist or some deviation of that talking point. Yet that isn't really my intent.

Endless hashtags and real life efforts are constantly made to help bring justice to the Palestinians. This is an admirable goal and far worthwhile effort on behalf of those who do dedicate so much of their time to it. But it's often not a 'humanitarian' cause. It is more often than not a religious and/or political goal by those who so strongly defend it. While there are those who dedicate their time to this cause with the end goal bringing the recognition of Palestinians' basic human rights, there are also those who (the majority) want far more than that. 

"From river to sea, all of Palestine will be free"

This is not the slogan of a purely 'humanitarian' cause. Do I agree with the premise of it? Yes. But can I agree with the proposed belief that those who promote it are somehow humanitarians? Hell no. 

This is most evident when somebody like me, arguably the natural born enemy in the eyes of so-called humanitarians, steps out and defends the rights of Palestinians. One would expect that the people pushing the slogan mentioned above would find it relieving to see a Jewish voice speaking out for Palestinians. And one would be wrong. Because, as time has proven rather repeatedly, there isn't a place for Jewish voices that don't agree 100% with the rest of the message. The only Jewish voices allowed are those that can be groomed, maintained, and propagandized for the cause. All others that dare go against the grain are more or less the enemy.

Now, like I have stated before, the humanitarian is supposed to be a person who cares about all of humanity. Yet in "humanitarian" causes such as Palestine/Israel the root of the cause becomes rather clear when just barely scratching the surface. The less than humane responses show a more political and racial undertone to what should had remained a cause centered around the actual people it affects.

The first of these is the response that immediately questions the "Jewishness" of the Jewish voice Palestinian supporters don't agree with. This is best shown when Palestinian supporters (largely not Palestinians themselves) immediately start in with myths taken right out of Nazism. Some will go as far as to start questioning the bloodlines of Jewish people to outright proposing that no "real Jews" even exist today. Of course this is hard to combat when one is the source of their frustration. And even harder to segregate from the true supporters of Palestinian rights when they themselves will not cull the racists among them.

The political undertones are brought to the surface when Palestinian supporters routinely and intentionally use the words "Zionists" and "Jews" interchangeably. While more honest supporters of Palestine can and often do recognize that Jews lived in Palestine long before Israel was created, these problematic supporters do not. Their agenda focuses around the goal of isolating Jews on one end of the spectrum while disproportionately amplifying the voices of Muslims they agree with. To do this many will downplay the damage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah do to the already fragile peace process. And much like the Israeli leadership, they will always downplay the atrocities their side commits while exaggerating the actions of the others side. And this is where the mixing of the words Zionism and Judaism come into play. By accusing "Jews" of every atrocious act they belittle the actions of Zionists and create an atmosphere in which all Jews are the "enemy".

Of course I could use just about any conflict or genocide currently happening in the world to illustrate how people who call themselves "humanitarians" are far less than concerned with humanity. And in every scenario I could show just how their priorities center around group specific interests rather than that of all the people involved. So lets jump to another part of the globe and try this again.

In Southeast Asia the "humanitarians" we deal with on a daily basis have come to the conclusion that the Rohingya people are the "world's most persecuted people". This is of course highly inaccurate as it makes a claim that is both unfounded and incapable of being proven. Yet the focus on humanitarian issues in Southeast Asia is routinely monopolized by humanitarians dead set on centering it all on one particular group.

In neighboring Bangladesh the Jumma tribes of the Chittagong Hills have suffered colonization, ethnic cleansing, and military occupation for literally centuries. Their oppressors have included the British, Indians, Pakistanis, and Bengalis. Yet the story of their persecution has largely been overshadowed by that of the Rohingya on the flood plains to their east. They are a people who's story directly mirrors that of the Rohingya and yet even Rohingya activists seem oblivious to their plight.

Venturing down the peninsula to Vietnam there are the Montagnards (Degar tribes) who suffer routine harassment for their religious and cultural beliefs. They have been through massacres since the 9th century and have seen their homeland occupied for nearly just as long. The military and politicians in Vietnam all work tirelessly to make their ghetto like villages miserable while creating discriminatory laws against the Montagnards. And over the last several years there has been an exodus taking place in the forests between Vietnam and Cambodia. Yet once again the focus on humanitarian issues is not permitted to venture away from the Arakan. And once again the humanitarians who say they care for all of humanity remain deaf to the sounds of suffering in Vietnam's hills.

Examples like these are numerous in Southeast Asia. One only has to look to the Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Kokang in Myanmar itself. This doesn't even include the tribes in the Philippines or the Hmong in Vietnam and Laos. Even with this broader picture you would have to widen it even more to focus on the tribal peoples of Nepal and how their cultures are facing extinction if nothing changes. Yet none of these are put into focus as so-called humanitarians demand the world only center it's attention on one particular group in Southeast Asia.

Now I myself have and often do focus my attention on the Rohingya in Myanmar. My team here at Alder's Ledge do a lot well beyond this blog (which has countless posts covering the Rohingya) to help. Yet we also make certain that the focus we give Southeast Asia also covers all other peoples and all other causes that arise. We center our attention on the tribal groups and persecuted minorities while also focusing on Southeast Asia's rampant sex trade and human trafficking.

The main reason for highlighting this is to bring everyone who reads this back down to reality. The world is much larger than any stretch of dirt and far more vast than any given individual group of people. The pain and suffering of people across the globe can obviously not be covered by one give person or any particular group. Yet the reasons why we tend to block out other people's stories and ignore their pain is something worth thinking about.

In Europe the popular social cause of the day is oddly focused on America's police and black communities. Yet Europeans have an entire minority that they have treated far worse for far longer a period of time... the Romani people.

In America the focus when it comes to humanitarian causes is almost always focused outward. And when it does center in on Americans it almost always gets focused on America's black population. Yet America has indigenous communities that are disappearing under a system of coerced assimilation. Many of America's indigenous youth can't speak the native languages of their ancestors. And even shift the focus to Native Americans for a minute would overlook the plight of countless immigrant groups that also suffer exclusion in American society due to a host of reasons.

So what is the answer to all of this?

Is there even a such thing as a true humanitarian?

"Fatal To Prejudice"

In all honesty there probably isn't such a thing. When it comes down to it we all have less than pure intentions when it comes to helping others. While I do believe that there are plenty of people who deeply care for others... I don't believe there are as many people out there who actually deeply care for all of mankind. But that's not to say that people can't learn to do so.

Taking time away from a given cause to focus your attention on a different one isn't the end of the world. The Palestinians will, as sad as it is, probably be just as oppressed tomorrow as they are today. And the Rohingya will most likely need just as much help even if you aren't the one there for them today. Yet you (and this is the less than "pure" intentions behind most of this work) do have a need to grow. It is the reason why people decide to reach out beyond themselves and help others. A thirst to grow and leave a mark on the world around them. And chances are that you started with groups to which you can relate and have something in common with.

One of the best ways to grow as a person is to reach well beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable and familiar. It creates in us a greater understanding of the world around us while ironically also generating endless questions about the world we encounter along the way. By helping people who we have no real connection to we come to better understand cultures and places we previously only had preconceived notions about. As Mark Twain put it, "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness". Which is exactly why more of us need to reach out to causes beyond our own.

It would be interesting to see just how differently the approach to our own personal causes might be if more of us spent some time focused on other causes first. Yet in writing this I am more aware that it will most likely be met with hostility and resentment rather than seen as the challenge it was meant to present to you the reader. So with that said, I would hope that most of you will understand this wasn't written out of spite or frustration but rather was a blunt analysis of everyone who calls themselves humanitarians. If you consider yourself one then this is meant to show you how I personally believe we can do better.

When Simply Staying Alive Becomes Resistance

The Struggle of Bangladesh's Indigenous Peoples
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

Marma Children in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Where Dreams Go To Die

We are all born with the desire to have certain things in life. We are born to desire a certain degree of freedom in this life. We are born with a fire inside that rages within us till we can quench this hunger for liberty. It is the natural state of man to crave freedom. It is why we are restless when we are deprived of it. It is why we feel hollow when it is stolen from us and replaced with one form of tyranny or another. It is a fire that either creates within us the desire to sustain our own freedoms or destroy the world as we know it till we can obtain said freedoms. All of human history attest to this.

It is no wonder that societies deprived of their basic human rights, their essential liberties, begin to reflect the symptoms of a staving body. Their minds become fixated upon what the hunger for it. They show it in their view of the world. They show it in the expressions of joy when they get a passing taste of it. But mostly... they show it in the ways they resist those who oppose their rights and keep them trapped in this state of hunger. 

For generations now the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts have been forced to dream of what it would be like to be free in their own homeland. They have been deprived of the rights that their ancestors once enjoyed. They have been kept in a perpetual state of craving what others enjoy daily while they are forced to suffer. For generations now the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts have simply stayed alive as an act of defiance to a nation that continually pushes them toward extinction. 

This is both what they resist and how they defy a nation. 

This is just a glimpse of what they endure.

The Jumma Tribes Of

The Chittagong Hill Tracts 

To understand the struggle one has to understand the people themselves. This article will not be able to, as no one article ever could, give you a full introduction to the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. So in addition to this post we would like to invite all our readers to research and find reliable sources (some posted in the links below) to understand the Jumma tribes more than what we have written here. 

There are eleven tribal groups that are indigenous to the Chittagong Hill Tracts. These include the Bawm, Chakma, Khumi, Khyang, Lushai, Marma, Uchay, Mru, Pankho, Sak, and Tanchangya peoples. Each are linguistically, culturally, and ethnically different from the Bengali majority that lives on the plains below the Chittagong Hills. They have distinct cultures that focus heavily on their traditional ways of life and individual religious beliefs. While the Chakma and Marma, numbering around 350,000, are mostly Buddhists the remaining tribes are comprised of Hindus, Christians, and traditional religions unique to their tribal groups. 

The traditional cultivating practices of the indigenous peoples lends to their collective name of Jummas. It is a system, called jum, of small patchwork fields that rotate in both location and the crops planted in them. It is also a system that the government of Bangladesh attempts to prevent the indigenous peoples from using. 

The Chittagong Hills stretch along the the southeastern border of Bangladesh, Inida, and Myanmar (Burma). It is a stretch of land that contains thick forests and mountain lakes. While difficult to cultivate, the Chittagong Hills do offer enough arable soil for the indigenous peoples to support their communities. 

In 1971 the Jumma tribes were practically the only inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Their ancestral land had been exploited under Pakistan's rule yet had not been occupied in the way it would be once Bangladesh gained independence. From the very start of Bangladesh's rule the Jummas began to lose lands to the new tyrant ruling over them. 

First Came The Military

In the late 1970s the president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rehman, signed into law a series of programs designed to create a government-run "population transfer" in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. His government immediately sat out to displace as many of the Jumma tribal groups as they could in the shortest period of time they could manage. These dictates issued the orders to begin creating a system of military installations that would gut the Chittagong Hills and divide the tribal peoples. Within just a matter of years the Bangladeshi army had created hundreds of military camps across the mountain tops along the roads they paved through the heart of the Chittagong Hills. This was a campaign to divide and conquer the Jumma peoples. 

When the Jumma peoples began to resist the military occupation of their homelands in 1976 the Bengali army moved in even more troops. By 1977 the Bengali military had begun a full scale assault on Jumma lands by ordering Jumma tribes off their land to make way for more roads and military camps. When Jumma tribes dared to stand and fight for their lands the army of Bangladesh willingly committed massacres and torched Jumma villages. The direct response to resistance was the placement of military camps on and near Jumma villages. Any route the Jumma could take to move from one village to the other was suddenly blocked by checkpoints. The strategy had shifted to complete isolation and starvation of the Jumma people in less than a year of resistance efforts by the Jumma tribes. 

The Jana Samhati Samiti, with a military wing, attempted to negotiate with Bangladesh some form of peace between the Jumma tribes and the Bengali military. Yet from 1976 till December of 1997 the government of Bangladesh only sought to forcibly expand it's presence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Their aim was to displace the vast majority of the Jumma tribes and drive as many of the indigenous civilians as the could out of Bangladesh. This aim was made clear as the number of Jumma peoples internally displaced rose to 100,000 while the number of Jumma refugees fleeing the country rose to 70,000. 

As Bengali troops sat out to put Jumma villages to the torch the issue of rape became ever more prevalent. From 1971 on through 1994 the military of Bangladesh has been reported to have committed over 2,000 rapes of indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This is in part due to the fact that Bangladesh's army was given permission to engage in rape as a means of displacing Jumma families and keeping the victims silent after atrocities were committed. Jumma women were raped both for the fact that Bangladesh had indoctrinated it's troops in the belief that the Jumma women were subhuman and the enemy. In addition it was seen as a way of keeping Bengali soldiers motivated and a perverse way of keeping moral of the troops high in the isolation of the Chittagong Hills. 

It has also been reported several times that Bangladesh's military committed at least 13 large scale massacres of indigenous peoples during the Jummas' struggle to resist occupation. These attacks are often denied by Bangladesh and attributed to "crossfire" incidents. This became very clear when in August of 2013 the government of Bangladesh tried to explain away the deaths of 776 indigenous peoples as "victims of crossfire". The main problem with this explanation is that from 2004 to 2013 the government of Bangladesh only lost 18 soldiers during combat operations. The sheer number of deaths involved in these incidents disproportionately falls in favor of Bangladesh while offering only slaughter as an explanation when talking about indigenous deaths. 

After the Peace Accords of 1997 were signed the military of Bangladesh was supposed to begin dismantling it's camps that now choke the Chittagong Hills. Of the more than 500 military camps installed since the 1970s, Bangladesh has only closed a meager 29 camps. And most of these have simply been moved to other areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Of course the government of Bangladesh does come up with excuses for building even more military camps today; such as how they most recently used the migrant crisis in the Andaman Sea as a reason for military expansion.

Today the government of Bangladesh keeps over 1/3rd of it's military in the Chittagong Hills at any given time. The UN called this "excessive" in it's most recent review of Bangladesh's failure to implement the 1997 Peace Accords. The UN went on to note that having 1/3 of the military occupying an area of land that constitutes less than 1/10th of Bangladesh's territory was unjustifiable. It also noted that the Jumma people themselves account for less than one percent of Bangladesh's population and yet are the most policed portion of the overall population. 

Unlawful Settlers

When president Ziaur Rehman began his displacement of the Jumma people he started a program of offering Bengali citizens bribes to uproot and settle on Jumma lands. According to UN mandates, to which Bangladesh has agreed, this policy of displacement not only violates international law but also the human rights of the Jumma peoples. Namely the ILO Indigenous And Tribal Populations Convention No. 107, to which Bangladesh agreed and signed in 1972. 

Yet in spite of having agreed to international laws which prohibit the displacement of indigenous peoples the government of Bangladesh pushed forward with it's policies. Between 1971 and 1997 the government moved more than 500,000 illegal Bengali settlers onto indigenous lands. Each and every one of these settlers were encouraged by bribes from the government and promises of "free" and "open" land in the Chittagong Hills. They were told that areas would be provided for them and all they had to do was squat on lands not their own. 

From the start the Bengali settlers found themselves at odds with the indigenous population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Settlers were prone to set up their unlawful settlements near military camps. And since the military camps were inevitably placed directly on indigenous lands this led to the intended conflict. 

Settlers were encouraged by the military to engage in evictions of their own. Bengali men were told that they had the right to utilize rape in order to force Jumma families from their homes. This was an aspect of the settlements that rapidly became one of their defining characteristics. It became so problematic that Bangladesh has resorted to telling doctors in the Chittagong Hills to exclude any evidence of rape when reporting on Jumma women and young girls. And yet at the same time the government of Bangladesh is quick, at times quicker than the actual facts, in reporting the rape of any Bengali squatter in the Chittagong Hill tracts. 

 One such case of Bengali rape of a Marma girl took place as recently as January of 2015. The eight year old girl was on her way home when a Bengali plantation owner brutally raped her. The savage attacker had left the girl to bleed out after his barbaric assault. Yet the hospital staff refused to communicate in the girl's native language and the doctors were unclear as to how they would record the attack. The perpetrator of the rape was not reported to have been arrested. And this is not an isolated incident. It is in fact far too common throughout the Chittagong Hills. 

In 2014 alone there were 75 reported cases of sexual violence against indigenous women in the Chittagong Hills. These 75 cases account for the sexual assaults of 117 indigenous women (57% of these cases also involved children). Of these cases a total of 21 involved gang-rape, 55 were victims of physical assault in addition to rape, seven of the victims were murdered, and 11 involved abductions of indigenous women. Yet despite these staggering numbers the reality is that the majority of rapes in the Chittagong Hills go unreported due to both societal and religious stigmas surrounding the crime itself. 

One could continue by detailing how in 2013 there were 175 reported incidents of sexual violence being committed against indigenous women in the Chittagong Hills (49 of which involving gang-rape). Or how of all the identified rapists from January of 2010 to December of 2011 were never convicted for their crimes against indigenous women and girls in the Chittagong Hills. But the numbers aren't as important here... it's the lives of the victims (who are increasingly ending up dead and are more often now below the age of 18) and their families that matters. This is an aspect of Bangladesh's occupation that is overlooked because it isn't something anyone wants to talk about. It is a part of the genocidal occupation that leaves scars which time itself cannot heal. And yet Bangladesh refuses to put an end to the culture of impunity that allows both Bangladesh's military and it's Bengali settlers to rape indigenous women without ever facing the consequences.

The illegal Bengali settlers are also allowed to forcibly evict and attack the Jumma without facing any legal consequences. Nearly every time the Bengali settlers attack and burn Jumma homes, villages, temples, and crops the army of Bangladesh offers support for the hordes of illegal settlers. This is most evident during incidents as that which occurred in Burighat, Naniarchar on December 16th of 2014.

This was a deliberate attack in which over 500 Bengali settlers marched into a Chakma village with the intent of destroying the entire village. The attack would last for almost two hours before the Bengali assailants would return to their own village. The attackers burned over 50 Chakma homes and several Chakma shops during the attack. They also looted and vandalized the Karuna Bihar Buddhist Temple, making off with several bronze statues. 

This attack was immediately followed by Bengali settlers attempting to take the land upon which several Chakma homes had previously stood. The illegal settlers attempted to pressure the military into offering them protection as they squatted on the land they had just torched. Meanwhile the Chakma tried desperately to keep what was being stolen from them. In the end, the government of Bangladesh blamed the Chakma and rewarded the illegal settlers with rice and cash for their assault on indigenous homes. 

This the climate in which genocidal attacks are permitted to occur. This is the work of a government that has refused to allow peace to once again come to the Chittagong Hills. It is the deliberate attempt to ethnically cleanse the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. A government so determined to undermine indigenous rights that it would unlawfully settle over 15,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on the lands of Jumma tribal peoples. This is the face of a government devoid of any sense of morality. 

So Why Does The World Remain Silent?

It is unreasonable when presented with the facts to think that anything in the Chittagong Hill Tracts will change without pressure being applied to Bangladesh from the outside. The government of Bangladesh has carried out it's crimes for generations. It has shown that it is willing to commit the same crimes against humanity as is Israel, Myanmar, North and South Sudan, Eritrea, and any other genocidal regime. 

Yet when it comes to the issue of indigenous peoples facing genocidal regimes the outside world has a long legacy of remaining silent. We tend to respond to genocide only when it is too late. But in the case of indigenous peoples, we tend not to respond at all. Their fate is one that we have relegated to history books and the storylines of romanticized movies. 

In the case of Bangladesh there is also the fact that the perpetrator is often seen as an impoverished nation struggling to provide for it's own people. This is an image that Bangladesh is all to happy to perpetuate as it openly claims (with yet another lie) that there are supposedly no indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. And thus it's conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is one that it continues to lie about by calling it anything but what it is... genocide. 

As for the twitter realm of humanitarians...

The issue of Bangladesh's genocide in the Chittagong Hills is one that does not currently fit the prevailing narrative. It is a genocide in which the perpetrators are Muslims while the victims are Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and those of indigenous religions. For this reason it does not gain the same favor as that of the Rohingya, Palestine, or the Uyghur of China. And this is an aspect of the silence that should be more damning than all others... but it's one never admitted to. 

There are currently more Bengali settlers on Jumma lands than there are Jumma tribal members. This is a genocide that is already passed the breaking point. It is one that is now headed for completion as the world continues to watch in silence. It is a genocide that needs addressed. And it is one that must be stopped soon before the damage is irreparable. 

We as a world community must start screaming for all those who are suffering in the Chittagong Hills (and across the globe) regardless of their race, religion, social standings, or creed. We must not only scream for the Jumma people but help their voices be heard. We must amplify their voices whenever and wherever we can.

If you call yourself a humanitarian these are not suggestions.

If you call yourself anything related to such a word as that.... then this is your fight as well.

Articles used in the research of this article:

(not all sources listed)

Survival International

http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/jummas

http://t.co/18HPBfQlz5

Dhaka Tribune 

http://www.dhakatribune.com/op-ed/2015/jan/22/survivor

IRIN Asia

http://www.irinnews.org//report/92598/bangladesh-chittagong-rights-violations-continue-says-un#.VaXcwGQayc0

Cultural Survival

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/our-home-human-rights-chittagong-hill-tracts

The Citizen (India)

http://www.thecitizen.in/NewsDetail.aspx?Id=3683&Military/Persecutes/indigenous/Communities/in/Bangladesh

IWGIA

http://www.iwgia.org/regions/asia/the-chittagong-hill-tracts-

University of Notre Dame

https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/provision/refugees-chittagong-hill-tracts-peace-accord-cht

The Daily Star

http://www.thedailystar.net/rape-used-as-weapon-35181

Asian Tribune 

http://asiantribune.com/node/83971

UNPO

http://unpo.org/article/17998

http://unpo.org/article/17268

http://unpo.org/article/17798

Asian Center For Human Rights

http://www.achrweb.org/press/2015/BD02-2015.html

The Devil Amongst Us

Going Back To The Devil's Playground
(Devil's Due series)

(one simple hand gesture...)

When President Nixon gave the peace sign as he left the office a lot of Americans cheered. It wasn't because he was well liked or that he had done a good job. It wasn't that America had become a better place due to his leadership. It was simply a show of how much the man had become villain to the people who had elected him into office. It was this show of disgust for the man that made the act of lifting your hands and giving the peace sign a symbol that would give generations flashbacks to the devil of the White House.

It is amazing what a simple gesture of the hand can do in our world. When we are in traffic and somebody cuts us off only to stop short right in front of us we often are tempted to "give them the bird" by simply raising our middle finger. When somebody does a good job and we want to show them so we sometimes give them the "thumbs-up" to show them with just a movement of the hand. It is stunning how these little gestures can elicit rather complex responses from the person they are directed at. It is even more astounding how the same simple gesture can elicit dramatic responses in large crowds when just one person gives one of these simple hand gestures.

On February 4th Jamaat leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, gave a hand gesture that would shake a nation. Upon receiving a life sentence for his role in the Bangladesh Genocide, Mollah left the court to an awaiting public. There, before the entire nation, Mollah flashed the "V for victory" sign... the same sign that Nixon had flashed when leaving office. Yet this would not be a sign of peace. It instead would recreate the devil's playground by resurrecting Shahbag Square (a scene of an infamous massacre in 1971).

Life in prison? Yet he took the lives of so many.

What kind of prison? How can a man who created hellish conditions be fit for even the worst of prisons? Is there truly a prison wretched enough, tormenting enough, to lock this monster away in?

Abdul Quader Mollah had made a name for himself in 1971. Across his neighborhood of Dhaka, Mollah was known as "The Butcher of Mirpur". He had earned this name by collaborating with the Pakistani Army and leading his own band of thugs. His actions in Mirpur directly led to the death of a confirmed 344 innocent people. In addition Mollah's contributions to the genocide of his own people included the rapes of women and children, burning of Hindu homes, and the destruction of opposition homes and businesses.

Despite the litany of crimes this wretched man was charged with the International Criminal Tribunal somehow could not find it within itself to issue the death sentence. A man who had terrorized his neighbors, his countrymen, and the world was surprised by the reaction Bengali youth had to his less than favorable jail sentence. This seems odd when you think about it from a Westerners' point of view. For the rest of the world it appeared that justice had finally been served. And yet here we are today. Shahbag Square is still the scene of a nation's unrest when faced with living with the devil for any more length of time than they already have. 

So let's take a look at this from halfway around the world.

In 1971 Abdul Mollah violently raped an 11 year old girl. For most this would be reason enough to face a criminal charge. Then you add on the fact that this man committed the rape under the assumption that the war would cover his transgression. It is a common aspect of war after all, the penis is far worse a weapon than the bullet... it destroys the life of the victim and leaves them to suffer. Yet for this Mollah was not brought to justice. He still had other crimes to commit before being charged.

A typical soldier can't account for the number of people he has killed. A stray bullet here and there may add up the number of deaths. The spray and pray method used by soldiers for multiple of reasons can tick the death toll higher. Yet in 1971 Abdul Mollah racked up a known 344 victims. How many soldiers do you know that can count the number of people they killed? Let alone any that can count up even close to 344?

For most people in the West it would only take one innocent victim's death to warrant bringing the murderer to justice. For the ICT in Dhaka it wasn't till decades had passed that the 344 confirmed victims warranted such a case. And yet when Abdul Mollah was brought before them the ICT could not find it within itself to pull the lever and let the criminal hang for his sins.

As a head member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Abdul Mollah carried out a policy of ethnic cleansing in his part of Dhaka. Using religion and politics as excuses for his crimes, Mollah targeted Hindus for extermination. Old religious divides that were left from British occupation were used in attempts to drive the Hindu population out of Bangladesh. When religion failed as an excuse for ethnic cleansing, Abdul Mollah used political allegiances to further drive a wedge in his community and exploit the divides he created to help create violent pogroms. According to the Genocide Convention adopted by the United Nations these all are acts that define genocide. And yet for this the ICT in Dhaka could not find it within itself to hang Abdul Quader Mollah.

For the world to ignore the outrage of the protesters in Shahbag Square is to ignore the open wound the genocide left upon Bengali society. This is a festering wound that has been ripped wide open by the lack of justice in the International Criminal Tribunal's decisions. This is a wretched agony that families across Bangladesh have to live with as they watch the men who perpetrated genocide give the "V for victory" upon learning the devil will not pay his due.

If Hitler had lived to face trial would we have ignored the ruling of a court that only gave him life in prison of the deaths of 6 million innocent Jews?

If Stalin had been brought to trial and the court only gave him life in prison for the starvation and slaughter of 7.5 million Ukrainians would we ignore it?

So why is the world so willing to ignore the voice of a nation as they scream for the rightful justice they deserve? When will Bangladesh be able to say that it's Hitler, it's Stalin, it's Talat Pasha have been brought to justice and killed... just as they did to their victims. Or has the world decided on Bangladesh's behalf that "an eye for and eye" is simply out of the question when dealing with the legacy of genocide? 

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Source Documents
(note: not all sources are listed)

The National
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/war-crimes-of-1971-still-reverberate-in-todays-bangladesh

Alder's Ledge
http://aldersledge.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-devil-to-pay.html

Guava Puree
http://guavapuree.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/bangladesh-at-a-precipice-a-tale-of-two-massacres/

The People From Nowhere

With Nowhere To Return To
(The Darkness Visible series)

(Rohingya Men In Thai Detention Center)

Where Is Nowhere?

If anywhere on the planet could be described as "the middle of nowhere" the Arakan in Burma could very well be it. Since Myanmar was created it has been one of the most neglected places on the planet. Aid organizations and NGOs have long been working in Thailand to help refugees fleeing violence and war, but that is on the other side of the country. The Arakan remains isolated as it is tucked between Myanmar and Bangladesh. There it rest as a small sliver of land filled with rivers, mud, and hills. For most of the world it is might as well be on another planet.

So it is of little surprise that when genocide reappeared in the Arakan that most of the world didn't realize it... many still don't. When I ask people if they have heard of the plight of the Rohingya in Burma they often first ask where Burma is. The next question is who are the Rohingya. This is the extent of Western knowledge of Myanmar and the people it oppresses. It is one of the reasons that few in the West are taking action to stop this genocide.

The one term that brings a connection to in the minds of people I talk to is that of "boat people". The images of Burmese refugees taking to rickety boats and braving the waves to hopefully reach safety in Malaysia or Indonesia still rest in the minds of Westerners today. However most of the people in my area of the world don't make the connection between Muslim Rohingya and "boat people" right away. Usually it takes a good deal of explaining to convince people that the Muslims are not the ones committing genocide and creating "boat people" but rather are the refugees. It is this awkward connection between the name Rohingya and "boat people" with which I have been able to describe what "nowhere" is like for these fleeing refugees.

I have come to view the Arakan as being somewhat of "the middle of nowhere" for Rohingya because they aren't legally part of it. Though they have lived there for countless generations and have a strong heritage in the Arakan, the government of Burma claims they are "Bengali invaders". For this reason the Rohingya are homeless in their own homeland. Without citizenship in their own country the Rohingya might as well be anywhere else on the globe than right there at home. And yet they have nowhere else to go.

Those who flee from decades of oppressive rule and modern outbreaks of organized violence are left without a place to which someday return. Due to their lack of Burmese citizenship they have nowhere left to call home. Countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia have nowhere to send them home to once they arrive. Those who flee this new wave of genocide enter a state of limbo... a state of unlawful existence according to the countries in which they end up.

The country from which these Rohingya refugees flee is a country where they are targeted for mass executions, slave labor, starvation, and exploitations of all the usual deviant ways. They cannot return to Myanmar with any hopes of a free and dignified life. With hate speech readily preached against them across their homeland, with the threat of more pogroms, and with the reality of starvation and isolation; the Rohingya who flee Burma become people with nowhere to call home.

“They should go to Bangladesh, where they came from, or they should be killed,” Hla Moe Thu, Rakhine Buddhist.

What is Nowhere Like?

For the Rohingya the place that has driven large numbers of them to flee as refugees the place they called home is hellish at best. In June of 2012 their Rakhine neighbors seemed to suddenly realize that Myanmar's "civilian" (an ex-general is President) government was just as xenophobic as the junta had been. Only now the civilians in charge were less likely to stop violence against minorities than their military predecessors had been. All it took was one spark for all hell to break lose.

With the excuse of one Buddhist woman's death the radicalized sect of Buddhism in the Arakan region took to violence instead of the preachings of their Buddha. Arming themselves with guns, knives, and machetes the mobs began to target all Muslim minorities in the region. The Rohingya were prime targets since their typically darker skin and religion made them distinctly different from the Rakhine Buddhists. These few minor differences meant that entire Rohingya villages were easily targeted by torch wielding mobs intent upon slaughtering any Muslims they could catch.

"When the wife of Mohamed Salam was found dead floating in a river, her body carried a sinister message. She was abducted along with two of her children in June, and Salam was later told by sympathetic Buddhists how they had died. According to them, her captors said her breasts gave milk to Muslim babies and her womb gave birth to future generations of Muslims. Her breasts were then hacked off and her genitalia mutilated with sharpened bamboo. Her teenage son was tethered to a motorbike and dragged across a rocky road. Salam would not elaborate on how his daughter met her end." ~ As reported by Brendan Bradly of The Daily Beast.

An eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. The Rakhine extremist would exact revenge for the unconfirmed death of a Buddhist woman with such ferocity that no Rohingya person was or is safe today. The need to defend "their people" from "Bengali invaders" was forced upon the rest of the population of the Arakan. People who had been neighbors for years were now enemies due to nothing more than their ethnicity and religion.

This unimaginable hatred is what makes the Arakan a place worthy of being considered "nowhere". When violence is justified through the simplistic view of "us verses them" nobody is safe. When one house is burned, when one life is stolen, there will always be a victim's relative, or friend, or neighbor who is willing to take it upon themselves to exact revenge. It is in this cycle of violence that the Arakan has become a place where no one can truly consider it home.

When the government did show up it rounded the Rohingya up into concentration camps. Taking the opportunity to deal with it's "Rohingya question" once and for all, Burma laid siege to the Rohingya community. Government officials allowed for Rohingya in internally displaced peoples' camps (IDP camps) to be blockaded and refused international relief. Only the most presentable camps, considered wretched and squalid by NGOs, were allowed visitors from the outside world. And even in these concentration camps the Rohingya were found to be starving to death.

This is what nowhere is like for the Rohingya. It is a country where their homes have been burned, where those still left in their villages are kept prisoners by the government, where their children starve due to neglect by Burmese officials... this is nowhere for them to call home.

Life On The Outside...

"Thailand should respect the basic rights of Rohingya ‘boat people’ and stop detaining them in horrific conditions. The government should immediately allow them to pursue their asylum claims with the UN refugee agency"

~ Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch

For the Rohingya who make it out of Burma there is often no time to breathe a breath of freedom. In Thailand the Rohingya are vulnerable to human trafficking, at times at the hands of Thai officials themselves. Those who evade exploitation are more often than not captured by Thai police and taken to detention centers. Instead of being allowed to seek legal asylum in Thailand, these Rohingya are treated like common criminals with little regard to the tragedy that made them refugees in the first place. 

Organization like Human Rights Watch have noted the horrific conditions in which Rohingya are kept in Thailand. Detention centers where 10 to 15 immigrants are supposed to be held now hold upwards of 250 men at a time. These Rohingya are kept in cages like animals. There is little room for them to sit down let alone move about. In these facilities there is no bathroom for the Rohingya men to use. They are simply locked up and forgotten about. 

For nearly six months now these Rohingya have been kept caged in Thailand. In conditions that many pet owners wouldn't keep their dogs or cats, these Rohingya are made to live the most undignified of lives. They are not allowed to be leave. They are simply made to wait till their "temporary stay" in Thailand expires and the government can ship them back to Burma.

Yet these are just a handful of the 20,000 estimated Rohingya who fled so far this boat season. For the rest there is still the threat of exploitation at the hands of human traffickers. Many of which are subjected to trafficking before they even leave Myanmar itself.

Growing concern for these refugees has been fueled by reports that ethnic armies in Burma have engaged in trafficking of Rohingya trying to flee the violence in Burma. This was reported in the Trafficking In Persons report by the United States this year. It stated that the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army had willfully trafficked Rohingya refugees in both Thailand and Myanmar. Other groups have been known to traffic Rohingya along the borders with China and Bangladesh as well. All of these victims are extorted of money and valuables before being either abandoned or sold to traffickers across the border in the destination country. 

Then there has been the issue of Rohingya women being trafficked across Southeast Asia as mail-order brides and sex slaves. Many of these women and girls are taken from the areas hardest hit by the genocide back in Burma. They are sold by "brokers" who then ship them to Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand. From there it is anyone's guess where the Rohingya girls end up. One can only imagine the life these girls are forced to live once they are snatched up from the middle of nowhere and sent away from what family they have left.

Nowhere Left To Run.

“The government should help Rohingya who escape from oppression and hardship in Burma – not worsen their plight.”

~ Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch

For most of the civilized world it is obvious that if a refugee manages to escape the repressive hold of a tyrannical system they should be given an opportunity to taste freedom. However the government of Thailand (along with others) remains of the opinion that Rohingya refugees should simply be "helped along" to their next destination. For many of the Rohingya in Thai custody this means that they will either be sent back to Burma to suffer once again or introduced to a new and equally terrifying version of hell. The willingness to purchase and sell fellow human beings will forever remain a blight upon Thai society as long as the Rohingya are trafficked by Thai officials. And the over eagerness of the Thai government in sending Rohingya back to the torment of genocide will never be forgotten.

If the Rohingya are to have any hope of a better future they must first be granted a glimmer of hope in neighboring lands. The perilous journey that many take to only be once again rejected by the world must be brought to an end. Governments however cannot be expected to alter their current stances upon the issue as long as prejudices against the Rohingya remain ingrained in the societies which they govern. People across the region in which the Rohingya find themselves must find it within themselves to set aside minor differences and take the opportunity to bring relief to a hurting people.

Though it would be ideal for Rohingya to be granted the ability to remain at home in the Arakan the current situation in Burma makes this impossible. If Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and all other host nations want to end the tidal wave of Rohingya refugees they will first have to pressure Myanmar to end this genocide. Any economic engagement with Myanmar will need to be done through the scope of how it will affect the genocide for better or worse. Governments around the world should rethink what it means to the oppressed minorities of Myanmar for them to take advantage of Burma's opening up to foreign investment. Sanctions should be reinstated and pressure should be applied both economically and militarily before Burma is allowed to return to the world stage.

As long as state sponsored genocide is being conducted in Burma there will always be Rohingya who find themselves with nowhere left to run. The waves of refugees will only increase for as long as the pains of hunger stab at their sides. This refugee crisis will only end when the genocide of the Rohingya is forcibly concluded... either the outside world or by Burma itself.









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Source Documents

(note: not all sources are listed)

Voice Of America 

http://www.voanews.com/content/rohingya-boat-people-face-deadline-and-no-home/1690358.html

The Daily Beast 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/27/burma-s-rohingya-muslims-targeted-by-buddhist-mob-violence.html

Human Rights Watch

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/03/thailand-end-inhumane-detention-rohingya

The Democratic Voice of Burma

http://www.dvb.no/news/politics-news/rohingya-at-%E2%80%98significant%E2%80%99-risk-of-human-trafficking-us-report/28894

Al Jazeera 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/03/201331291132937760.html

BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7830710.stm

The Devil To Pay

A Generational Sin
(Devil's Due series)

"We can kill anyone for anything. We are accountable to no one." 

~Pakistani Captain

The Arrogance Of Power

The birth of Bangladesh as a nation occurred in 1971 when the territory of East Pakistan broke free from the repressive rule of West Pakistan. It was a brutal and bloody war that threatened the annihilation of ethnic Bengali people. Through a genocidal campaign the rulers of Pakistan had decided to crush the spirit of a nation. All "kafirs" were ordered executed while the government of Pakistan planned to empty East Pakistan of all ethnic groups outside that of Pakistanis. In this sense the nation of Bangladesh was born from blood. And as with all blood violently spilled, this innocent blood still to this day demands retribution, justification, and recognition.

Every since the partition of India in 1947 the Pakistani government had encouraged discrimination and racism against the Bengali people of East Pakistan. Over the next 24 years this obsession with racial superiority would infest every aspect of the relationship between Bengali society and Pakistani rule. President Yahya Khan responded to the split that his racial laws had created by telling his troops to "kill three million of them" so that "the rest will eat our our hands". This was the extent of Pakistani desire to retain power while holding it above the heads of their victims.

Thus with the creation of the Mukti Bahini (Bengali separatist guerrillas) the desire to crush the spirit of the Bengali people came to a head in Pakistan. A movement to liberate the people of East Pakistan from exploitation, rape, pillage, torture, and massacre could not be tolerated by the Pakistani army. For this reason the military in Pakistan decided to launch "operation searchlight" in 1971. This was the move that would bring Pakistan to shake hands with the devil. This was the decision by the leaders of Pakistan to fully engage in genocide as a means of keeping control of Bangladesh.

The Ottoman Route To Hell

Within the first few days of military occupation of Bangladesh the Pakistani army set out to recreate the Armenian Genocide. Raiding the Dhaka University, the Pakistani army utilized collaborators to round up top Bengali intellectuals. Wasting no time to "cut the head off the snake" the Pakistani generals ordered the executions of all Bengali academics they could find. Anyone who could organize an intellectual offensive against the brutality of Pakistani occupation. Those who were best fit to record and report on Pakistani atrocities were removed or killed. This was exactly the same move the Ottomans had made in Armenia.

The intention to kill intellectuals shows a desire on Pakistan's part to destroy the culture and social abilities of the Bengali people. Through killing off the intellectuals, Pakistan intended to cripple Bangladesh's society for generations. Without intellectual leaders the society was supposed to decay and loose it's own sense of identity. Therefore making it more likely to accept the concept of racial inferiority through which Pakistan already viewed Bengali society.

In addition the targeting of intellectuals meant that any future attempt to organize would be done by individuals that Pakistan viewed academically inferior. This motive is driven out of the idea that people like Che Guevara are the exception. It ignores the reality that many of history's greatest catalyst have been people of modest upbringing and not generally associated with academia or politics. However, regardless of this aspect, the slaughtering of intellectuals was a progression from mass oppression toward mass extermination.

Turkification 

 

"The Bengalis will have to be re-educated along proper Islamic lines."

Though the majority of Bengalis were Muslims it was clear through official Pakistani stances of the day that the difference in adherence to Islam was a source of prejudice on the Pakistani side. Though most of the differences are not listed the desire to "re-educate" the Bengali people is often stated by the government of Pakistan throughout 1971. Yet despite this supposed desire for education the Pakistani military often used "re-education" as a synonym for massacre.

Just as the Turks "re-educated" Armenians through "turkification" the Pakistani army employed the same tactics. Rounding up Bengali men and boys, the Pakistani commanders would clear out entire villages and neighborhoods. Once the men were separated from the females the women in the targeted village could be raped and murdered with impunity. Gang-rapes were common in areas where the males had been evacuated.

This method of genocide was encouraged for multiple reasons. The architects of the genocide believed that any children born from rape would be susceptible to influence by the Pakistani government due to a blood bond with the rapist. This perverted desire for power meant that Pakistani soldiers were given a green light when using their lust as a weapon of war.

Rape was also tolerated by Pakistani commanders since it was seen as a cheap way to increase moral amongst troops in the field. It could also be utilized as a method to break the fighting spirit of rebels in and around the areas where it was deployed. In addition, rape could create more casualties in the fact that women were at times raped till they died of the trauma inflicted during the abuse.

Re-education was achieved for the Bengali men and boys through mass executions. This form of re-education was not intended to educate the victims but to educate the families and communities from which they came. It was designed to show the viciousness of Pakistani rule while intending to deter future questioning of it.

Every Last Drop

By the time Bangladesh declared independence there were an estimated 3 million victims of the Pakistani perpetrated genocide. These victims had been killed just as President Khan had ordered. And yet the "others" did not eat out of the Pakistanis' hands. Instead the violence and blood spilled had given birth to a nation. From the suffering of a people came a country they could call their own. 

It is from here, halfway around the world, that one might look at Shahbag square and wonder why then the nation has not moved past this wretched crime? Have they not suffered enough? Why this desire to open up a wound such as this one? 

The answer is yes, they have suffered more than enough. And it is for this reason that the protest at Shahbag began. It was not simply to pick at the wound that genocide left behind but to force the world to recognize the wound exists in the first place. Without reconciliation, without justification, without recognition there can be no moving forward from this crime. Genocide must be recognized, it's perpetrators must be brought to justice, and the anguish it left upon Bengali society must be reconciled. That is the only path forward from Shahbag... it is the only path forward for Bangladesh. 

As long as men like Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (just one example) are allowed to avoid true justice there will always be a Shahbag. Every drop of innocent blood must be accounted for. The devil's due is required when a nation suffers his folly. Genocide cannot be ignored. It cannot be forgot. And it will never fade far from the minds of those whom it has most affected. 

A look at those fighting for justice...

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Source Documents
(note: not all sources listed)

The Financial Express
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMDZfMjdfMTNfMV8zXzE3NDQwMQ==

Bangladesh Genocide Archive
http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/

A History of Broken Promises

Rohingya Genocide 1942 - Present
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

How long should a people have to suffer before the world decides to act? How often do they have to be killed in senseless pogroms and orgies of violence? Why do they have to grow-up in a culture of oppression and fear? Why do they have to raise their children without food or education? When will the cycle of neglect and abuse end?

Since the days of British colonialism in Myanmar the Rohingya people have been been subject to systemic racism in the governments that have come and gone over the years. The British gave them just enough to keep them alive, to make them useful, but never the rewards for loyalty that the United Kingdom had promised them. The Japanese both paid their murderers for each dead Rohingya and engaged in massacres of the Rohingya themselves. And then there came the Rakhine... the Buddhists... the supposed peaceful monks.

In 1942 the British were forced out of the Arakan state as the Japanese continued to spread out over Asia. Able to hold onto Bengal, the Brits were just near enough to the Rohingya to keep them alive under the horrific rule of the Japanese. Yet this was just the next chapter in a long history of suffering for the Rohingya people. This was the start of the modern genocide of the Rohingya people.

Japanese forces fed the Rakhine peoples' hatred for the Rohingya people. They goaded on the wrath of the Buddhists as they rewarded each passing massacre of Rohingya. And yet the rate of death amongst Rohingya communities was not enough to satisfy Japanese lust for blood. The Japanese decided that their forces had to use the modern weapons of war to annihilate the Rohingya. Bullets were more efficiently distributed from modern rifles rather than those of homemade Rakhine mobs.

Around 22,000 Rohingya fled the Japanese's wrath in the Arakan. Their families and friends had fought the invasion. They had remained loyal to the British. So clearly the old master, no matter how miserable, was clearly better than this new tyrant.

Upon arriving the British suddenly realized what a stroke of luck they had just been given. The Japaneses' excesses had driven a small army across the border. The abuses of the Japanese had given the British a group of people that had lost everything and therefore could be promised everything. And that was just what the British began to do... they promised the Rohingya a "national area" in the Arakan if they would simply fight for the British.

In times of upheaval the Rohingya had fought for the British before. So why should they set this one out? After all, the land they would be going back to was their homeland. This was the place they had raised their children. This was the home where they had been born. And this was the only land where they could ever envision their future generations living for the rest of time.

When the Japanese massacres were ended and the invader was driven out the Rohingya were seen by the Rakhine as traitors. They had once again sided with the British. They had once again gone against the original goal of expelling the colonialist. And thus the genocide of the Rohingya would continue.

So when the British pulled out of Pakistan and Myanmar the Rohingya were faced with few options. They had established an army to defend themselves against Rakhine aggression. But now, as the Arakan was drawn into Burma rather than Bengal, the Rohingya were trapped. Their homeland was once again given away to someone else. Their land was once again taken out from underneath their own feet. Thus in 1947 the Rohingya approached the government of Pakistan and pleaded for a desperate solution to a desperate situation. It was then that the Rohingya asked to be incorporated into East Pakistan (Bangladesh).

From that point on the Rohingya sealed their fate in Myanmar. Pakistan would never allow the Rohingya into Pakistan due to their own innate bigotry. And the Rakhine, along with the rest of Myanmar, would forever see the Rohingya as outsiders. This act of asking to leave Burma and take their homeland with them was another act of treason in the eyes of their Rakhine neighbors.

In response, upon Burmese independence in 1948, the leaders of Myanmar began to impose countless limitations upon the Rohingya. In direct response to the move to leave Burma and join Pakistan the Rohingya were given limitations upon their movement within Burma. Then to add to this the Burmese wrote laws that allowed Rohingya to be used as slave laborers within the Arakan. And those who had fled Burma during the war with Japan, around 13,000, were not given the right to return to their homes after the war.

In effect, the Rohingya were stripped of their nationality and their citizenship to their own homeland.

The next chapter of the Rohingya genocide began with the military coup that led to the Junta rule of Myanmar in 1962. Under the military rule the generals began initiating programs that would "encourage the Rohingya to leave Burma". These included the total withdraw of Rohingya citizenship and severe restrictions upon their freedoms. From the 1970's the Rohingya were forced out of the military and none have been allowed to join the military since. Then in 1974 when the citizens of Burma were required to carry National Registration Certificates the Rohingya were forced to carry Foreign Registration Cards (which few were even allowed to have).  And finally came the Nagamin programs (Kingdom of Dragons) that were meant to increase harassment of Rohingya and allow for their deportation.

In 1991 the Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh from Myanmar began to tell the West about vast human rights abuses in the Arakan. This was the largest migration of Rohingya across the border since the Junta took power. In May of 1991 nearly 10,000 Rohingya fled the Arakan. They told reporters of summary executions, rape camps, vast amounts of torture used by the Burmese military and Rakhine mobs in the Arakan. They told of forced labor in which the Rohingya were worked till they either died or could be of little use once they collapsed. And yet their stories remained muted even as 270,000 Rohingya fled by March of 1992.

The same atrocities continue to this day. The main weapon used to justify the ongoing atrocities is the 1982 race laws (actually called the Citizenship Law) that were designed to restrict citizenship of the Rohingya who fled in 1978. Though today they are still employed to deny all Rohingya their due citizenship. They are also used to clarify that the Rohingya are not Burmese but rather foreign invaders.

Today the Rohingya face starvation as they are forced into concentration camp style ghettos and refugee camps. Nasaka, the Burmese gestapo, kill the Rohingya who attempt to flee the mobs that carry out the massacres of Rohingya. In addition, the government of Burma continues to deny the Rohingya access to food, water, and medical treatment.

All of this leaves me, the main author here at Alder's Ledge, to ask just how much different history would have been if those who have used and abused the Rohingya had simply kept their promise? Would the Rohingya been spared this seemingly endless genocide? Or would they simply been subjected to some other form of neglect and abuse by those who have helped ensure their current plight?

Better yet, the question still remains...

How much longer should the Rohingya be left to suffer before the world acts to save their lives?

Blockades In Bangladesh

Racism Knows No Borders
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Always On The Outside Looking In)

For nearly a year now the Arakan has been under siege by Rakhine extremist who are determined to fulfill their campaign of ethnic cleansing. These fascist have created as system of oppression not seen by the West since the Bosnian Genocide. And much like the Serbian aggression, the Rakhine extremist began their siege of the Rohingya with a horrific purge. 

Many of Burma's Rohingya fled the initial wave of genocide in their homeland for the promise of security across the border in Bangladesh. These Rohingya had been led to believe that at the very least they would be spared the killing and barbarism that was spreading across the Arakan. The one thing they would never escape however was the racism that plagues the region in which they live. 

No border would stop the hatred the Bengali and Burmese communities hold for the Rohingya. It is a deep seeded hatred that can't be easily explained. And yet, in the same irony of the cheap excuses given for the Bosnian Genocide, it isn't a hatred that can be used to explain the violence. This was a hatred that has left the Rohingya as a people vulnerable, oppressed, and constantly on the run. 

In Bangladesh the local authorities fought against the establishment of any form of refugee camps. Recognized camps were just as dangerous as the purges across the border in Burma. So with the constant threat of violence, the Rohingya gathered in unregistered (and considered illegal) camps away from prying eyes. 

(Dreary And Miserable Camps)

Hostility against the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has been only getting worse. The Border Guards Bangladesh and the Repaid Action Battalion have been increasing their presence around the Rohingya camps. Along with their presence comes the threat of rape, robbery, extortion, and slavery. Let alone the violence associated with the security personnel.

This increase in military and security has also led to Rohingya being unable to seek jobs and income in the the surrounding area. The fact that these camps are unregistered with the UNHCR also means that they are unable to receive aid from the UN. And with the security the roads have been blocked and checkpoints erected, meaning that NGOs are unable to reach the camps. 

In Bangladesh there are four refugee camps. Two of which are not registered with the UNHCR. This leaves these two camps vulnerable and at the whims of the Bengali military.

In Kutupalong makeshift camp there are about 60,000 people and  15,000 in Lada makeshift camp. All of these Rohingya are on the verge of starvation. Without the ability to leave these camps and seek employment and food, these Rohingya will have to face a slow and painful death.

For many they will have to decide if they should stay in Bangladesh or risk death on the sea fleeing ethnic cleansing once again.

The Wound That Time Cannot Heal

Bangladesh's Persistent Pain
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(During the War in 1971 the dead were often left unburied.)

“Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands.” 

~ President of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan

The war for independence that led to Bangladesh being created out of what had been "East Pakistan" was beyond brutal. This scar upon Bengali past has never truly healed and the wound it leaves upon Bangladesh is often readily visible. On February 5th this wound was ripped wide open as protesters took to Shahbagh Square to show their discontent with the verdict given by the International Crimes Tribunal. The verdict handed down had dealt with the numerous crimes committed during the genocide of 1971. And once again, in the Bengali view at least, the world had sided with Pakistan. 

But what really happened in 1971? 

"It is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland."

~ as reported by Time magazine, accredited to US officials. 

When Bangladeshis helped elect a nationalist leader, Sheikh Mujib, the Pakistani ruling class decided they had had enough of the "downtrodden races" in East Pakistan". Almost over night the Pakistani military imprisoned Sheikh Mujib and began a campaign of genocide the world was not ready to face. But the storm that was about to be unleashed was not new... it was in fact easily predictable. 

When Pakistan had been cut loose from British rule Bangladesh had been rolled into Pakistani command under the impression that common religious beliefs could bind the two ethnic groups. The racial factor of the unholy union was completely overlooked by Brits and Pakistani officials alike. Britain wanted to be free of the hassles and monetary drag that the region had become. Pakistan wanted control of the region for the resources and power that came with colonial style rule. 

Racist views on the part of Pakistani leaders was evident from the start. Politicians and military personnel alike were openly hostile to the "east Bengalis" they had managed to gain control over. And it was this persistent grinding of their boots upon the neck of Bangladesh that eventually led to bloodshed. Yet this is a fact that Pakistan to this day refuses to admit. 

"East Bengalis…have all the inhibitions of downtrodden races … their popular complexes, exclusiveness and … defensive aggressiveness … emerge from this historical background.”

~ Pakistani General Ayub Khan, 1967

(Stray Dogs Feeding Upon Unburied Bengali Corpse)

When the genocide was initially launched the Pakistani forces set out following the Turkish example laid out in Armenia. During the initial phase of the genocide the Pakistani forces targeted teachers, students, politicians, and community leaders. This was meant to break the Bengali social structure and deprive East Pakistan of its ability to mount a sophisticated form of resistance. It was the same methods employed by The Young Turks, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao. It is the exact method that has been proven successful in every genocide the Pakistani leadership had seen occur prior to 1971. Thus it is evident that the Pakistani government not only knew what they were doing but was intentionally taking on the systematic slaughter of Bangladesh. 

From the very beginning Pakistani military officials had already set a quota for just how many Bengali civilians they wanted to have killed by the end of the year. The acting President of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, ordered his troops to kill at least three million Bangladeshi civilians so as to "bring the others under control". From that point it was clear that the military would continue to use methods indicative of ethnic cleansing to clear vast areas of Bangladesh and cull the overall population. 

The second wave of the genocide came as Pakistani troops established "rape camps" and permitted troops on patrol to carry out gang rapes of any Bengali women or girls they came across. This portion of the genocide once again mirrored the heinous acts carried out by The Young Turks during the Armenian Genocide. This act of demanding that Bengali females "offer comfort" for the occupying Pakistani troops was a double bladed sword. First it offered Pakistani troops a perverted moral boost as they were given permission to rape any girl of any age they desired. And ultimately it allowed Pakistani officials to cut the birth rate across the Bengali population. 

The second part of using rape as a weapon was complicated in its intent. By bringing "shame" upon the Bengali female victim the Pakistani forces could multiply their initial crime. If the victim was not raped to death and survived the camps or rape patrols she would be forced to live with the crime. This meant that she was forced to hide her "shame" from her family and community or face being ostracized by her own family. In extreme cases the rape victim could face exile from her community or even the rare "honor killing". All of this was known by Pakistani officials and intended by employing rape as a method of ethnic cleansing. 

"In East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) [General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan and his top generals] also planned to murder its Bengali intellectual, cultural, and political elite. They also planned to indiscriminately murder hundreds of thousands of its Hindus and drive the rest into India. And they planned to destroy its economic base to insure that it would be subordinate to West Pakistan for at least a generation to come. This despicable and cutthroat plan was outright genocide."

~ R.J. Rummel, Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900

The final phase, though carried out throughout the genocide, was distinctly religious in the fact that Pakistani forces targeted Hindu individuals living within East Pakistan. This shows the Pakistani desire to use genocide to cleanse the area they wished to keep under Pakistani rule of outside religions. The fact that Pakistan intentionally targeted Hindus isn't a surprise either... in fact it too could have been predicted by the British and UN long before Pakistan slaughtered them in the 1971 genocide. 

When Pakistan and India were carved out of British held territory the issue of religion came to the surface almost immediately. In the initial fighting the Muslims of what is now Pakistan used ethnic cleansing to attempt to push all Hindus and Sikhs out of what was then West Pakistan. The Hindus on the Indian side of the border also turned to ethnic cleansing to attempt to push all Muslims and Sikhs over the border into what was then West Pakistan. This genocide was complex in the fact that both Hindus and Muslims engaged in genocide to gain their territorial aspirations while Sikhs were caught in the crossfire. It was not the case in 1971 when Pakistani forces engaged in genocide in what was then East Pakistan. 

The intentional targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh was however a point in the genocide where the fog of war blurs the lines between Pakistani guilt and Bengali complacency. There is no denying that Bengali citizens helped Pakistani forces in their genocidal ambitions in clearing out Hindus and the businesses they had built in Bangladesh. Through greed, lust, and outright hatred; Bangladeshi civilians were lured into cooperating with Pakistani forces. 

However, no matter how many Bengali forces helped, the original sin of organizing and instigating of genocide still laid with Pakistani politicians and military leaders. Both ethnic Bengalis and Hindus alike were targeted and slaughtered in the genocide. The means and excuses for doing so may have varied. But the results were the same in both communities. 

(Rayerbazar Killing Field, 1971)

"The genocide and gendercidal atrocities were also perpetrated by lower-ranking officers and ordinary soldiers. These “willing executioners” were fueled by an abiding anti-Bengali racism, especially against the Hindu minority. "Bengalis were often compared with monkeys and chickens. Said General Niazi, ‘It was a low lying land of low lying people.’ The Hindus among the Bengalis were as Jews amongst the Nazis: scum and vermin that [should] best be exterminated. As to the Moslem Bengalis, they were to live only on the sufferance of the soldiers: any infraction, any suspicion cast on them, any need for reprisal, could mean their death. And the soldiers were free to kill at will. The journalist Dan Coggin quoted one Pakistani captain as telling him, "We can kill anyone for anything. We are accountable to no one." This is the arrogance of Power."

~ R.J. Rummel, 'Death by Government'

In the end the government of Pakistan was guilty of killing an estimated 1.5 million Bangladeshi civilians. This number was only half of the intended 3 million Bengalis the Pakistani government had intended to kill during the genocide (officially 'Operation Searchlight'). The only reason for the shortfall in the total number killed however was not failure of intent but military defeat at the hands of stiff resistance to Pakistani tyranny. 

Matthew J. White, in his 2012 book The Great Big Book of Horrible Things, estimates the total Bengali civilian death toll at 1.5 million. R.J. Rummel wrote that, "Consolidating both ranges, I give a final estimate of Pakistan's democide to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000." And yet Pakistan is only willing to admit (rarely) that they did kill 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000 across Bangladesh as a whole. But most of the time Pakistan isn't even willing to admit to even the 5,000 figure. Most Pakistani politicians and historians fiercely defend the actions of their government in Bangladesh and insist that any deaths were justified and could never be considered "genocide" or even "massacres". 

(Bengali Militia Executing Pakistani Spies After Pakistan's Surrender)

The outside world both during and after the Bengali Genocide remained oddly silent. UN officials felt that it was more important to address the massacres Bengalis committed against minorities after the Liberation War (another term for the genocide carried out by Pakistan in 1971 due to its leading to Bangladeshi independence). US officials sought to pacify Pakistan and grow an alliance with the defeated nation as US interest in the area increased with Soviet involvement in the region sparked. Europe simply looked the other way as they focused on US involvement in Vietnam and other special interest in the region that seemed more important at the time. 

As time has passed the wound that this genocide left has festered and reopened almost routinely. UN organizations continue to focus on Bangladeshi war crimes while appearing to excuse Pakistani involvement in the genocide. With every snubbing of the massive loss of life the United Nations once again fails to realize it's promise of "Never Again". It also continues to drive a thorn into the side of both Pakistan and Bangladesh as the two nations continue to argue about the historic facts of that ill-fated 1971 war.

Till Bangladesh is given closure the history of the genocide that formed the nation will never be given a chance to heal. Much like other nations who have suffered genocide, Bangladesh will never be fully able to close this chapter of their history in a healthy manner let alone recognize their loss in a way that could heal the national wound. Instead the lives of those lost will continue to haunt the two nations and those who continue to live with their tainted history.