No Land’s Man - A take on the Rohingyas crisis and India’s trial

The extent of de-humanization of humans, and human rights violations have reached a level of normal acceptance in our society. Anyone speaking up to the unfortunate fellow human beings has become upsetting to some of our fortunate fellow human beings on the other side, be it in the first world or in fourth world countries. The plight of  Rohingyas is a live reflection of the gigantic ugly side of humanity.

These people are refused of any land beneath their feet by the rest of humankind. Though they lived in Myanmar since the 12^th century, they have been denied citizenship by the Buddhist majority country for the last 3 decades. This action by the ‘followers of Buddha’ rendered these minority ethnic group effectively stateless.

The number of children, old, women and men fleeing their homes, leaving everything behind, crossed 500,000 during the last 2 months. Those who survived the treacherous trek through the mountains, forests, rivers and ocean reached some land, shattered, drained, hungry and sick, only to be detained and deported back to their hell. Just like their yesterday, their tomorrow too is almost extinct.  

The context

During the British rule, Myanmar was administered as a province of India. During that period, a large number of labourers migrated from the then India (including the current Bangladesh) to Myanmar. Now, the native Buddhists, supported by their government, consider Rohingyas to be ‘Bengalis’ who migrated illegally during British rule. They dismiss the term ‘Rohingya’ as a recent creation for political mileage. In consequence, Rohingyas are excluded from Myanmar’s Citizenship Act and their most basic rights including education, travel, marriage, religious practice, access to healthcare services, etc. are restricted.

The so called crackdown on the Rohingyas by the Myanmar security forces have often ended with human rights abuses including rape, torture, arson and murder. Naturally, some Rohingyas became rebels and took to arms to fight their oppressors. They called themselves Rohingya Salvation Army and attacked few police posts and army bases in revenge. In turn, Myanmar military intensified its atrocities against the group including frequent indiscriminate firing at the unarmed, fleeing men, women and children.

Several independent reports have concluded that the UN in Myanmar has been dysfunctional and it failed to ensure peace and security to the victims under the pressure of Myanmar authorities.

It’s also important to understand Myanmar’s political structure where the army has a strong influence and firm grip on power. 25% of Parliament seats are reserved for the army which is also in charge of home affairs in addition to defense and border related affairs. It’s almost impossible for the democratic side of Myanmar’s power symmetry to override the weight of the army. There are speculations that the army is using the Rohingya issue to destabilize the democratic set up.

The puzzlement of Indian government

Indian political stance on Rohingyas issue is apparently supported by some confused wisdom along with many unpublished agenda.  The government indeed has all the right to stop illegal immigrants into the country. However, as regards deportation, there are applicable international laws, which India seems to have chosen to ignore. With some possible theories and assumptions guiding the decisions, India, perhaps, is caught in a difficult spot in the whole issue. The government may well be trying to perform a delicate balancing act in a sensitive regional political ecosystem.  Yet, humanity should be placed above cognitive views and political compulsions.

India and Bangladesh can certainly give cover to some refugees without any burden on their economies, demography and on national security, while they can simultaneously work on containing the flow of refugees. The least India can do is to desist from calling the desperate refugees as terrorists when not even a single terror charge has been made on any of the 40,000 Rohingyas in India. Forming a baseless suspicion is a blatant prejudice.

India has been an advocate of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakum’, which means the whole world is one family irrespective of their nationality and faith. Such ideological concept shouldn't be used for mere political advantage. The Rohingya crisis is, indeed, an occasion for the Indian government and its people to uphold this noble philosophy.