Asst. Assoc. Dr. Oktay Bozan, Deputy Head of the Department of Turkish Islamic Arts in Dicle University, in Turkiye’s Diyarbakır, made evaluations of the Myanmar government massacres in the Arakan said that the 4 percent Muslim population in the country is constantly being persecuted daily from the past.
Bozan stated that government administrators should involve to the Arakan problem rather than involvement of non-governmental organizations, said that the Arakan state has always faced continuous assimilation, forced for a majority of buddhist population and exile.
Saying that there are 64 different ethnic elements live in Myanmar, Bozan said, “Arakan is now one of the seven provinces of Myanmar or Burma in its former name. Myanmar is a country known as Burma until 1989. After 89, it changed its name to Myanmar, we see that it changed its name after a coup. It has a population of about 55 million. 64 different ethnic elements live in this country, with over 200 languages and dialects.”
“About 4 percent of the country constitutes by Muslim population”
Bozan said that about 89 percent of this country is Buddhist, 4 per cent belongs to the Christian religion and 4 per cent is Muslim. “When we look at the historical records, we see that in the Abbasids period, they converted to Islam in the 8th century Muslims, with the visit of traders, the Sufis, dervishes.”
Bazan stated that Arakan emerged as a state in the 15th century and expressed that Burma (Myanmar) occupied Arakan after a dynasty of 200-300 years.
“From 1942 onwards, Muslims here were displaced”
Bozan said, “When it comes to the year 1942, after the British withdraw from the region, especially here, a serious sense of deportation to Arakanese Muslims is beginning, a serious genocide is beginning and an assimilation is being initiated where Buddhist temples are built as much as possible to spread Buddhism. It is possible to see that the mosques have collapsed.”
“An Arakanese does not have the safety of life, property, and honor"
Stating that Arakanese facing oppression in all areas of life, Bozan said:
“For example, an Arakanese does not have life, property and honor security. Goods, the acquisition of property is not possible. They cannot set up a shop if they want. Only can set up under the surety of a Buddhist. The procedures to get married for an Arakanese can sometimes take months. There is no chance to continue education after secondary school for the Arakanese. So they don’t have the right to education. Building concrete construction for an Arakanese is not possible. They have to live in hovels or tent. Likewise also such as transportation, they have no right to travel. Therefore, they have exposed to political, economic and cultural pressure which cannot be seen in any other part of the world.”
“Islamic states are in fight of sectarian and interests”
Bozan conveyed that the Buddhists, who are shown as the humanist, applied violence to Muslims only because of their beliefs and that they saw them as a snake that its head should be squeezed. Despite all of this, Bozan pointed out that the Islamic world is silent, “Now the international public is silent and deaf. The major units of the world, especially the United Nations not seeing, do not want to see it. But Islamic countries are more and merrier blind and deaf. Technically we talk about 52-54 Muslims lands. But most of them have entered into a fight of sectarian and conflict of interest.”
Islamic countries should be involved in the issue
Bozan, finally said: “Non-governmental organizations should be responsive, demonstrate their reactions at all levels, and be in help as well as in this response, but let's not forget that this is not the work of civil society organizations, it is not something civil society organizations can do. Muslim states or other states, countries, should be involved in the issue in the international affairs.”
ILKHA