Futu is one of the millions of Rohingya refugees who have taken refuge in Bangladesh.
The tragic story of her and her family is told in a lengthy article in The New York Times Magazine, entitled The Schoolteacher and the Genocide by Sarah A. Topol. Our series is a translation of that article. This is the second episode of the series.
 |
| New York Times magazine article about Futu; Image Source: Twitter |
Futu is one of the millions of Rohingya refugees who have taken refuge in Bangladesh. The tragic story of her and her family is told in a lengthy article in The New York Times Magazine, entitled The Schoolteacher and the Genocide by Sarah A. Topol. Our series is a translation of that article. This is the second episode of the series.
There was no book in Dunse Para from which Futu could know that the people of the outside world had recorded the presence of the Rohingya community in the area in the eighteenth century. In 1799, Francis Buchanan, a Scottish physician living in India, visited Arakan. He wrote that two communities were living there: 'Yakain' and 'Ruinga'. (This record is very important. The record often comes up in debates about who was or was not in Burma before the arrival of the British, and as a result who is not the landlord or landlord of the region.)
Futu knew that the British had begun to control the present territory of the Rakhine State from 1824. But he did not know that it took them six decades to establish control over the rest of Burma. Burma was a province of India at that time. The border between the two countries was open. At that time India included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The British encouraged immigration from India to Burma. They rewarded newcomers with attractive nobility, which gave rise to jealousy and frustration among the locals. But despite this, many in society remember the colonial period as a period of prosperity and peace.
Futur's grandfather told him that when the Japanese invaded Arakan in 1942 during World War II and started a war against the British on the hill, that war did not touch the people of Dunse. But in reality, after the war started, the Rohingya and Rakhine took a stand against each other. This communal conflict is echoed from generation to generation.
The Buddhist Rakhine supported the invading Japanese because they had promised independence from the British. The Muslim Rohingya, on the other hand, supported the British colonists because they got along well with them. Futur's grandfather only told him that during World War II, both communities jumped on each other with long knives and stones.
Many Rohingya families, like the Futur family, fled to the north of the state in self-defense. The Rakhine, on the other hand, had gathered in the south of the state for their safety. Futur's grandparents were so old at the time that he was stabbed to death by an opponent because he could not run fast.
When Futur's grandparents returned home after a month in the north, their home was in ruins. Their cows also disappeared. It was the first of many violent conflicts in recent history. The source of each of these conflicts was individual, but all were a ruthless repetition of displacement and return.
 |
Rohingyas are fleeing to save their lives Image Source: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters |
On the eve of Burma's independence in 1948, anti-India and anti-Muslim riots broke out in the country. The rioters demanded that those who came with the British should go back with the British. Many fled to what was then East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh.
In the 1950s, the government of U Nur, Burma's first elected prime minister, announced that citizenship would be granted to those who had lived on the Burmese border before the arrival of British colonists. Many Rohingya families, such as the Futud family, were given papers at the time. They were promised various rights, including future autonomy.
But General Ne Win's coup in 1962 put an end to these plans. Ne Win believed that the identity of the state must be Buddhist. In the interest of national unity, he was in favor of suppressing the minority ethnic groups fighting for rights. His resentment was especially towards the Muslims, whom he considered to be the displaced people. He feared that Muslims would change the population in their favor by giving birth to more children.
The military junta imposed a ban on Rohingya travel in the Rakhine state. They handed over the responsibility of enforcing the new directives to the Buddhist Rakhine. In 1963, many Rohingyas, including Futur's grandfather, fled and took refuge in Bangladesh. Futu's grandfather rarely spoke of those days, but Futu knew that he had learned to read Bengali in those days of exile. When Futu was very young, he would often see his grandfather reciting long Bengali poems after the Maghrib prayers. The villagers would come and listen to the recitation of his poems, requesting them to be recited again.
In early 1977, the Burmese army, known as the Tatmadao, launched a massive operation. The operation, dubbed 'Naga Min' or 'Dragon King', was aimed at expelling 'illegal immigrants' from Burma. One day Tatmada also entered the village of Futud. They rallied the villagers, including Futu's parents, and forced them to show the tick marks by lifting the sleeves of their clothes. They claim that Bangladeshis have tick marks on their right arm and Burmese citizens have tick marks on their left arm.
During this horrific operation, their citizenship papers were confiscated from the Rohingyas. Troops burned down villages, destroyed mosques, and relocated people to enclosures made of poles. They kill men and rape women. More than two lakh Rohingya refugees flocked to the dilapidated camps on the other side of the Naf River, which separates Bangladesh and Burma.
The Bangladeshi authorities were not interested in carrying the burden of the Rohingyas. They withheld food rations to force the Rohingya to return. Less than six months after fleeing Burma, the Rohingya were forcibly repatriated. Three years later, Burma's military government passed the 1982 Citizenship Act. The law was used to deprive the Rohingya of citizenship. The Rohingya become one of the largest stateless populations in the world.
 |
| A Rohingya refugee camp in BangladeshImage Source: MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU/AL JAZEERA |
In 1992, when Futu's family rejoined thousands of Rohingya and set out for Bangladesh, Futu had just entered primary school. They were fleeing to escape a new Ato force Rohingya into forced labor, which also included Futur's father's name. After six days of walking along the path created by the Rohingyas who fled before them, they finally reached Bangladesh.
A total of 280,000 people of the service took shelter in Bangladesh. They have to stay in refugee camps in Bangladesh for up to four years. During this time, unbeknownst to them, the Burmese government launched a project to build 'model' Buddhist villages in their area. They brought poor Rakhine and Bama prisoners from other parts of the country to be relocated there in exchange for huge land, a pair of oxen, and a house.
Even after going to the refugee camp, Futur's father did not give up hope of his child's education. He arranged a private class for Futu in an unused cottage. There, Futu learns English and Burmese from another Rohingya refugee with a small group.
One morning, Futud's family was told they would return to Myanmar the next day. They had nothing to do. Refugees who protested were beaten. Some even died. The next morning their family is dropped off by a speedboat to a land where no one wants them.
After setting foot on the coast, Futur's mother fell ill when she saw Tatmadao and the Rakhine. There was nothing left of their house. They had to start all over again, from collecting wood from the hills.
Futu used to walk to the nearby Rakhine village every day to finish primary school. He then moved to a nearby Rakhine town to be admitted to middle school. But the fear that had crept into their minds never subsided. In various ways, it would assert its presence. Every time he noticed the presence of the military, Futur's father would panic. Her body was shaking, she was shaking, although Futu still did not see any danger.
Although the dates and details of all the incidents did not find a place in history, human trauma was passed on to the next generation. The children mastered it through the embrace of anxious mothers or the wrath of fathers. It was present at the sight of the patrols coming, waking up their fathers, or fleeing the village in fear of the security forces, spending night after night in the mountains.
Without annihilation, the Rohingya were disappearing, unable to dream of a peaceful future. Many of them were not interested in building beautiful houses. Again, many would invest in land that they did not want. One by one, from generation to generation, they had nothing to do but survive. They grew up carrying the traumas of their parents on their own. They did not even know the source of these, nor did they know when something new would come and force them to leave their world.
Read the next episode from here: Episode 2
All episodes: Episode 1 । Episode 2
Post a Comment