The children sat with eyes wide open on the floor around the old woman: "Grandma, tell us again about the past when there was peace. We cannot imagine how it was like and Dad also does not remember." The grandmother replied with trembling voice: "Well, children, that is long, long ago, when I was still a young girl and the British soldiers were still around. It is more than 60 years ago since we last enjoyed peace."
Tensions between Muslims and Buddhist Rohingya
Stories like this are commonplace in Arakan, the mountain range along the west coast of Myanmar (formerly Burma), the homeland of the Rohingya (pronounced Rohinja) people. About a thousand years ago, Arab maritime traders settled along the coast of the Bay of Bengal and intermarried with the local Hindu and Buddhist population. Thus a Muslim presence already existed in northern Arakan even before Islam reached Bengal in the 13th century.
For centuries, Muslims and Buddhists lived peacefully side by side. Muslims held influential positions in the Arakan army and the royal court. The palace grounds of the Buddhist king even housed a mosque. Britain annexed Arakan in 1826, making it part of British India. During this time, there was some immigration of Muslims from other parts of India into Arakan. During World War II, the British fought fierce battles against the Japanese in Arakan, which brought terrible suffering to the civilian population.
Human Rights Violations
In 1948, Burma gained independence and the tensions between Muslims and the Buddhist majority increased. After the military coup in 1962, Muslims were discriminated against, or even openly persecuted. In practice a citizenship law denied the Rohingyas the right to be full Burmese citizens. This situation, worsened by severe human rights violations, led to mass refugee movements in 1978 and 1992. More than 250,000 Rohingyas fled across the border into Bangladesh. Though most of them have now been repatriated, their problems remain unresolved. Up to two million Rohingyas are in reality stateless, without any appropriate identity papers. They cannot travel from one village to another without having special permission. The condition of the Rohingya education system and economy is disastrous. It is illegal to publish any literature in the Rohingya language.
Rohingya Seeking spiritual help
Most Rohingyas are despondent and without a future; some are turning towards radical ideas. Hopes of leaving Myanmar illegally are growing. An estimated 1-2 million Rohingyas are already living in foreign countries such as Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia. This complicated situation has given them the name "Asia's new Palestinians".
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There is no known church or individual believers among the Rohingyas. Strongly influenced by folk Islam, the Rohingyas seek spiritual help by wearing charms, following magical rituals and visiting the tombs of saints. While their physical situation may be terrible, their spiritual situation is even more desperate.
Prayer for Myanmar (Burma):
* Pray for Myanmar's Christians to have opportunities to evangelise the Rohingyas. Pray that God will call labourers to work among them.
* Pray that the Rohingyas will find help for all their difficulties through God's intervention.
* Pray that the Word of God, Christian literature, videos and radio broadcasts will be produced in the Rohingyan language.
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We Rohingya have an excellent writing system that can exactly pronounce our tonque like what do you write what you speak or vice versa. The system consists of 26 English alphabets, 5 accented vowels and two other characters Ç and Ñ. Example:
"Añárar leka bicí cúndor ar asán ar toratori cíki fare ar computer arde internet ót bála gori leká za." which means:
"Our writing is very beautiful and easy and can be learnt quickly and can be easily wriiten in computer and Internet media."
Good insight, thanks.
Rohingya Language writing system has been officially recognized by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) on July 18, 2007 as being the writing system of Rohingyas, the aboriginals of Arakan State of Burma (Myanmar).
It is one of the easiest writing systems ever developed making learn the language extremely easy. You can read exactly how the aboriginals speak because the writing speaks how Rohingyas speak.
Pray for the Rohingya:
* for Rohingya in India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, etc. to hear the Gospel overseas
* for many Rohingya to have dreams, visons, and revelations of Eisa (Jesus)
* for a Bible translation for the Rohingya Muslims
* for the Buddhist government to be far to the Rohingya
* for Christian ltierature and radio for the Rohingya
* for many Christian workers to be called to minsiter to their physical & spritiual needs
* for whole Rohingya families to experince Christ
* for God to raise a strong Rohingya Church for the glroy of His Name!
Comment by andy fong — March 1, 2010 @ 7:28 PM | Reply
2.
We always recieved news messages from Myanmar people, they are complainted about committees of temple and please see at below.
Thanks
Dear Sir and Madam,
We are Myanmar group in Malaysia; we lived in Malaysia over decade and always went to one of temple in Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur and we were very sad and regreting with the committees of temple because they are using our monks in wrong conception of Buddhist teaching or Buddhist rules. We came to temple to help our monks and respected of our religion.
That temple is president of name:Yip Kum Fook, that our monks said and he is invited our monks from Myanmar to in charge of that temple but without pay anything to our monks, added he and his not respecting of our monks and sometime he ordered of his people to collected item such as paper, mineral water etc. without inform any words to our monks. In our religious believed we can’t take anything of holy place, if we done we are sin.
In pervious, our monk said the committees always asked money from him, when our monks gave RM20,000.00 in cash on 2001 to the committees, then committees keep silent, later committees make problem with our monk again and cancelled of our monk Visa permit to stayed in Malaysia, then our monks( Sadayaw Nandiya) go to Australia and our monk not come that temple at long time. “Yip Kom Fook gave our monk notebook computer for to cover of that amount of money our monk said”
Many local people around temple said, now no more people come to this temple because committees is always make problem and we are heard from local people said: Yip Kum Fook ordered of his people to put fire of Hindu temple at Taman Daya, Kepong because he needed that place to make his business about many years ago. “Everybody known what he done for Hindu temple at Taman Daya, Kepong”
Last time also he invited police to arrest the monks at holy place(temple) and locked the temple without afraid and shameful of people because he believed committee is big and has more authority, also his son always say to people: this temple is belonging of his father. “This temple donated from public, we are work hard for this temple”
This temple the committees always changed the monks, now they change the new monk to in charge of temple, this new monk also complaint the bad things of committees because committees also wait for donation box only, they without help anything to our monks. And committees controlled of our monks not to talk more or complaint more, our monks lived there as slaver and afraid of committees members.
In new building where remaining of Buddha statue marble; we have renovation of Buddha statue because that Buddha statue is put very low, we lift to highest the committees don’t like and unhappy. In our country, anyone be able to come temple to worship the Buddha but in Malaysia is different temple controlling by committees.
We hope everyone preserve of Buddhist teachings, and please safety of our monks, not see only money as this of temple. When we asked some of our people ( Myanmar) and local people, the committees are very low of idea because is very narrow mind and without education of religions. And committees will not disturbing of our monks, monks are like our father to take care of Buddhism and temple is like our place of resolving of our problem.
Recently, our monk(Sadayaw Ashin Indaka original from Madalay, Myanmar) has been staying in this temple also unhappy because the committees are not pay anythings to him, he is working in hardly to advise people and we also unhappy and very sad when heard the bad news from our monks. Sometime the committees people came and shouting in the temple without have any reason and done what they need to do, our monk said, the committees of this temple don’t have Buddhist teachings in their mind, may be next time Buddhist can destroy.
From Myanmar Buddhist group in Malaysia but many word complaint by local Buddhist community in Malaysia. If anyone receive of this message(email), please forward or send to your friends to protection Buddhism in Malaysia.
.-March 10th, 2010 at 8:55 am