Dangerous Liaisons

The crisis in Rakhine takes a decisive turn for the worse.

- AKM Moinuddin

The advent of militancy amongst the Rohingya, famously branded by Amnesty International as the world’s “most persecuted people”, was always just a matter of time, now that we think about it with the unerring aid of hindsight. In a sense, it has all happened in front of our own eyes, under our very noses. It’s not that we all had our eyes closed at the sight of them or or turned up our noses whenever in a room with them. Truth be told, they always seemed to be a people beaten. Too beaten to stage a rearguard, too cut off, too confined, too cornered, to stake their claim with any force. Or even panache.

Not anymore. Although we are still too dependent on the Myanmar government’s say-so for a truly credible account to emerge of what happened as the weekend set in on August 25, taken together with the events of October 2016, they confirm the entry of a completely new dimension into the mix, that serves to make the situation on the ground infinitely more complex: the spectre of armed resistance on the part of the Rohingya, through their resort to what the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre described as the only weapon of the world’s oppressed: terrorism.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) was the first to warn of things taking such a turn in the aftermath of the first attacks last year, that we reported in these pages. has warned that a disproportionate government military response without any overarching political strategy will play directly into the hands of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which continues to commit deadly attacks in northern Rakhine State.

ARSA claimed responsibility for the August 25 attacks on 30 police outposts and an army base—killing 12 security personnel—and sending both Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine fleeing their homes. The Myanmar government promptly denounced ARSA as a terrorist organization and on Sunday reported it had targeted civilians.