Myanmar Junta is stirring ethnic hatred against ethnic Rohingya people in cities like Yangoon and Mandalay After losing Rakhine. It has started a campaign to boycot and drive the them from the major cities.
At the moment, Myanmar is immersed in an unprecedented ethnic conflict. However, racial hatred is being spread in the country with the support of the government. The junta authorities have started spreading hatred against the ethnic Rohingya in the region after the recent crushing defeat by the insurgent group Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine state.
Three years after a military coup in Myanmar, the country's junta government recently faced the biggest armed resistance in history. Junta forces are disorientated by fighters from the Three Brotherhood Alliance, an alliance of three rebel groups. One of the members of the insurgent coalition is the Arakan Army (AA) which is fighting to take control of Rakhine state.
In Rakhine, the junta forces recently suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Arakan Army (AA). The junta authorities cannot accept this easily. And that's why they rose up against ethnic Rohingyas.
According to a report by local media The Irrawaddy, anti-Rohingya posters, banners and leaflets are being distributed in the cities, including Yangon, Myanmar's old capital city, and Mandalay, one of the largest cities where ethnic Bamar people are major in number.
Through these posters and leaflets, Bamar people are being called for boycott to ethnic Rohingyas. Asked not to go Rohingya-owned shops, hotels and restaurants. Not only that, the ethnic Rohingyas living in those cities are being asked to return to their home state of Rakhine.
Since last Monday (February 12), the posters have appeared on the signboards of ethnic Rohingya-owned shops and restaurants, or on street lampposts and electricity poles, in cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, The Irrawaddy quoted local residents as saying.
''Avoid any Rohingya-owned businesses in Rakhine to condemn the terrorist Arakan Army (AA)'', says a poster on a lamppost in Yangon.
Myanmar is a country of many ethnic groups. About 135 ethnic groups or nations live in the country. Among them, the main ethnic group is Bamar. Other ethnic groups include the Shan, Karen, Mon, Wa and Rakhine or Rohingya. Bamars are also known as Burmans or Burmese.
The census shows Burmese to be 68 percent of the total population. Other communities are another 32 percent. Burmese have the largest number and influence in the ruling party and the army. It is with the aim of maintaining that influence that other ethnic groups are oppressed and killed. And the ethnic conflict started from standing against this oppression.
The majority ruling group often chooses the strategy of spreading ethnic hatred to turn the stick on other ethnic groups. Ethnic hatred has spread widely in recent years, reducing opportunities for democracy in Myanmar. Due to which the Rohingya genocide took place in 2017 and 10 lakh Rohingya were displaced and took shelter in Bangladesh.
Ethnic hatred has been institutionalized in Myanmar. Not only the military rulers, but also during the period of the civilian democratic government, the spread of ethnic hatred did not stop. Which has come up in the reports of various international human rights organizations including the United Nations.
According to a recent report of the United Nations, caste hatred is being spread in the textbooks of educational institutions. Along with the military, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was also blamed for this.
In February 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup. The pro-democracy protesters were then brutally suppressed. In case of excessive use of force in peaceful protests, the pro-democracy took up arms.
Myanmar's ethnic armed rebel groups have long been trained by fighters fighting Myanmar's central government. The junta and rebels have been fighting for the past three years. However, recently, all the government forces, including the army, border guard BGP, have been cornered by the insurgents' attack. Losing control of various regions.
Behind this fierce resistance are long-standing ethnic rebel groups, as well as an alliance called the Brotherhood Alliance. This coalition says that their main goal now is the fall of the junta government. The Rakhine State-based Arakan Army is part of the Three Brotherhood alliance.
The Arakan Army is originally from Myanmar's Rakhine state. But they migrated in large numbers to the eastern part of Myanmar and the Arakan Army was formed out of them. They are currently the most heavily armed insurgent group in Myanmar.
According to the Arakan Army, founded in 2009, they are fighting for the sovereignty of the multi-ethnic Arakanese in Rakhine State. The Arakan Army also includes Rohingya rebels.
