Vox Pop: Dismay over recent regime attacks on heritage buildings in Mrauk-U

By Admin 28 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
28 December 2023, Sittwe

The archaeological museum that sits on the palace mound in Mrauk-U was damaged when Myanmar’s military regime carried out artillery strikes following fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) on December 25.

The museum showcases artefacts, stone inscriptions, stone carvings and historical materials from the Danyawaddy, Waithali, Lemyo and Mrauk-U dynasties. The ancient city of Mrauk-U currently has a pending bid for UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site.

DMG recently interviewed local Arakanese residents about the junta’s shelling of what is widely considered to be the invaluable historical heritage of the Arakanese people.

U Aung Thaung Shwe || Former Lawmaker

Ancient heritage in Mrauk-U is internationally recognised. The British and the Japanese people that ruled the country did not destroy them, but preserved them despite the fact that they are racially and religiously different from us.

While we are working to get Mrauk-U inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the military council has destroyed them deliberately. They have violated international conventions and UN provisions by doing so.

A Kyaukphyu Resident

This is not the first time the military council takes cover in pagodas and launches attacks. It is a really awful act. When I saw photos and news reports about the strikes on Mrauk-U museum, I suspected that they were intentional.

When Myanmar military soldiers take cover in pagodas, they can justify that they do so for their lives. But it was a deliberate artillery attack on a site of invaluable heritage. All the historical records will be lost if the relics are destroyed. The military council should avoid doing so.

Ko Oo Than Naing || Arakan Students Union

As the fighting rages, the military council is targeting civilians. They also take cover in historical heritage buildings, religious buildings, and schools. We condemn those acts. 

Mrauk-U is the heart of all Arakanese people. It is the place where students from Myanmar and other countries doing research on ancient cultural heritage can study. The regime is quite unprincipled to attack such a place.

A Manaung Resident

Both southern and northern Arakan State suffers equally when Mrauk-U is harmed. The damage to Mrauk-U is damage to Arakanese heritage. If the invaluable historical relics are damaged, the history of Arakan State will disappear. 

Both the Arakan Army and the military council need to exercise extra caution to avoid harming any historical thing, from stone inscriptions to fossils. To us, it is an invaluable symbol for the entire Arakanese people.

A Mrauk-U Woman

For a race to be recognised there must be historical heritage. Destroying the historical heritage of a race amounts to killing that race. Mrauk-U is recognised by all as the heart of Arakanese people as it houses such heritage. Destroying those historical records amounts not only to killing their cultural identity but removing the history of that race.

The regime deliberately did so despite its knowledge that Mrauk-U had made a bid for UNESCO’s recognition. So, in my opinion, the regime has pulled a race down, deliberately stopping it from thriving, getting developed and recognised.