Harmony and friendship promoted between Arakanese and Muslims in Arakan State

By DMG 25 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
25 October 2022, Sittwe  

Arakanese and Muslim students are working together to promote harmony between the two communities in Arakan State. 

In the past, there was little cooperation between Arakanese and Muslim students, but now they have built good relations and trust, the students said. 

“All ethnic groups in Arakan State such as Mro, Khami, Daingnet, Thet, Kaman, Maramargyi, Muslim and Chin need to be united,” said Ko Oo Than Naing, a member of the Arakan Students’ Union. “We believe that only if all ethnic groups are united, Arakan State will progress both economically and socially.” 

Arakanese and Muslim students are currently working together to provide opportunities for Muslim students in the education sector. The students also said that due to the cooperation, they have been able to improve the historically fraught relations between the two faith groups. 

“Muslim students were allowed to attend university,” said one Muslim student. “Muslim students have been kicked out of school for 10 years, but in this situation, they can now go to school. The students have become more affectionate toward each other.” 

Arakanese students attend Muslim festivals and vice versa, and they also work together to provide humanitarian aid. 

“There are many uneducated people in the Muslim community,” said a Muslim man in Buthidaung Township. “Now, if there are opportunities for the young generation to get an education, then the next generation will be much better. If people are educated, they will have a broader view.” 

Relations between Muslims and Arakanese were essentially severed due to the communal violence that broke out in Arakan State in 2012. Because Muslims were subsequently restricted from travelling, they also lost access to healthcare and education. The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) has touted to its work promoting social harmony and peaceful coexistence between Arakan State’s Arakanese and Muslim communities in recent years. 

More than 700,000 Muslims fled to Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown that it described as “clearance operations” following two separate attacks on security forces by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). 

The now-deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi tried in vain to repatriate the Muslim refugees in the years prior to its ouster in February 2021. The military junta is also ostensibly making an effort to repatriate the Muslims in Bangladesh.