When it comes to
making a decision, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proved to be
far-sighted, firm, pragmatic, poignant, conscious and she pushes it to
the end commensurate with norms of national and she international
diplomacy. As our officials at the Foreign Ministry remained in a bit
of slumber on a crisis unfolding across our southeastern border, the PM
moved all by herself, took the first shot and played her hands in
politics, administration and diplomacy to augur local and international
sentiments for all to come in aid of the Rohingya Muslims facing one of
history's worst genocides against them by the Myanmar army. They are
fleeing to Bangladesh by thousands each day to escape killing, rape,
arson and persecution by the Myanmar military and some monstrous
Buddhist monks who have shunned Lord Buddha's preaching of love and
peace but pulled away babies from mothers' lap, beheaded them and thrown
into the swirling Naff border river and into the Bay of Bengal. These
constituted some form of worst barbarity only comparable with heinous
activities of Pakistan occupation army in what was then East Pakistn
(now Bangladesh). The heinous crimes against humanity by the Pak army
and their local cohorts during our nine-month War of Liberation in 1971
cost three million lives and forced 10 million people to seek temporary
refuge in India. In course of the ongoing Muslim massacre in
Myanmar's Rakhine state (bordering Bangladesh) some 300,000 men, women
and children have fled into Bangladesh in the past three weeks and many
more are waiting to cross the borders defying landmines planted by the
Myanmar army and escaping notice of frontier guards on both sides. The
new entrants have joined an estimated over five million Rohingyas who
had taken refuge in Bangladesh, mostly illegally, since an earlier
massive influx in early 1990s. All but a few hundred of them went back
home under initiatives of the UNHCR but reports say they too have
returned to Bangladesh mixing with the current tide of refugees because
of persecution and insecurity. The world, including the United
Nations, OIC, ASEAN and other regional and international bodies as well
as the most foreign governments maintained an eerie silence over the
unfolding tragedies in Myanmar until the Bangladesh PM moved the bill on
her own because her country was suffering the brunt of brutalities
committed on the other side of the frontier. First to react were Turkey,
Indonesia and Malaysia who have sent their First Lady and Foreign
Minister respectively to Bangladesh to see the plight of the Rohingyas
and discuss with Dhaka possible ways to resolve the mounting problem.
Only after that the U.S. State Department praised Bangladesh's response
to the Myanmar crisis and urged Dhaka to help the refugees - almost at
the same time the Bangladesh Foreign Minister A S Mahmud Ali called
meetings with foreign diplomats and aid agency representatives in Dhaka
to apprise them of the grievous situation.
UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres warned against the 'ethnic cleansing' by Myanmar
authorities in Rakhine state. In a letter to the UN Security Council on
September 4 he expressed concern that the Myanmar persecution of
Rohingyas could get spiral into 'humanitarian catastrophe'. But despite
the UN Secretary General's deep concern the Security Council did not
call emergency session to discuss the Rohingya issue and warn Myanmar to
stop Rohingya persecution. President Abdul Hamid attending the OIC
meeting in Kazakhsthan capital Astana also took up the Rohingya issue
with the leaders of OIC countries and sought their help to resolve the
issue without further bloodbath. However, Bangladesh is somewhat
dismayed by the role of the two biggest Asian countries India and China
in the Rohingya crisis. Instead of standing by the suffering Rohingyas
and Bangladesh trying to salvage them, New Delhi and Beijing
surprisingly have taken side with Myanmar thus strengthening the hands
of the killers. Moscow also has remained mute over Myanmar's persecution
of the Rohingyas. More surprising and unpardonable that the Myanmar
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who got Nobel Prize for peace, has been
defending the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims by her army. Lust for
power has changed her and now the barbaric acts of her army on the
Rohingyas do not trouble her conscience. The UN and other agencies
initially described the happenings in Myanmar as ethnic cleansing now
they have upgraded the term as a 'genocide' as the barbaric actions
against the Rohingyas have taken an unrelenting upswing every day in and
out. Now it remains to see what the world acts and how promptly to
stem the flow of Rohingyas out of their country, ensure their rights to
citizenship and permanent residency and give Bangladesh relief from
taking in more refugees fleeing from Myanmar persecution. It is the
responsibility of the UN and world's powerful countries to help
Bangladesh to send back who have been sheltered here legally and
illegally over the decades. Bangladesh could do it ruthlessly by
itself, slam its borders shut and put its security forces on red alert
with fingers at the triggers. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
acclaimed globally for her leadership, acts with benevolence, soft and
sympathetic mind while carefully dealing with any issues, more so if the
issue is a humanitarian one. She wants a "win win" situation for both
parties in a conflict. Regarding the Ronhingyas, she has ordered
Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) to loosen the watch and control a bit
to let the desperate flocks of people to enter Bangladesh to save their
lives but not to open the frontiers altogether. Instead, she asked for
tight vigil to continue while her administration along with
international aid agencies and donor countries make sure no refugee dies
of hunger or disease. The government has already allotted 2,000 acres
of forest land in Cox's Bazar border district for the Rohingyas to live
temporarily in a bid to hold them together instead of scattering around
the district or the country. If the streams of Rohingyas continue maybe
more land will be earmarked for them. But under no circumstances this
should be taken or misconstrued as part of a plan to resettle the
homeless evicted Rohingyas permanently in Bangladesh. In early 1990s
and later years, the Rohingyas stealthily migrated to Bangladesh as
economic refugees. The government and UNHCR together sheltered around
25,000 in two camps in Cox's Bazar and Teknaf while a much bigger number
scattered around, made tents in the forests, mingled with local Muslims
and even set up family ties through marriage. Some have allegedly voted
in local elections by securing voter card from dishonest poll
officials, many have left for other countries especially Middle East,
Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries using Bangladeshi
passports. Despite the humanitarian concern, here too politics plays
a dirty game., While the government is trying using assertive but quiet
diplomacy to stem the flow of the Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the
opposition BNP leader Khaleda Zia - now enjoying time in London with
her exiled son Tarique Rahman and his family, has called for Bangladesh
to fully flung open its borders with Manmar. Only someone with a
derelict brain can suggest so. This is an irresponsible statement by an
insensible politician pushing some dubious designs but caring less or
not at all for the interest of Bangladesh and its people. However, her
proposal did not sell well even with the allies of the BNP, mostly small
and fringe parties. In the troubled water in the wake of the
Rohingya crisis there is a move to back the so-called 'jihadi' group
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) to launch insurgency activities
inside Myanmar, to unsettle Hasina government and to destabilise India's
eastern front. Media reports said that Pakistan's intelligence agency
ISl and international terrorist group ISIS are patronising ARSA and for
this an ISI man met BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and her son
Tarique Zia in London to ensure BNP-Jamaat's support for ARSA. Political
analysts believe that Sheikh Hasina will successfully handle the
Rohingya issue in the same way she did deal with this year's two spells
of savage flooding, row with the Chief Justice and outcry over the trial
of those who committed crimes against humanity during our War of
Liberation in 1971. The flood in April destroyed almost everything in
the country's vast Haor areas leaving millions of people face to face
with hunger. The PM visited some of those places and ordered people of
ruling Awami League and local officials to make sure that no one dies of
starvation or hunger. She sternly warned against misuse of relief
supplies. It worked well even with the traditionally corrupt politicians
and officials - barring a few exceptions -- and thus many people on the
verge of deaths have been saved. With her far-sight she decided to
import food grains to offset the crop loss in Haor areas that kept the
food price stable (with only slight rise) during the recent flood which
left devastation in many districts. Sheikh Hasina has adopted the
same policy - with same mission and stronger perspectives -- about
dealing with the Rohingya refugee problem. She is contemplating to
settle some Rohingyas also on a remote river island (to ease pressure on
the main land) while stoking up world opinion and lining up world
leaders for sending in help and putting pressure on Myanmar rulers to
stop genocide and take back their people from Bangladesh at the soonest.
The Prime Minister is due to visit Cox's Bazar today (Tuesday) to
see for herself the plight of the Rohingya refugees, make on the spot
assessment of their needs for immediate and long term help and plead
with her global counterparts as to how to expedite the solution of
Rohingya issue. Meanwhile, Bangladesh is committed to ensure all
possible help to the refugees in the short run but definitely it cannot
feed so many extra mouths for an indefinite time. The world should
realise Bangladesh can provide temporary refuge to the Rohingyas on
humanitarian consideration but it cannot ensure their future here.
