The Government of Myanmar plans to house returnees in “transit centers,” where Rohingya will be required

hour-long conversation with the Express Tribune, the former fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center

central slogan of the 2019 revolution as they marched up Africa Avenue past the airport and toward the center

Many among us take pride in Pakistan’s position as one of the prime bastions of Islamic ideals in the modern Muslim world. The Islamic Republic’s ongoing negotiations with Myanmar, therefore, are a matter of some concern for an average Muslim patriot. In a global political climate where many Muslims already feel besieged by external colonial forces, a new name is fast emerging among our list of oppressed Muslim groups from Palestinians to Kashmiris. And that name is ‘Rohingya’. More commonly known to Pakistanis as simply “Burma ke Musalman”, the Rohingya people are a predominantly Muslim Indo-Aryan population from the Rakhine state in Myanmar. This new entry to the vernacular and argumentation ammunition of a Muslim nationalist constitutes a story of human misery that is mortifying by any objective standard. A great bulk of the Rohingya people inherited their perceived criminality from their forefathers in the 60s, who rebelled against the Buddhist-dominant authorities and their discriminatory policies. The resulting resentment against the Muslim population led to the promulgation of the Burmese Nationality Law, which denies the Rohingya people citizenship and essentially renders them stateless – not unlike the Palestinians. There has been some controversy in the past concerning the degree of the oppression by the state of Myanmar. Pakistani web spaces were flooded by fake images of devastation caused by the military forces. In a country where Pak Studies, among other Islamo-nationalist devices, has generated a fertile ground where stories of Muslim victimhood are taken at face value, the images were accepted largely uncontested. The liberal citizenry of Pakistan should make no mistake here. Irrespective of the accuracy of the visual aids found on the internet – the oppression of the Rohingya people is undeniably brutal. In 2015, a damning study by International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) concluded that the Rohingya “face the final stage of genocide” at the hands of the Buddhist extremist groups as well as the Burmese authorities themselves. The study has well maintained its validity till now, especially considering a recent government crackdown that may have killed more than a thousand Muslims. The survivors’ accounts of rape, torture, property destruction, and wanton murder that have emerged in the crackdown’s wake are harrowing. The same Burmese government, it seems, is now at the cusp of being rewarded with an arms agreement with none other the Islamic Republic of Pakistan itself. Myanmar and Pakistan are engaged in advanced negotiations to license-build the JF-17 Thunder – an agreement that could help markedly expand Myanmar’s local defence industry. This is the same military force whose brutality against the Muslims of Rohingya has been substantiated by grainy videos in circulation on the internet, as well as international journalists and human rights organizations. The JF-17 was developed in collaboration with China – a country tarnished by its own history of violations against the Uighur Muslims, which I have discussed in detail in my previous writings. This Pakistan is beyond our recognition. This is a state that has invested great effort into establishing its role as a political defender of oppressed Muslim brethren. This has been the foundational doctrine of all of Pakistan’s military and diplomatic policies regarding Kashmir, as well as the primary reason why your Pakistani passport says that it is not valid for travel to Israel. It is astonishing how rapidly the doctrine of solidarity with Muslim brethren is vaporized, when it comes to abetting the bane of the Muslim populations of Xinjiang and Rakhine for our own economic and military gains. By what marvel of mental gymnastics, do we settle the cognitive dissonance of rattling sabres in support of Kashmiri Muslims, while simultaneously pushing Musalmanan-e-Burma under the bus? The Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Pakistan Air Force have so far declined to comment on the apparent mismatch. The JF-17 deal is an important one in the making; not simply because of its significance to the Myanmar Airforce, but as a determinant of Pakistan’s self-made identity as a vanguard of Muslim people. Do we now affirm this identity, or do we invite accusations of hypocrisy? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Pakistan Today

Rights Watch Newly released satellite images reveal that at least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed Ethnic Rohingya village completely destroyed adjacent to intact ethnic Rakhine village in Maungdaw Township The imagery pinpoints multiple areas where destroyed Rohingya villages sat adjacent to intact ethnic Map of villages destroyed in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung Townships.© 2017 Human Rights Watch Approximately 62 percent of all villages in the township were either partially or completely destroyed

“When the government faces a group of people who are killing and destroying property, when there is no is no outlet for resentment through protest, an open media, unions or opposition parties, then the centre

from three secret dungeons; namely: Nigerian Army’s Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja, Nigerian Army Training Center

— Ashidulla, 12CreditAlessandra Montalto/The New York Times An organization called BRAC runs child centers

“causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,” and “imposing measures to prevent births ) • Train university students in genocide prevention and encourage them to enter foreign policy making

highlighting has been added—ER] A significant number of farms (21) and pastoral land were reported destroyed Houses were also destroyed as a collateral damage. However, some communities have started harvesting ahead of time as wildfire has already destroyed 21 More boreholes or treated water distribution centers are badly needed. As reported, the bushfire is not only destroying crops but pasture for the livestock. – 17 October,

Apart from Sungawa Village, the following villages of Sabon Fegin Baza, Rakyabu, Tsageru, Langa Langa

this model should not be seen as linear, it outlines a logical process throughout which efforts to destroy The municipality has been described as a “cancer cell” aiming to destroy the DRC, a “neo-colonial occupation