Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar's Rohingya in the news

The region that contains Bangladesh, Nepal, and the western portion of Myanmar does not pretend to be influential in today's world. But news from these countries has filtered out this past week and is worth noting.


Nepal is a mountainous country where the Himalaya mountains have formed from the Indian tectonic plate pushing into the Eurasian plate. Bangladesh is nearly all a low level delta from rivers running from the Himalayas to the ocean. The Western region of Myanmar is non-descript, mainly low level hills. Graphic from rochester.edu

Nepal suffered a major earthquake and a set of aftershocks, killing nearly 8000 of its citizens. With steep terrain, and limited infrastructure, it is a stiff blow to the country's prospects in the near term.


While a disaster, it may be one that nonetheless pulls its citizens together. Soldiers, citizens, and the government are all working with the same goal of recovering from this major setback. Photo from www.travelweek.ca

The Rohingya of Myanmar are a Muslim minority in an otherwise Buddhist Myanmar. This ethnic group has little power, faces an indifferent, if not hostile government, and neighbors thus are allowed to act aggressively toward these people. The Rohingya number nearly 1 million, are mainly agrarian, have their own language, and isolated by modern borders from other Muslim populations, namely Bangladesh.

In an article two years ago from the Christian Science Monitor, we read that some Buddhists in Bangladesh are leaving that country and being resettled in Rohingya land. Another element of harassment and oppression of the Rohingya. The Myanmar government and Buddhist leaders contend that the Rohingya are relatively new to the region and have no long-standing claim on the land. The long running strife is messy, violent, and oppressive with diminished opportunities for education and growth within the Rohingya community. While primarily a reflection of mismatched borders and intertwined populations with Bangladesh, the issue as found elsewhere is how minority populations are protected by law and treated equally. When Myanmar and Bangladesh both struggle with poverty and a mixed record of governance, the festering continues.


Border guards in Bangladesh refuse entry to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in November 2012. Teatree was moved and sobered by the pain on this man's face, frustrated no doubt in his attempts to find refuge for his family. Photo from ipsnews.ndet

In the past few days, both impoverished Bangladeshi and Rohingya have taken to the seas looking for refuge. Malaysia and other destination countries are not keen to take them in, and so another cauldron of suffering and displacement simmers.


The enclave of Rohingya's is shown outlined in red. One can imagine a long and perilous voyage by sea along the hostile coast of Myanmar, with the hope that Malaysia, a fellow Muslim country, might take them in. In the past weeks, Thailand, long a first stop for refugees, cracked down on the activity, forcing other boat people to travel further southeast to Malaysia or Indonesia. They have not been welcomed in either country. An article from Australia's Broadcasting Company (ABC) has further details.

And then perhaps most ominously, there is recent violence in Bangladesh with a specific theme. Three bloggers expressing criticism of aspects of Islam have been killed since the first of the year. A CNN article reports on the latest, "Ananta Bijoy Das, 32, was killed Tuesday morning as he left his home on his way to work at a bank, police in the northeastern Bangladeshi city of Sylhet said.

Four masked men attacked him, hacking him to death with cleavers and machetes, said Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan. The men then ran away. Because of the time of the morning when the attack happened, there were few witnesses. But police say they are following up on interviewing the few people who saw the incident.

"It's one after another after another," said Imran Sarker, who heads the Blogger and Online Activists Network in Bangladesh. "It's the same scenario again and again. It's very troubling."

Das' death was at least the third this year of someone who'd posted pieces online critical of Islam. In each case, the attacks were carried out publicly on city streets. In March, Washiqur Rahman, 27, was hacked to death by two men with knives and meat cleavers just outside his house as he headed to work at a travel agency in the capital, Dhaka.

In February, a Bangladesh-born American blogger, Avijit Roy, was similarly killed with machetes and knives as he walked back from a book fair in Dhaka.

The three victims are hardly the only ones who have paid a steep price for their views. In the last two years, several bloggers have died, either murdered or under mysterious circumstances. In 2014, Reporters Without Borders reported that a group calling itself Defenders of Islam in Bangladesh had published a "hit list" of writers it saw as opposing Islam. "They listed 84 bloggers, mostly secularists. They listed 84 of them," said blogger Asif Mohiuddin, whose name was on the list. "Nine of them are already killed and many of the [others] were attacked."

The killings highlight the ignorance and intolerance sheltered within Islam's followers, not just the jihadists, and the question again becomes, what are "normal" Muslims to do.


There are no doubt many Muslims who deplore the killings of these activists, and take a step of resistance by, in this case, publicly mourning one of the victims. Photo from Agence France-Presse

But the young, righteous, and violent Islamists are unrepentent. And the future for tolerance in yet another Muslim country is now shaken.

India seeks to strengthen ties with Burma

The number one rising power today is China - well tracked and discussed in news accounts. Second, though much quieter in terms of coverage as yet, is India - the world's second most populous country and largest democracy. The two countries have between them, nearly 2.6 billion people, around 38 percent of the total world population of 7 billion.

China's government seems torn with conflicting policies both internal and external. Truly focusing on internal stability while raising living standards, the government repeatedly raises concerns over its human rights - dissidents abound, and the heavy hand in Tibet are examples. Externally, while loaning the US trillions and acting responsibly on global trade, China indulges itself with provocative positions - ie, sabre rattling over Taiwan, and expansive claims in the South China Sea, neutrality concerning abuses in Syria and provocations from Iran, little leadership with North Korean threats to its neighbors, etc.

China grapples with its southwestern province of Tibet, which in turn claims sovereignty.

India, on the other hand, seems to have a more consistent record of trying to quietly build or strengthen ties with its neighbors - addressing old wounds, setting a new or different framework for finding mutual benefits. While India's tensions remain sharp and deep with Pakistan, on nearly every other front the country has maintained a lower and neighborly profile in contrast to its northern neighbor.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in talks with Pakistan’s first female and youngest foreign minister, 34-year-old Hina Rabbani Khar.

This past week, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Burma (or Myanmar) which has itself been moving towards greater democracy and benign governance. According to one account, business ties between the neighboring countries have been weak since the Myanmar military nationalized Indian businesses and expelled hundreds of thousands of ethnic Indians after taking over in 1962.

Since that low point, investment and trade have slowly increased, but the change since Burma's new political tolerance began in the past year, the pace has quickened. India is funding the new port in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in Myanmar - a strategic decision benefiting both countries, as the port is part of a $214-million river and road network that will carve a trade route into India's landlocked northeast.

India funding a new Myanmar port at Sittwe

The port will strengthen India's reach into its easternmost province of while increasing Myanmar's shipping capacity.

The easternmost region of India consisting of what is known as the "Seven Sister States" (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura), Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal. Northeast India is ethnically distinct from the rest of India and has strong ethnic and cultural ties with East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Nothing earthshaking - these trade negotiations and projects, but such a contrast to the violence still rising in Syria, now spilling in turn into Lebanon.

Burma election results bode well

Back in early December, we looked at some positive movements in Burma - namely when Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was given freedom from nearly two decades of house arrest. Since that time she boldly embarked on a round of speeches in the country promoting her vision of a democratic Burma (Republic of Myanmar), and declaring that she would stand for parliamentary office in by-elections to be held in the spring of 2012 to fill 45 vacant seats.

A refresher map - The Republic of Myanmar - population 60 million, primarily a Buddhist country

Those elections have been held - last Sunday - and somewhat stunningly, Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, after contesting 44 of the 45 vacant seats, won 43 out of those 44. Aung San Suu Kyi, indeed, was elected herself and is now headed for the Burmese parliament - reminiscent of the Czech Republic's own Vaclav Havel, who ascended to the Presidency nearly direct from the status of political prisoner.

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Aung San Suu Kyi acknowledging crowds of supporters after her personal election to the Burmese parliament, as well as an overwhelming show of support for her party, the National League of Democracy (NLD)

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Supporters at the NLD headquarters jubilant upon hearing the election results.

As the UK Daily Mail noted at the time, "There was no word from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was formed by the military junta before it ceded power a year ago, or the Election Commission on the outcome of Sunday's ballots. If confirmed, the sweep would mean the NLD even won four seats in the capital, Naypyitaw, a new city built by the former junta where most of the residents are government employees and military personnel, who were expected to back the USDP, the parliament's dominant party."

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Novice Buddhist nuns, either just happy, or very much more politically attuned than similar aged girls in the US

The ruling USDP party is of course, still dominant in Parliament. The governing structure itself - Pyidaungsu Hluttaw - similar to the US Congress is made up of two houses, the Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities), a 224-seat upper house as well as the Pyithu Hluttaw, a 440-seat lower house (House of Representatives). So the 43 seats taken by the NLD is not a sea change.

Burma's rather impressive Parliament building housing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw

But, the reasonably fair elections, and the quiet acceptance of the results by the governing party (headed by Burma's President Thein Sein) is very positive. His party, the USDP is said to be reviewing its own positions in light of larger parliamentary elections due in 2015. Whatever the positions taken, let's hope that all parties can see that regardless of their own political perspective, it is in everyone's interest to continue on the path for a responsive government and status among the nations as a responsible, thoughtful country in its foreign relations.

Actually Aung San Suu Kyi (left) and President Thein Sein (right) are both working together to remove sanctions against their country

During the past few days, the "fruits" of holding an open and generally acknowledged fair election began to emerge with the news that the US (as well as Australia and the European Union) would be reviewing economic sanctions against the country that have been in place for some time. US Senator John McCain, who had met with Aung San Suu Kyi in January 2012, said “We should now work with our many international partners to begin the process of easing sanctions on Burma. This will be a gradual and incremental process, and the U.S. Congress will have a critical role to play.” The Obama administration announced that it would nominate an ambassador to the country and ease some travel and finance restrictions, without specifying a time table. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “The results of the parliamentary by-elections represents a dramatic demonstration of popular will that brings a new generation of reformers into government. This is an important step in the country’s transformation, which in recent months has seen the unprecedented release of political prisoners, new legislation broadening the rights of political and civic association, and fledgling process in internal dialogue between the government and ethnic minority groups."

Leaders of the Southeast Asian trading block and alliance - the ASEAN - including those from Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia, have called for the immediate removal of sanctions. Singapore's Prime Minister said the following: "President Thein Sein has been much bolder than many observers have expected. ASEAN is happy that Myanmar has been able to take these steps forward."

ASEAN leaders at a recent summit where Burma direction towards democracy was a hot topic. ASEAN member countries are: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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ASEAN member countries on a map

So a positive story nestled between the continuing malaise of violence and resort to arms found in Mali, Syria, Sudan's split entities, and Libya.

Burma at a crossroads

Western attention has focused, briefly, today on the visit to Burma by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Burma, formally called The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is a large South Asia country of nearly 60 million people, governed by a military clique that has long been associated with a record of brutality, corruption and amassed wealth.

Burma and its neighbors

A recent relaxing of oppressive rule, along with an election that brought in at least the appearance of civilian governance, the US' top diplomat calculated that the time was ripe to provide support for democratic forces in the country (and doing so in a non-confrontational manner).

Thus a visit with the message to the Burma President Thein Sein to continue to move on the path of a more democratic and honest government, probably a few carrots of aid and trade to sweeten the advice, and then a high profile embrace of Burma's most famous political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Mrs Clinton paid tribute to the Kyi's “fearlessness in the face of intimidation and her serenity through decades of isolation.”

Secretary of State Clinton, and Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi in a high profile embrace, laden with unspoken support for Kyi's vision for Burma.

For Aung San Suu Kyi's part in her public comments, she said “If we go forward together, I’m confident there will be no turning back from the road to democracy,” Aung San Suu Kyi told the U.S. secretary of state, “We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with our friends.”

As a bit of geopolitical background, we can read from a recent Foreign Policy Journal article, "Burma is a fascinating case study. It remains an authoritarian regime whose military tutelage is now disguised by a civilian veneer. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is free, but hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars. The armed forces continue to make war and commit terrible human rights abuses against ethnic groups in the country's borderlands. Burma's rulers have no intention of ceding power to their political opponents -- but they do appear to be moderating at least the façade of their control over society through an incremental process of political reform. Why?

One theory is that the generals fear undue dependence on China, which now exercises inordinate influence over parts of Burmese territory and significant sectors of its economy. Critics argue that Western sanctions pushed Burma into China's arms. The more accurate judgment may be that Western sanctions have worked, encouraging the Burmese regime to create some distance from China's embrace by releasing political prisoners, allowing the opposition to operate more freely, and meeting other Western demands so as to overcome obstacles to closer relations with countries other than China."

For the past two decades, Burmese monks have often led resistance to the military rule - a loosening of confrontation has occurred in the past year.

A fascinating scene showing the veneer of modernity in Burma's cities.

The country's religious framework is strongly Buddhist - the Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the most revered in the nation