An ethnic Rakhine man holds homemade weapons as he walks in front of houses that were burnt during fighting 
between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe June 10, 2012 Reuters 

With the International Court of Justice (ICJ) taking up the issue of Myanmar’s brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, international news channel Al Jazeera has shed new light on some of its alleged crimes.

In a video documentary released on Sunday, Al Jazeera depicted Myanmar soldiers kicking and beating captive Rohingyas. 

The video shows Rohingya villagers fleeing their homes attempting to make their way to Bangladesh. It also shows fires burning in the distance and hundreds of people hiking up muddy jungle paths and crossing rivers with sacks and baskets crammed with their belongings. Al Jazeera has shown at least two images of corpses.

In the documentary, talking to Al Jazeera, Myanmarese academic Dr Maung Zarni said: “As early as 1966 the Burmese military started to see the Rohingya as problem.” 

Through the years the Myanmar government has even set up special forces to “deal” with the: Rohingya minority.

Zarni compares Myanmar’s infamous special forces Nasaka to SS, the acronym of Schutzstaffel, a paramilitary force under Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.  

He said, “Nasaka was essentially the Burmese equivalent of SS. Nasaka was the executioner.”

Myanmar military’s former chief of intelligence General Khin Nyunt also talked about Nasaka with Al Jazeera.

Nyunt said: “These problems with Muslims have existed since the British rule because they brought labour from Bangladesh,” ignoring the fact that Bangladesh was then also a part of British Empire.

He said: “I created Nasaka to stop people from crossing the borders. It was the right thing to do. They are migrants. They are guests from Bangladesh. We did not want to accept guests. Otherwise there are no more Rakhines. Just more and more Muslims.”

More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar’s military, which UN investigators say was carried out with “genocidal intent.” Buddhist majority Myanmar denies accusations of genocide.

Gambia, a mainly Muslim West African state, lodged a lawsuit with ICJ after winning the support of the 57-nation Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 

Days after Gambia filed the case at the ICJ, Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups submitted a lawsuit in Argentina under “universal jurisdiction,” a legal premise that deems some crimes as so horrific that they can be tried anywhere in the world.

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to defend her military against allegations of genocide at the ICJ. 

Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune

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An ruling party-affiliated Islamist organization has demanded a ban on the operation of non-government organizations (NGOs) and international NGOs that are working to curb child marriage in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Awami Ulama League, along with 13 other like-minded groups, made the demand at a human chain formed in front of National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday.

Speakers at the human chain specifically mentioned INGOs – including Unicef, Save the Children and Terre des homes – which have been working across the country to prevent child marriage.

Demanding to repel the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2017, Ulama League General Secretary Abul Hasan Sheikh Shariatpuri even enunciated that these “anti-Muslim” and “anti-Islam” organizations had been showing way too much interest on this issue because the government as well as ordinary citizens of Bangladesh have not been paying enough heed to this issue.

Arguing in favour of child marriage, Sheikh Shariatpuri said the legal ban on child marriages imposed by the “kufri” Child Marriage Restraint Act had increased the number of abortions in the country.

“Premarital physical relationships between under-18 boys and girls have led to an alarmingly high rate of abortions and single mothers,” he claimed.

He even called for people involved with the NGOs to be hanged on charge of demeaning Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).

Bangladesh witnessed a decline in the overall child marriage rate in recent years, but continues to have one of the highest rates in the world.

A report by Child Rights Advocacy Coalition, published in 2018, says the rate of child marriage under the age of 15 declined from 62.8% in 2015 to 10.7% in 2017, while the rate of child marriages under the age of 18 years has gone down from 62.8% in 2015 to 59.7% in 2016.

Ulama League wants a ban on BPL too
Sheikh Shariatpuri has also sought a ban on the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament, reports multiple news outlets.

“The BPL is turning the country into a breeding ground for gamblers. Ordinary people are being drawn towards gambling during cricket tournaments like the BPL and the IPL [Indian Premier League], which is completely unconstitutional,” he said.

The Islamist group also criticized Bangladesh Football Federation for promoting women’s football.

“Officials at Bangladesh Football Federation are placing restrictions on marriage to encourage immoral activities such as live-together, for which they should be arrested,” said Sheikh Shariatpuri.

Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune

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