Mya Min · 51 mutual friends Why do Chittagong Muslims want to call themselves “Rohingya” ??? They created the word so-called “Rohingya” in 1952, for a political movement and political aim. In June 1951, Alethankyaw Muslim Convention(Chittagong Muslim called it “Arakan Muslim Conference) was held where Muslims called themselves “Arakan Muslim”(Rakhine Muslim). But Buddhist Rakhine people strongly protested against the usage of “Rakhine Muslim” for those alien Chittagonian Bengalis. Because there is no Muslim among Rakhine people and in Rakhine ethnics, Chittagonians looked for another word or name similar to Rakhine, that they discovered the word “Rohingya”. “Rohingya” means people from Rakhine or people who lived in Rakhine. But they omitted the real meaning of “Rohingya”. The real intention of Chittagonians was to create an ethnic name similar to Rakhine, to get the ethnic status of Rakhine people. It is very dangerous for Rakhine people and also dangerous for Myanmar. It was the fraudulent act of Chittagonians. In the article of Akyab gazetteer,written by Mr. R.B. Smart, an English commissioner, it can be observed that the British faced difficulties in judicial courts because many Chittagonian Bengalis used false statements in front of the judicial court. 3. The Chittagonian Bengalis had come from East Bengal and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Never has the word (term) “Rohingya” been seen in Burmese history, Rakhine (Arakan) history and in the history of Bengal. Anyway, their native country is Chittagong district of Bangladesh. In view of recurring famines from the 1860s, successive governments thought of transferring surplus labour to labour hungry areas of Arakan and Arrawaddy delta areas of Burma, particularly to countries having British plantation interests. In 1874, the government adopted a scheme for sending landless peasants to Assam and Burma to participate in reclamation drives there. A Directorate of Emigration to Burma was established in 1874 by the government of Lieutenant Governor Richard Temple (1874-1877). Attractive terms like free allotment of land, high wages and free return passage were offered to induce emigration. Another directorate was established for overseas emigration. Recruiting centres were opened in various parts of Bengal for indentured labour. According to government estimates (1874), over 10,000 agricultural labourers from deficit districts of Bengal took advantage of government schemes and went to Burma and overseas. By 1920, Bengali emigration to Burma reached about a million. As for indentured labour, the response was not as enthusiastic. According to the Annual Administration Report of 1895, hardly ten thousand people engaged themselves as indentured laboursince1874. Ref: banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/D_0217.HTM Early Bengali settlers in Rakhine were very negligible. King Narameikhla or Min Saw Mon(1404-1434), ruler of Mrauk-U Kingdom in the early 15th century, after 24 years exile in Bengal, regained control of Arakanese throne in 1430 with military assistance from the Sultanate of Bengal. The Bengalis who came with him formed their own settlements in the region.This is fake and fanciful writings, because this story was not mentioned in “History of Bengal” and in “History of India”. Therefore 15th century Bengali settlements was fake and fanciful story. ( according to Jacques P. Leider, ‘Expert of Arakan History’ EFEO,) In 17th century Rakhine was very prosperous and very powerful. Bengalis who arrived in Rakhine were taken from Meghna delta of Bengal as prisoners of war, when it was occupied by Rakhine King Mahasirisudhammaraja(r. 1622-1638). Rakhine King taken these POW as slaves. They were added as King’s treasures by treasurer. Later the slaves were sold by Rakhine King, to Dutch VOC of Spice Islands Banda Aceah(Banda archipelago, the Dutch colonial in Indonesia). Dutch needs slave labour to work the spice plantations. Later on, Rakhine man-hunter regularly raided on Bengali villages in the Ganges delta to chase slaves. In 1624 Sripur was conquered and about 10,000 people were taken as slaves to Arakan . From the very beginning VoC only allowed to buy slaves on the condition that they had arrived directly from Bengal and were not skilled in any craft or trade. Some skillful men and craft men left from export, and used as slaves for local works. They were registered by slaves controller. The numbers of slaves in rice cultivation and in specific jobs, were controlled by slave controller. The slaves were registered and strictly controlled by treasurer, because slaves are King’s treasures. In one instance for example the VoC’s factory was searched for illegal slaves on orders of the king’s treasurer. They found one Bengali girl, from a village of man-kywan(slave village), who was sold to the company illegally by her father with the knowledge of the village’s talukdar(village’s leader). Van den Helm paid 14 Tanka(14 kyat) for her, of which three Tanka went to the talukdar(village head-man), and two Tanka to the writer of the village who had to falsify the records and register on of the king’s slaves as deceased. (Ref: Arakan and Bengal by Stephan Van Gelen a Dutch scholar) Therefore, we can see how Rakhine King strictly controlled the slaves in Rakhine. Obviously, Bengalis living in Bengal were aware of Rakhine soldiers as man hunter or pirate, who sold Bengalis to Dutch VoC as slaves. Rakhines look Bengalis as goods to export or cash crop. No body from Bengal were willing to settle in their enemy man-hunter land Rakhine to be slave in those time. So, Bengalis settlers in Rakhine were very neglegible in the period of Rakhine Kingdom. 404 Not Found banglapedia.org 5 mins · Unlike · 1 · Remove Preview
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 05:36:32 +0000
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