The Spring: A hope for better future

When the news of a Muslim activist appear, Ko Aung Zaw Oo (Muhammad Faruk), died of injuries from inhuman serious interrogation methods of the military a few days ago, my memories flash back to U Ko Ni’s assassination on January 2017 at the public spot of Yangon international airport. From the pre-colonial era of indigenous ethnics including Rohingyas to the colonial period of Burmese nationalist movements and after the independence of Burma to the 8888 uprising till now, the Muslims in the country have so much involved in the politics of Burma and sacrifice their lives for the country. In reality, they were one of the most distinct victims of the political power struggle and extreme racism in Burma.

With the inevitable history of the influx of British Indian Muslims in the colonial period of a hundred years, there are four main Muslim categories in Burma, the precolonial era Muslims like pathi and kamans, a small Chinese-Muslim community named “Panthay”, the remaining descendants of migrated Indian Muslims of the colonial era, and Rohingyas. Although Muslims held senior positions in the government and civil society in the colonial government and independent Burma, they suffered official and unofficial discrimination to get promoted in government ministries and the army since the 1962 military coup.

Even after the reopening of the Burma with 2008 constitution and the 2010 general election, winning the pro-military USDP party, there were only three elected Muslim MPs in the 2010-2015 period. In the 2015 general election, winning the pro-democracy NLD party, there was no single Muslim MP in this duration as NLD leaders decided to exclude Muslim candidates to avoid upcoming criticizing movements from extreme Buddhist nationalists in this period. In the 2020 November election which result was over throned by the 2021 military coup, there were two elected Muslim MPs from the NLD party.

The 2021 military coup ignite the spring revolution in Burma which is recognized as the strongest anti-military and regime change movement in Burma’s history. With the formation of CRPH, NUG, and NUCC, the leading political think tanks were remarkably striking in their best effort to shape the post-military future of Burma.

One of the two Muslim MPs of the 2020 election, Daw Win Win Myint has been detained soon after the coup due to the opposition movement, and the remaining one, Ko Sithu Maung is acting as one of the members of CRPH.

There was also an appointment of a Muslim human right activist as an adviser on the Ministry of Human Rights(NUG).

From the report of the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 15000 people have been detained, more than 13000 people are still detained and more than 2200 people were killed by the Junta. There is no exact data about how many Muslims have been detained and how many were killed. It is reported that not less than 65 Muslims were killed including politicians, party members, students, activists, and people defense force members. Ko Mya Aye, a prominent politician of the 8888 uprisings also has been detained since the morning of the coup. The story of Ko Khin Maung Latt is traumatizing that I remember his family’s Facebook live video during the night raid of his house to detain him on March 2021. He was severely tortured on this night by the military interrogation and they inform his family in the morning that he is dead. Ko Wai Moe Naing, a prominent student leader was arrested during a rally in the city of Monywa on April 2021 and he is now in detention.

Starting from the time of pre-independent Burma, there is long debated identity conflict among the Muslims of Burma, whether they were a minority. Yet historically political affiliation happened between Burma Muslim Congress and Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPLF) with the same blood and patriotism, but political organizations under the ethnoreligious Muslim identity have been disregarded by leading government and political officials after the independence. However, the Muslims in Burma whether they were indigenous pre-colonial ethnics or decedents of colonial migrants or Rohingyas, there have to face various discrimination for being “Muslim”. Starting from the difficulty in renting and buying houses denied by some racist owners, discrimination by teachers in schools, difficulty to issue National Identification Card even the parents are citizens, to the most serious crimes like the genocide of the Rohingya people.

Burma is at a crossroads. The spring revolution, the cornerstone efforts of all the people of Burma from its diverse multi-ethnicities, is a hope for people for the birth of a new country of justice, independence, and equal rights. The young activists were protesting on the streets holding the banners of “ Against Racism in Burma” which was intoxicating the country for decades. The common goal of the revolutionary movement, “The Federal Democracy Union”, under the federal democracy charter commit generally to non-discrimination and equal rights. But an analysis from International IDEA stated that FDC’s conception of citizenship and ethnic identity may require review and refinement later.

It is not deniable that laws and orders are important for an equally treated society, but the deep analysis of the marginalization of certain groups in a community shows that it may not be simply solved only by legal arrangements like the abolition of the 1982 citizenship law. As Francis Fukuyama said in his famous work “Identity: Demand for dignity”, the marginalized groups craved the recognization of larger groups for their worth.

With daily to daily killings and detentions, air strikes, and burning the villages that have to face by all the people of Burma under the military coup, the spring revolution is also procreating sympathy to all the oppressed minorities from Rohingyas to ethnics in the frontier areas who suffered the oppression for years. The young revolutionaries show their empathy by issuing letters and social campaigns for Rohingya Muslims.

To all the people in Burma, the spring is not preventable and it is coming. Hope the spring brings the foundations for national identity that the diverse ethnic people can stand on and also allows multiculturalism that people from different histories and backgrounds recognize the dignity of others.