The Voice of Arakan newspaper was warned by the authorities that it must change the word Arakan in its English title to Rakhine when it went to extend its publishing permit for 2015.
The cover says ‘Voice of Rakhine’ in Burmese, but the problem for the authorities is that under the Burmese title there is an English translation that says ‘Voice of Arakan’.
The warning was given by the Patent and Registration Department (Yangon) under the Information Ministry.
The newspaper, whose most recent edition is Series 2, Issue 8 has been under pressure to drop the word ‘Arakan’ in the English translation since the previous edition, Series 2, Issue 7.
Myat Noe Thar, the chief editor of The Arakan Voice said that they would not bow to pressure to change the name.
She said: “The Voice of Arakan will continue to be used. It translates into English as ‘The Voice of Arakan’. It also translates as Arakan in the Arakan language, not Rakhine. The international community also knows the state as ‘Arakan’ in English, which is why we will continue to use the word ‘Arakan’.
“The word is even used by people of different nationalities and religions who are also adopting the word as their own. So, Arakan people strongly object to this usage [using the word Rakhine]. Arakan people own the word ‘Arakan’ and the union cannot change that, which is why we are going to continue using it.”
It will take about one month to extend the publishing permit. If the publication wants to use the word Arakan they will have to apply directly to the Information Ministry.
Myat Noe Thar said: “Now we have submitted our proposal to extend the publishing permit period to the patent and Registration Office in Winkabar Street, Yangon we have to wait about a month. If there is no reply after a month we will have to make a submission at the ministerial level. We will continue to use ‘The Voice of Arakan’ we will not use ‘The Voice of Rakhine’, though if they do not give us permission to use ‘The Voice of Arakan’ we will survey people to see what they want. If the Arakan people want us to use the word ‘Arakan’ we will use it.”
The word ‘Arakan’ has been used since the time of the Arakan kings and it is not a new word. The people have been called ‘Arakan’ in western languages for many years.
Myat Noe Thar thinks the pressure from the Patent and Registrtion Department may have come about following an article entitled ‘The Fall of the Arakan Kingdom’ which appeared in Series 2, issue number 7 of the newspaper.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
