Maungdaw, Arakan State: An Arakanese Rohingya was stabbed by a Natala villager yesterday morning when the owner stopped   a group of Natala villagers from taking goats while grazing in a ground, said a local in Maungdaw.

The Arakanese Rohingya is Yousuf Jalal (65), hailed from Nurualla Para (village) in Maungdaw south.

Yesterday morning, a group of Natala villagers (people, who were settled in northern Arakan from proper Burma, southern Arakan and Bangladesh) were trying to steal five goats of Yousuf Jalal from a grazing ground, said a local.

Seeing the event, Yousuf Jalal rushed to the Natala villagers and stopped them. Suddenly, a Natala villager stabbed him with a dagger seriously injuring Yousf, the local added.

On information, the villagers of Nurulla Para rushed to the spot; the Natala villagers fled leaving the goats.

Later, with the help of the village authority, Yousuf Jalal filed a case against the Natala villagers in Maungdaw police station, but the police paid no heed, said a police aide.

Yousuf Jalal was admitted to Maungdaw general hospital where he received four stitches, the aide said.

“If this had happened to Natala villagers, we would not be able to stay in our village and people would be arrested, but, now it has happened to Arakanese Rohingya not to Burman or Rakhine,” said a school teacher from Maungdaw.

Nearly 200 Natala (model) villages have been set up in northern Arakan, where the ruling junta brought people from proper Burma, southern Arakan and Bangladesh to establish other ethnic groups besides Arakanese Rohingya. It was started since former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt’s time.