So I hope using the words with quotation marks will be tolerated, if not approved, by everyone concerned.

It was the same concern that had led to our visiting resource person to ask us to refer to him simply as ‘a speaker on the situation in Rakhine state’. Our curiosity doubly aroused, we were quick to accept his request along with other conditions.

And we weren’t disappointed.

In Rakhine (also written Rakhaing and Arakan), the population ratio of ethnic Rakhine and “Rohingya” (some say the word is a corruption of Rakhine itself) is 2:1.
sardar-patel-cover

Book cover: Sardar Patel
However, at least in 2 townships: Maungdaw and Buthidaung, the “Rohingya” are a clear majority: 94% in the former and 86% in the latter. (Figures are from a Burma Army document.) In addition, a sizeable community had been living in Sittwe (then called Akyab), the state capital, at least since the British days. So it wasn’t a wonder the ‘Rohingya’ in Akyab bore the full brunt of the violence when it broke out in 2012.

(The following excerpt from the Burma Handbook, compiled by the Government of Burma in India during World War II, should be of historical interest:

II. Indo-Burmans.—The Census term Indo-Burman includes the Zerbadis, Arakan Muslims, Arakan Kamans and the Myedus.

The Arakan Muslims, found mainly in Akyab District, are the descendants of Chittagonian Muslims and Arakanese women; they are known in Burma as Yakhaing Kala (Arakan Indians)

While the source says the general impression that every Rakhine is out for blood is not true, he believes at the same time that most of the Rakhine want the ‘Rohingya’ to leave the country altogether.

“The ‘Rohingya’ believe that if the government’s current verification process is impartial and according to accepted international standards, 98% of them will make it,” he said. “However, the Rakhine meanwhile believe that if the process is impartial and according to accepted international standards, they will see 90% of the ‘Rohingya’ leaving.”

He also dismisses speculations that the ‘Rohingya’ are receiving large amount of relief aid from Muslim countries. “Only in small proportions from moderates like Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia. Nothing from hardline countries,” he said. “Also no evidence the Rohingya armed movement is being supported by international terrorist organizations. But we have to accept that the situation provides a fertile ground for more radicalization.”

Summing up, he counsels that, according to his experience, a 3-step roadmap be considered:

The government must step in and provide a credible deterrent and security for both communities
Parties need to come to the table to find a solution. Pressure may be necessary to bring them to the table.
Once peace is established, strong incentives must be created to preserve it. “Rakhines and Rohingyas may not come to love each other immediately,” he says. “But make sure they will continue to need each other for a long time.”

Perhaps, I suggested, we might also need a person of Gandhi’s stature in Burma to stop the violence and maintain peace as he did it in Bombay shortly before his assassination — by fasting.

The only problem is of course not everyone can become a Gandhi. This fact was demonstrated when he asked one of his famous disciples Mr Patel, “Sardar, you seem to be gaining weight. It’s time you joined me in fasting”.

The latter replied:

“When I fast, I die. But when you fast, people just go into all sorts of troubles to keep you alive.”