Re: "Despite claims, cracks show in Rohingya return narrative", (BP, Aug 4).
Myanmar officials have excelled in narratives of denial over the violence that erupted in Rakhine state nearly a year ago and drove nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh, creating one of the greatest humanitarian crises since the Rwanda genocide. They deny accusations by the United Nations and United States that the disproportionate military operation that triggered the exodus, following attacks by a rabble of poorly-armed Islamic extremists, amounted to ethnic cleansing.
They deny that the Rohingya have the right to live in Myanmar, despite many having lived there for generations. They deny the right of the Rohingya to self-identify and insist on labelling them as "Bengalis", because they want to propagate the myth that they are all illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. "Bengalis" are not from Myanmar "because they have different blood, skin colour and language from us", Win Khine, a Myanmar immigration official in northern Rakhine State, is quoted as saying in the report. Northern Rakhine had a majority Rohingya population before the latest exodus.
The Rohingya are denied the right to exist in Myanmar because they are not on its list of 135 officially-recognised "ethnic nationalities". However, the list exposes stark contradictions in the official narrative about who is and is not entitled to citizenship.
One is that the seven Rakhine sub-groups include the Muslim Kaman, who are descended from mercenaries who served in the court of the Kingdom of Arakan until it was conquered by the Bamar Konbaung Dynasty in 1784. The Kaman, the only Muslim group on the list of recognised ethnic groups, were seriously affected by the sectarian violence that erupted in Rakhine State in 2012 and many of them are still languishing in IDP camps because their rights as citizens have been denied.
The other contradiction involves the 33 Shan sub-groups. They include the Kokang, a Han Chinese Mandarin-speaking minority who live in territory on the border with China. They certainly don't speak the same language as Win Khine, which raises a question. If the Muslim Kaman and the Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese Kokang are eligible for inclusion on Myanmar's list of 135 ethnic groups, why can't it be amended to include the people who call themselves Rohingya?
Geoffrey Goddard
Dictators love Thainess
Sadly, Michael Setter is spot on in "Philosophical Vacuum" (PostBag, August 4). It would greatly benefit Thai society were philosophy to be taught in Thai schools from primary on. That would, however, require not only that teachers start to practice the critical thinking entailed, but that Thai law be reformed to allow so untraditionally unThai a practice. Most sadly for Thais, such enlightenment is not about to happen in coming years: Thainess is the preferred ideology of the dictators, as has been the norm through history and across cultures for such practitioners of moral corruption.
Felix Qui
Trump a narcissist
When reading the several articles in the Aug 3 issue of the Bangkok Post about President Trump and the situation in the White House, you can only shake your head in disbelief that such a development is possible in the so-called "leading nation in the world".
Two of the articles are written by Nobel Prize winners and I can only hope that they are also published in US newspapers. "Mr Trump has changed the world permanently to the worse", as stated by Nobel Prize winner Joseph E Stiglitz, this alone should be reason enough to impeach the biggest liar and most incompetent president in US history. His only target is pumping up his ego, one of the typical symptoms of NPD (narcissistic personality disorder).
Lupus
Cook yet to dazzle
In reference to your Aug 2 report about Apple becoming the world's first trillion dollar company, it's achievements are due to a visionary leader like Steve Jobs, who understood consumer needs, high-class technology, sleek and simple designs and low cost-manufacturing in China. These four elements have propelled the company to global leadership. The new CEO Mr Tim Cook has doubled profits but his key challenge will be to innovate new products which tantalise the consumer like the iPhone.
Rajendra Aneja
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