By: Sadia Kazmi

The killing of Rohingya Muslims through systemic ethnic cleansing by the state of Myanmar is the most horrific genocide in the history of mankind. In the garb of security operation against the Rohingya militants/insurgents in Rakhine state, the government of Myanmar has carried out the most brutal and disproportionate act of slaughter ever. More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled the army campaign since August 25 and have escaped to Bangladesh. Despite the recurrent news flash on TV channels and social media handles, the very existence of this humanitarian crisis has been denied by Myanmar’s Security Advisor U Thaung Tun who while addressing the UN Security council stated that “there is no ethnic cleansing and no genocide of Rohingya Muslims”. Even though the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres termed it as the “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”. However, Myanmar views them as mere allegation and maintains that if at all there is a mass exodus, the reasons behind it is not the crackdown by Myanmar army but the act of terrorism. The security operation as is claimed by Myanmar government, has led to 400 deaths, which are mostly terrorists, belonging to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

However, this doesn’t really explain the satellite images of civilians being viciously murdered. Nor does it change the fact that unarmed civilians are being killed even if it is at the hands of terrorists and the government is not only unable to control the situation but apparently is largely unaware of the whole fiasco. The state Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi has been widely criticized for not being able to address the issue adequately. However, at the same time, China extends its support to Myanmar government and expresses the need for strict action against the elements causing unrest for the state. This makes the situation a bit complicated as while on one hand there is a growing international pressure on Myanmar as the United Nations rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein stated that this is a typical example of “textbook ethnic cleansing”, on the other hand China expresses appreciation and encouragement to Counsellor Kyi. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang supported the state effort to “uphold peace and stability” in Rakhine. A possible reason as to why China has adopted this stance is because Myanmar serves as an important pillar in China’s energy, trade and infrastructure strategy in the Southeast Asian region. Aung Suu Kyi maintains that the army was only doing its “legitimate duty to restore stability” and that the troops were under the orders by the state to “exercise all due restraint and to take full measure to avoid collateral damage”.