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Showing posts from February, 2015

Je suis Rohingya: The West’s dilemma

By Derek Tonkin   |   Monday, 23 February 2015 The controversy over the use of the term “Bengali” to describe Muslims in Rakhine State known as “Rohingya” seems set to continue following the second visit by UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee to Myanmar. For many in the West, this controversy is an unfortunate distraction. For Myanmar and its neighbours though it goes to the very root of the crisis. Some 95 percent of all Muslims resident in Rakhine are of Bengali origin, although this may well go back many generations and in some cases even centuries. They would now seem to be under pressure to deny their Bengali heritage and ancestry. A single reference in a linguistic essay published in 1799 by a British visitor, Francis Buchanan, to the Burmese court of Ava is the only historical record extant that there were people who described themselves as “Natives of Arakan”, or “Rooinga”. He never used the term again. Nor was the word used by any of his contemporaries.

United Nations looks to the past to break Rakhine deadlock

By Thomas Kean | Monday, 16 February 2015 The United Nations resident coordinator in Myanmar has appointed a prominent historian to provide advice on UN activities in Rakhine State, in a move some say could backfire due to the way his research has in the past been used by Rakhine nationalists. A UN spokesperson said Jacques Leider, an academic from Luxembourg who has been researching Rakhine State for 25 years, had been recently appointed by resident coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien to improve understanding of the dynamics in Rakhine State. “For the UN to continue to work effectively for all the peoples in the Rakhine State, it is necessary to gain a thorough understanding of the context in which it operates,” the spokesperson said. “The United Nations therefore works in consultation with all knowledgeable persons on Rakhine State in informing itself to this end. Mr Leider’s expertise has been sought by the Office of the Resident Coordinator in this

UN under fire over resident coordinator’s advisor on Rakhine

Mr Jacques Leider, an historian from Luxembourg, was hired in late January as a senior consultant to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar. Photo: Youtube   The appointment by the United Nations of a controversial academic as an advisor on Rakhine State has been slammed by Rohingya politicians, who allege he is biased in favour of Rakhine Buddhists. Jacques Leider, an historian from Luxembourg, was hired in late January as a senior consultant to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ms Renata Lok-Dessallien, the UN said in a statement on February 11. Dr Leider specialises in the history of the pre -colonial Rakhine kingdom of Mrauk-U, but his stand on Rohingya ethnicity has consistently put him at odds with members of the Rohingya community and some human rights groups. Dr Leider has argued that the term Rohingya is a political label , rather than one of ethnicity, that was not popularised until the late 1990s. “My answer i

Govt Plans to Nominate Mrauk-U for World Heritage Listing

By KYAW HSU MON / THE IRRAWADDY| Tuesday, February 10, 2015 |  A view of a Buddhist temple at the old Arakanese capital of Mrauk-U, Arakan State. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)   RANGOON — Burma’s government and Arakan State authorities have begun taking measures to better preserve the remains of the old Arakanese capital of Mrauk-U in order to prepare the site for nomination for the Unesco World Heritage List, a senior official said on Tuesday. Kyaw Oo Lwin, director general of the Ministry of Culture ’s Archeology Department, told The Irrawaddy that his department had been working with state authorities since late last year to carry out digital mapping and improve preservation of Buddhist temples and palace grounds. He said the steps were part of a government plan to nominate the site with the help of Unesco officials and other foreign experts. “To become Unesco World Heritage listed, we need to take at least four and a half years [to prepare] befo

Mongolian scientists study 200-year-old mummified monk who is 'still alive’

Two-centuries-old body discovered last week, covered in cattle skin, in Ulan Bator is in meditative trance, according to some Buddhist experts-- Scientists in Mongolia are examining a 200-year mummified monk who some Buddhists believe is still alive because he is in a deep meditative trance. The preserved body of the monk, sitting in the cross-legged lotus position, was discovered last week, covered in cattle skin, in the Songino Khairkhan district of the capital, Ulan Bator. The ash-coloured mummy has reportedly been sent to the National Centre of Forensic Expertise in Ulan Bator for further study. Gankhüügiin Pürevbat, the founder of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulan Bator Buddhist University, told the Siberian Times, a news website: “The lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolises of the preaching Sutra. 'This is a sign that the lama is not dead, but is in a very de