Muslims in Burma facing Genocide

Can we compare very first article of UN Universal declaration of human rights and recent massacres of Muslims in Burma?

Annals of  Massacres

The Burmese rule in Arakan paved the way for a period marked with rights violations against the Rohingya people. In the 1938 massacre, thousands of Arakanese Muslims were killed and more than 500,000 were forced to leave their homeland. In 1942 Muslims were target of another massacre that claimed 150,000 Muslim lives. The death toll of attacks on Muslims in 1947, the Monsoon Operation of 1954 and the King Dragon Operation of 1978 is in ten thousands. Intimidation and attacks against Arakanese Muslims continue as of today.

The recent incidents broke out in Burma on 3 June when 10 Muslims travelling from the capital Akyab to Maungdaw were killed by Buddhist fanatics. Hundreds of Muslims gathered at the central mosque in Maungdaw to protest the attack but hardline Buddhists and the Burmese police, who viewed the protest as a threat to their existence, attacked the local Muslims and killed and wounded many. The Burmese police branded the protest as an uprising against the state and ordered the punishment of the Muslims involved in the incidents. Together with Buddhist fanatics the police began raiding Muslim villages and towns. More than 300 Muslim villages, mosques and madrasahs were set on fire on grounds that they were sheltering the criminals. Mosques were besieged by Buddhist fanatics. According to independent human rights organizations, around 1,000 people have been killed and thousands of Muslims have been forced out of their homes and villages and into forests since violence erupted in June. Some Muslims set out with boats into Naf River and the Indian Ocean to reach Bangladesh, but hundreds were drowned to death when the Bangladeshi government denied them entry

Into the country. It has been reported that some of the wounded have secretly crossed into Bangladesh with their own means to receive treatment.

A large number of Arakanese with critical condition have been left to die.Aided by Nasaka (Burmese border security force),Hlun-tin (riot police) and the police, Rakhine Buddhistshave been trying to displace the Rohingya. While curfew was in place, security forces and Rakhine groups went from village to village and set fire to Rohingya houses and fired on those escaping burning houses. Independent sources report that many Rohingyas were burned to death in the houses and the bodies were taken away in trucks, adding it is not possible to verify exactly how many had been massacred. Reports from an area knownas the fifth zone in Arakan state that at least one mosque and many villages had been set on fire. There are no independent media organizations in Burma but only a single media outlet that is supplied stories by the government. It is reported that in the region under curfew property of Rohingya had been looted by Rakhines and the Rohingya community had been living in fear. No end date has been set for curfew, sources report. Homeless people find themselves as the target for security forces once the night falls. About 4m Arakanese are facing the risk of deportation and violence acts such as their houses being raided and burned. A serious humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the region.

Human Rights Forum: Human rights in religion

Human Rights Forum: Human rights in religion: The topic religion and human rights is magnanimous in subject and it demands serious perusal of major religious scriptures for comprehend...

Human rights in religion

The topic religion and human rights is magnanimous in subject and it demands serious perusal of major religious scriptures for comprehending the human values depicted in it. Humanity can never neglect the authenticity of divine words in the religious scriptures which had ushered them from darkness to light since human beings’ origin. . Religious scriptures had long since recognized basic human rights and established principles and safeguards which have only recently been incorporated in various international conventions and declarations. As a human rights student I got struck when I went through the religious scriptures for searching human dignity in which we see the central point of addressee is human being and emphasizing that respecting and honoring the human dignity is obligatory upon each and every human being. Allah has honored the humanity as Holy Quran states in its verse (17:70.)Allah has honored all the children of Adam. The very first utterance of Manishada in Ramayana by Valmiki was due to the unendurable pain in his mind as he saw the small bird cry out of her pain. There for I understand that even if killing a small bird is serious crime in Hinduism, then how we will slay human being in the title of religion. Do not show animosity upon those who show animosity upon you, this is Gautama Buddha’s teaching and love your enemy; this is a famous teaching by Christ. How can we keep animosity upon on our fellow being in the name of religion while religions proclaim the tone of universal love of brotherhood.

We ought to disseminate this real teaching of religion in the world and especially in India. We could find a mammoth ignorance of real teaching of religious scriptures among our students. They are being ushered by malicious and distorted religious knowledge. This is our burden duty to learn the human rights comprehensively and strive for promotion of human values among our children; they are indeed the tomorrow’s citizens of our nation. Communal disharmony has been pervading throughout India due to the vested interest of our religious leaders. This vested interest creates huge disrupts upon our national integrity. We cannot uphold the human rights values by discarding religion; hence we need to understand that human rights values were initially being declared by religious scriptures. We have to have a comparative study on religion and human rights for cognizing the real meaning of divine words.

 We should develop this comparative study among our students to make our India a better peaceful nation. This study persistently put a question always that why still human being are being massacred in the different parts of the world in the name of their faith while their faith itself making reverberations of mutual love and affection of humanity. Where is the problem? Is it mere ignorance or ignoring for vested interests? This topic has a great importance in learning and disseminating tone of peace and compassion in the world. In fact acquiring the human rights knowledge as well religion will make us a kind person. Today’s world thirsts for this kindness, mercy and compassion. We have to revive back these forgotten words in our vocabulary to enlighten our students for a tomorrow’s better peaceful world.

The impact of human rights

Human rights being dynamic,inalienable and indivisible, are fundamental to the dignified existence of individuals.They are neither Utopian nor legal dicta to be concern to jurists and academics. They have a direct impact on the quality of life in society.Human rights ensure prosperity in society by having a satisfied and productive life.Social and economic rights take care of the weaker and less privileged sections of the society by providing them quality of opportunity in the matter of education, employment and mobility.Equality in enjoyment of public facilities and in access to public employment enables upward mobility to the down trodden, Economic opportunities and equality enables the citizens to strive hard and become more productive,which in turn adds to the over all prosperity of the society. Freedom of conscience and free profession ,practice and propagation of institutions and other rights help the religions minorities to live happily with the majority. Thus human rights help in promoting communal amity and enables peace and harmony to prevail in society.

Islam and human rights

Islam provides us with guidance throughout life from cradle to grave, answering their innate questions that consciously or unconsciously press on man in his journey through this world.What exactly is man? what is his role on the earth?what are the limits of his energies? From where have we come? To where will go after death? For what purpose do we live? How should we organise our life? These are the questions which demand answers. If no convincing and decisive answer is provided, and if that answer is not that right one.it will undoubtedly affect man's psychological stability and his behaviour.Man will be in a state of crisis. The present world situation is the most obvious example of the extent this crisis: no further evidence is needed than modern man's present behaviours. What is man?A simple question,yet how difficult for contemporary mankind to answer, and how far their answer from the truth. Is man really an animal as Darwin suggested, or is he a human being?To an exploiting class as suggested by the materialistic theory of history; to his own body and desires; or to the machine as he came to be under technological progress? what are the potentials of man? What are the limits of reason? Is he able by it alone to understand and explain all things? What his attitude towards those things which he cannot understand or explain? Should he ignore them, or surrender to them reluctantly? Where does man go after death? Is the end of man's limited life on this earth the end of everything, or is there some form of continuation? What is the purpose of human life? Is it to obtain as much material enjoyment as possible, or is there some other objective, and of what kind? Is it to control nature, or to control others? And to what use should this control be put? To enslave others? To destroy? or merely to assert ourselves?

On the other hand we desire to control others that we may cooperate with them, the same questions arises; to what end will we cooperate? the questions are endless. How, should man live? Who will decide the question for him?

The duty of man of earth is to worship Allha:
"I have only created jinns and men ,that they may serve Me"
The worship meant is the comprehensive worship already indicated,including not only specific acts of worship but everything that man does, Say:
"Truly my prayer and may service of sacrifice, my life and my death , are for God, the Cherisher of the world. No partner has (Quran 6-163-164).

If fulfilled in accordance with Allah's purpose, every act becomes an act of worship. The course humanity should pursue is the course of Allah is Omniscient and man is not.Wherever man creates laws for himself, he sustains harm and introduces disorder and confusion into his life. Man can only be truly free and truly equal, when he worships Allha alone, complying only with His Sharia'ah.All man made slogans of freedom and equality will remain illusions with no substance in reality, as long as some men remain the legislators or others. Such a state of affairs would be consistent with the materialist theory of history. Feudalists become the rulers and peasants are condemned to servitude; capitalists rule and workers are the salves; Communism rules and all people become slaves of the state and are subject to it as their only source for sustenance.But when Allha is ruler through compliance with Sharia'ah, all people, th rulers and the ruled, will be in the servitude of Allah alone,equal in their servitude to Allha, therefore equal in freedom vis-a-vis each other,since all are bound by Sharia'ah which has not been made by any of them, and none can alter it to defend his own interests at the expense of others. When man finds this type of guidance on his journey, he will immediately discover the landmarks of the path and ahead of him, and will follow this path.His soul then will not thrown into confusion;his mind will not suffer bewilderment;his footsteps will be firm and steady.
Man should not demean himself .He is a being greatly honoured by Allha, and should not be humiliated or lose his dignity:

We have honoured the sons of Adam (quran 17:70)
On the other hand, man should not imagine himself greater than he is and out of arrogance turn his back on the worship of God:

Man should not feel that life is  an unrepeatable opportunity, a feeling that leads inevitably to over-indulgence in sensual pleasures.Man should play his role on this earth with clear vision and awareness.He should not build the world of matter while undermining the spiritual world,neither should he create material facilities as ends in themselves,neglecting the ultimate aims of human existence, which will only be attained by establishing divine justice on Earth, and will be fulfilled by belief in Allha and by following His course.

Islam provides us with a decisive judgement on this topic.It teaches us that human life should develop constantly-scientifically,politically, economically and socially but that in its contiuous development it should not abandon the constant values derived from the permanent and unchanging facts related to Allah, in hid creation of the Universe, life and man.Life based on this concept will be balanced in its movement.It will not become fixed at any one point,not will it set out irrationally on the path to its own destruction.

By providing humanity with these three major concepts- the unity of divinity and of worship, guidance throughout the human journey, the resolution of what is permanent and what is changeable in human life, Islam gives humanity a radical solution to the chief problem now leading to the disorder and confusion we are witnessing. Having fulfilled its primary mission by re-establishing the right concepts,Islam goes on to providing practical solutions to the all problems of every day living.

Facts of poverty

Some 21,000 children die every day around the world.

That is equivalent to:

• 1 child dying every 4 seconds

• A 2011 Libya conflict-scale death toll every day

• A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring every 10 days

• A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every 11 days

• An Iraq-scale death toll every 19–46 days

• Just under 7.6 million children dying every year

• Some 92 million children dying between 2000 and 2010
• 14 children dying every minute

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Despite the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

Islamic principles during the war

This is an apt time to glide our memory on the principles of justice and moderation laid down by Caliph Abu Bakr ( R.A) for the guidance of the first expedition into Syria:

Be just; break not your plighted faith,mutilate none,slay neither children, old men nor women, injure not the date-palm nor burn it with fire,nor cut down any fruit-bearing tree,slay neither flocks nor herds nor camels, except for food, per chance you may come across men who have retired into monasteries , leave them and their works in peace....