Rohingya – a tale of geopolitics at heart

Scholars urge international organisations to play its role in resolving their situation

With hundreds of minority Rohingya fleeing violence in the Rakhine state, scholars in Islamabad opined that they were just victims of the geopolitics of the region.

This was expressed in a roundtable discussion on “Analyzing current situation of Rohingyas”, organised by the Muslim Institute. Those participating in the discussion included former Pakistan ambassadors to Myanmar Amjad Majeed Abbasi and Muhammad Qurban, former ambassador Amir Anwar Shadani, Federation of Rohingyas President Sheikh Firdous, IIUI Sharia and Law Assistant Professor Dr Susic Sejoand Muslim Institute’s Tahir Mehmood.

Terming the current situation in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state a severe human catastrophe, they said that the around 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims had been deprived of their nationality.



Apart from being subject to ethnic cleansing as well as military operations, they were victims of geopolitics which had badly affected the region, the scholars lamented. They added that the Rakhine state is rich in mineral resources apart from being home to a strategically important coastal line.

However, they noted that the violence against Rohingya was not something new and that it has continued in short spurts since the 1960s and 70s when a series of crackdowns forced Rohingyas to leave their homes and migrate to other countries.

Recent violence came into the spotlight first in 2012 before resuming in 2015 and now again in 2017, intensifying in each wave.

With the United Nations calling the Rohingya as one the most persecuted minorities in the world, the scholars and experts urged the international community to take steps to provide basic human rights to the Rohingya and provide them with justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2017.