Myanmar: A Good Example for Politics of Polarisation
Historical circumstances that led Myanmar to the current quagmire have many parallels in Sri Lanka. Like Sri Lanka, Myanmar was under the British colonial rule. The strategy of domination in both was “Divide and Rule”.
Introduction
( October 5, 2016, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Rohingya are the world’s largest stateless community. Most of them live in the western coastal state of Rakhine, one the poorest states in Myanmar. The majority of the Rohingya are Muslims and have for centuries lived in the majority Buddhist Myanmar. The Rohingya speak Rohingya or Ruaingga, a dialect that is distinct from other dialects spoken in Rakhine State and Myanmar. They are not considered one of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless. Since August 2017, more than half a million Rohingya have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh alone.
