The Problem of Muslim National Identity in Myanmar

The Problem of Muslim National Identity in Myanmar PDF Author: Myint Thein (a) Abdus Salaam
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Burma
Languages : en
Pages : 846

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Book Description
This study examines the identity of Muslim communities in Myanmar (Burma) based on their ancient origins and settlements in Myanmar and their struggle to maintain their national identity under successive governments. The results of this study confirm that Muslim communities in Myanmar, namely Burman Muslims (including Pathi, Myedu and Zerbadee), Rakhine Muslims (including Rohingya and Kaman), Panthay Muslims (Chinese) and Pashu Muslims (Malay) have historically evolved and are stable communities, like other ethnic groups of Myanmar, and that they are by right Myanmar nationals. This study shows that Muslim communities at Burma's independence automatically had Burmese citizenship, the same status as all other citizens of Burma, and that they were among the 144 national races of Burma until 1982. However, they gradually lost their status, rights and privileges after the military coup led by General Ne Win, in 1962. It is the main finding of the present research that the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law created by General Ne Win did not only deliberately target the Rohingyas in Rakhine State to make them "Stateless" and refugees, but also degraded most of the Muslims and other minorities throughout the country to become second class or third class citizens without any justification. This study also found that the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law is contrary to the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, human rights and international norms.

The Problem of Muslim National Identity in Myanmar

The Problem of Muslim National Identity in Myanmar PDF Author: Myint Thein (a) Abdus Salaam
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Burma
Languages : en
Pages : 846

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study examines the identity of Muslim communities in Myanmar (Burma) based on their ancient origins and settlements in Myanmar and their struggle to maintain their national identity under successive governments. The results of this study confirm that Muslim communities in Myanmar, namely Burman Muslims (including Pathi, Myedu and Zerbadee), Rakhine Muslims (including Rohingya and Kaman), Panthay Muslims (Chinese) and Pashu Muslims (Malay) have historically evolved and are stable communities, like other ethnic groups of Myanmar, and that they are by right Myanmar nationals. This study shows that Muslim communities at Burma's independence automatically had Burmese citizenship, the same status as all other citizens of Burma, and that they were among the 144 national races of Burma until 1982. However, they gradually lost their status, rights and privileges after the military coup led by General Ne Win, in 1962. It is the main finding of the present research that the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law created by General Ne Win did not only deliberately target the Rohingyas in Rakhine State to make them "Stateless" and refugees, but also degraded most of the Muslims and other minorities throughout the country to become second class or third class citizens without any justification. This study also found that the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law is contrary to the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, human rights and international norms.

Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Myanmar

Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Myanmar PDF Author: Perry Schmidt-Leukel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350187410
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
One of the most comprehensive volumes on Myanmar's identity politics to date, this book discusses the entanglement of ethnic and religious identities in Myanmar and the challenges presented by its extensive ethnic-religious diversity. Religious and ethnic conjunctions are treated from historical, political, religious and ethnic minority perspectives through both case studies and overview chapters. The book addresses the thorny issue of Buddhist supremacy, Burmese nationalism and ethnic-religious hierarchy, along with reflections on Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities. Bringing together international scholars and Burmese scholars, this book combines the perspectives of academic observers with those of political activists and religious leaders from different faiths. Through the breadth of its disciplinary approach, its focus on identity issues and its inclusion of insider and outsider perspectives, this book provides new insights into the complex religious situation of Myanmar.

A Study of Culture of Muslims in Myanmar

A Study of Culture of Muslims in Myanmar PDF Author: Maularna Akbar shah
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Burma Or Myanmar? The Struggle For National Identity

Burma Or Myanmar? The Struggle For National Identity PDF Author: Lowell Dittmer
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814464589
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Burma, also known as Myanmar, strategically located between China and India, is one of the largest and most richly endowed states in Southeast Asia. Yet it remains both economically and politically underdeveloped. Why is this so? We argue that much of the reason has to do with an ongoing struggle for national identity. This struggle involves not only whether the state should be authoritarian or democratic, but how Burma's myriad ethnic minorities should be accommodated within it, what external reference national reference groups the country should identify and align with, and how it should move forward. Identity formation normally occurs much earlier in the national developmental process, but Burma has had unusually intransigent problems that were never successfully resolved during the colonial period and have simply been suppressed by force since then. This protracted divisiveness has stunted the nation's modernization and growth.Written from a unique perspective, this book on Myanmar deviates from the traditional authoritarian versus democratic rhetoric. Although that is certainly part of the picture, this multifaceted analysis focuses rather on the issue of identity formation — an issue that has all too often failed to make the headlines. Much can be learned from Myanmar's identity problems, making this book essential reading for all students and professionals interested in development studies or comparative politics. By whatever name, Burma is not only a fascinating country but one likely to play an increasingly vital role in Asia's future.

The Muslims of Burma

The Muslims of Burma PDF Author: Moshe Yegar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Muslims
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description


Understanding Securitisation Theory

Understanding Securitisation Theory PDF Author: Thierry Balzacq
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135246149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
This volume aims to provide a new framework for the analysis of securitization processes, increasing our understanding of how security issues emerge, evolve and dissolve. Securitisation theory has become one of the key components of security studies and IR courses in recent years, and this book represents the first attempt to provide an integrated and rigorous overview of securitization practices within a coherent framework. To do so, it organizes securitization around three core assumptions which make the theory applicable to empirical studies: the centrality of audience, the co-dependency of agency and context and the structuring force of the dispositif. These assumptions are then investigated through discourse analysis, process-tracing, ethnographic research, and content analysis and discussed in relation to extensive case studies. This innovative new book will be of much interest to students of securitisation and critical security studies, as well as IR theory and sociology. Thierry Balzacq is holder of the Tocqueville Chair on Security Policies and Professor at the University of Namur. He is Research Director at the University of Louvain and Associate Researcher at the Centre for European Studies at Sciences Po Paris.

Myanmar's 'Rohingya' Conflict

Myanmar's 'Rohingya' Conflict PDF Author: Anthony Ware
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190928867
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
The plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims has made international news in recent years. Reports of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are commonplace. The Rohingyas have been denied citizenship and are widely discriminated against. Hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced by violence, or have sought refuge in neighbouring or friendly Muslim countries. This conflict has become a litmus test for change in this country in transition, and current assessments are far from positive. Whitewashing by the military, and a refusal by Aung San Suu Kyi's government to even use the name 'Rohingya', adds to international scepticism. Exploring this long-running tripartite conflict between the Rohingya, Rakhine and Burman ethnic groups, this book offers a new analysis of the complexities of the conflict: the fears and motivations driving it and the competition to control historical representations and collective memory. By questioning these competing narratives, offering detailed sociopolitical analysis and examining the international dimensions of the conflict, this book offers new insights into what is preventing a peaceful resolution to this intractable conflict.

A Study on the Identity of 'main-land' Muslims in Myanmar

A Study on the Identity of 'main-land' Muslims in Myanmar PDF Author: U. Tun Aung
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Identification (Religion)
Languages : en
Pages : 600

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Book Description
Muslims of Myamar have been living in the country for more than one thousand years; yet their identities remain obscure. Their lives are full of challenges and the frequent clashes between them and the Buddhists signify an uncomfortable atmosphere. Their life is an example of identity crisis prevailing in our contemporary world. Although freedom of religion and equality in ethnical rights are constitutionally documented and recognized, Muslims of Myanmar have availed freedom and liberty as compared to its non-Muslim citizens. On the ground, their rights are ignored and their religious identity is discarded.Currently, their economic life, educational level, social, religious and political status are below the recognized standard. The alarming numbers of the poor, jobless, destitute, uneducated, illiterate, refugees and locally displaced Muslim are on the rise. Once the social and moral values are at desperate levels, maintaining Islamic identity for the Muslims of Myanmar is unthinkable. It is suggested that the reason of affliction against the Muslims is Islamophobia. This paper suggests to the Muslims of Myanmar that they need to solicit the minority status on the basis of religion so as to officially claim the right of minority.

Myanmar's Enemy Within

Myanmar's Enemy Within PDF Author: Francis Wade
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1783605308
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
For decades Myanmar has been portrayed as a case of good citizen versus bad regime – men in jackboots maintaining a suffocating rule over a majority Buddhist population beholden to the ideals of non-violence and tolerance. But in recent years this narrative has been upended. In June 2012, violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in western Myanmar, pointing to a growing divide between religious communities that before had received little attention from the outside world. Attacks on Muslims soon spread across the country, leaving hundreds dead, entire neighbourhoods turned to rubble, and tens of thousands of Muslims confined to internment camps. This violence, breaking out amid the passage to democracy, was spurred on by monks, pro-democracy activists and even politicians. In this gripping and deeply reported account, Francis Wade explores how the manipulation of identities by an anxious ruling elite has laid the foundations for mass violence, and how, in Myanmar’s case, some of the most respected and articulate voices for democracy have turned on the Muslim population at a time when the majority of citizens are beginning to experience freedoms unseen for half a century.

Democracy and Violence in Myanmar

Democracy and Violence in Myanmar PDF Author: Amber van Suijlekom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This thesis analyzes the process of democratization in Myanmar. One of the countries’ minorities, the Rohingya Muslims, suffers from increasing discrimination and violence. The aim of the thesis is to examine if there is a correlation between the democratic transition in Myanmar and to the institutional discrimination of the Rohingya Muslims. The emphasis in several parts of the thesis is on the role of ethnicity and nationalism throughout the history of the country. In addition, there is a focus on the question how Buddhism is being used to build a national identity. There are nationalist Buddhist movements in Myanmar and they are building a populist case on fear of immigration and fear of Muslim minorities taking over control in the country. Another key point in this thesis is the examination of whether there is a connection between democratization and violence in Myanmar. The thesis explores whether the colonial era, the military rule, the road to independence and the process of democratization in Myanmar have created breeding grounds for violence and discrimination and if the democratic freedoms, including freedom of expression, are a tool for incitement to hatred and violence. The thesis eventually concludes that Myanmar’s transition towards democracy correlates with the institutional discrimination of the Rohingya Muslims on multiple levels. The discrimination of the Rohingya has its roots in the colonial era. During that time, the first emphasis on the distinction of ethnic groups in Myanmar was made and it had its influence on the political arena nowadays. Therefore, the conflicts in the country can be seen as a product of the country’s historic transition. In addition, the thesis concludes that the active role of the government in the anti-Muslim violence, the discriminatory laws and policies and the hate fueled speeches which incite hatred and violence, will continue to undermine the process of democratization in Myanmar. Thus, the discrimination and violence against the Rohingya Muslims can also be seen as obstacles to the transition of the country towards a stable democracy.