As stated earlier, although the slavish history of the Rohingyas begins with the annexation of Arakan in 1784, but the story of their large scale persecution and oppression begins with the beginning of the 20th century. Particularly, since 1937, when Burma was separated from British India, the soil of Arakan has been frequently drenched with the blood of the Rohingyas which caused innumerable exodus of Rohingyas in the wake of innumerable operations led against the Rohingyas out of which the Pogrom of 1942, Dragon King Operation of 1978 and the Operation of 1991/92 are the most horrific genocidal operations of the world. Being deprived of fundamental human rights and being victim of the systematic genocide, extra-judicial persecution and eviction, the Rohingyas have been leading a gypsy life at home and abroad decades after decades.
As stated earlier, although the slavish history of the Rohingyas begins with the annexation of Arakan in 1784, but the story of their large scale persecution and oppression begins with the beginning of the 20th century. Particularly, since 1937, when Burma was separated from British India, the soil of Arakan has been frequently drenched with the blood of the Rohingyas which caused innumerable exodus of Rohingyas in the wake of innumerable operations led against the Rohingyas out of which the Pogrom of 1942, Dragon King Operation of 1978 and the Operation of 1991/92 are the most horrific genocidal operations of the world. Being deprived of fundamental human rights and being victim of the systematic genocide, extra-judicial persecution and eviction, the Rohingyas have been leading a gypsy life at home and abroad decades after decades.
The reminiscence of the tragic stories of the most heinous Pogrom of 1942 which is popularly known as "Biyallisher Khara Khari" still shudders the hearts of those who had witnessed the tragedy. At that time, the genocidal operation in "Kyawktaw" (Township) was so fierce that the water of the " Kaladen River" got a crimson color with the blood of Rohingya victims. And for the following 2/3 years, the fish of the river could not be eaten due to the rotten corpse.
Operation Dragon King of 1978 and its aftermath
As a part of the systematic genocidal operation, this operation was led against the Rohingyas in 1978, when innumerable Rohingya men, women and children have been subjected to massacres and eviction. During this operation, which is popularly known as Dragon King (Nagaminh), about 3 hundred thousand Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. This was, in fact, the first time when the Rohingya refugee problem drew the international attention.
Later, however, the Burmese military government was forced by the international community to take back its citizens. But due to the lack of an all-out guarantee of their security in Arakan, a major portion of the refugees refused to return home and later, many of them got mixed with the local people of Bangladesh and started leading a gypsy life here and there as undocumented refugees and many of them crossed to different countries like India, Pakistan, UAE and Saudi Arabia, etc.
However, out of those 3 hundred thousand refugees, only 180,000 have returned home amidst utter despondency and grief. But since there was no international observation team inside Arakan to look after the returning refuges, those who returned have become victims of double persecutions. They were not returned to their original hearths and homes. The relief commodities given by different international organizations for these returning refugees were not distributed among them and instead were distributed elsewhere. In a punishing act, many food Go-downs of the refugees were burnt down by the army. As a result, one third of the returning refugees died of starvation and malnutrition and the rest of them began to lead a gypsy life here and there inside Arakan.
In 1979, the military rulers led two more operations against the Rohingyas which were called "Galoon" and "Shwe Hinsa". Later with the passage of "The New Citizenship Law" in 1982, the military rulers have virtually declared the Rohingyas as stateless people in their own homeland where they have been living centuries after centuries. In this way, their right to take part in the national affairs and administration has been snatched away.
In fact, during the long military rule since 1962 the army had conducted armed operations against the Rohingyas almost every year under the aegis of the notorious "Immigration Act". Moreover, as a part of its "divide & rule" policy, it has instigated many communal riots between the Rakhines and Rohingyas. Besides, the army and other law enforcing personnel often enter the Rohingya localities on the pretext of an enquiry. While searching the houses of the Rohingyas, they either assault the Rohingya womenfolk or take away those who look beautiful.
The Rohingyas are often compelled to provide rice, goats, fowls, etc., free of cost for the army or the police outposts. In what is called modern-day slave labor, they are forced to provide free labour for the construction of different roads and accommodation facilities for the government forces. Sometimes, while all the males of a Rohingya village are summoned to an army camp under some pretext, including forced volunteering for the slave labor – the "kooli" – the forces indiscriminately assault and dishonor the Rohingya women. Besides, drastic restrictions are imposed on the Rohingyas on their movement from a police station to another.
Military Operation of 1991/92
In late 1991, the world witnessed another grim showbiz of crackdown of the Burmese military regime when tens of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children streamed into neighboring Bangladesh with stories of rapes, killings, slave labor and destruction of religious sites and other acts of human rights violations. At that time, the Bangladesh government registered over 300,000 refugees. The green foliage and picturesque valleys of the southern parts of Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh which cater celestial delights to the visitors have turned into a place of exile for those hapless Rohingya refugees.
At that time, the refugees interviewed by different international organizations and the world media reported appalling atrocities at the hands of the Burmese army. Rape of women after their husbands of fathers had been taken for forced labor was common. Sometimes, the rape occurred in the homes of the victims with children and relatives left to watch. Sometimes, the women were taken to a nearby military camp where they were sorted out by beauty. In some cases, the women were killed, in other cases they were allowed to return home.