By Mohamed Ashraf Alam
 

INTRODUCTION

The Rohingya Problem has of late become a matter of great concern to the government and to the people of Bangladesh as well as Muslim Ummah. Several lakhs of uprooted Rohingyas, men, women, and children, have been forced to leave their homeland Arakan and took shelter in Bangladesh. This is happened not once but twice, in 1978-79 and 1991-92; the problem is not yet over. This is a man-made problem, created by the ruling Burmese military junta. It is not due to the fault of the Rohingyas themselves and the reason is political and coercive policy of Burmese Junta. In Arakan, Rohingyas form a solid group, which is an eyesore to the Burmese government.1 The Rohingya have been settling in Arakan from long before the British occupation of the country. In fact the forefathers of Rohingyas had entered into Arakan from time immemorial. The Burmese ruling junta do not know, or pretend not to know that the Rohingyas have a long history, a language, a heritage, a culture and a tradition of their own that they had built up in Arakan by their long and historic settlements. In fact the Rohingya have been settling in Arakan for more than a thousand year.2 In order to know and understand the full context of the Rohingya problems, it is necessary to know the geographical location, the population, the historical background and culture, ethnic origin, chronology of activities of Rohingya nation.