By Omer Faruk Yildiz
KUALA LUMPUR (AA) – Groups opposed to Myanmar’s military junta should cooperate with Muslims, a Muslim activist said Sunday.
Kyaw Win, who is also the founder and executive director of the UK-based Burma Human Rights Network, told Anadolu Agency about recent developments in Myanmar and the Muslims of Myanmar Multi-ethnic Consultative Committee (MMMCC), which he set up with Myanmar Muslim leaders to bring democracy back to the country.
"Due to security issues following the military coup, many Muslim leaders, opinion leaders and activists are scattered in Myanmar right now," said Win.
“The aim of this committee is to protect and support the Muslim leaders who are leading the uprising against the military coup and to ensure the representation of Muslims before the anti-coup groups,” he added.
– 50 of those killed in anti-coup protests were Muslims
Win noted that Myanmar Muslims have played a leading role in anti-coup protests, stressing that so far, around 50 of the civilians killed in the Myanmar army's armed intervention against the protesters were Muslims.
The MMMCC aims to fight to protect the rights not only of Rohingya Muslims but of all Muslims in Myanmar, he said.
"Rohingya make up 30% of Myanmar's Muslims. Other Muslims are experiencing similar troubles, if not as much as the Rohingya.
“For example, there are about 100,000 Muslim Myanmar people who have taken refuge on the Thai border as a result of the pressure of the Myanmar army. No one knows the state of this community,” he stressed.
“So far, there has been no institution or organization that gathers Muslims in Myanmar under one roof. We, as the MMMCC, are taking the initiative on this issue and aim to represent the rights of Muslims by engaging in dialogue with the parties involved in the anti-coup riots."
– Old mistakes should not be repeated
Muslims actively support anti-coup movements across Myanmar and sided with the National Unity Government (NUG) formed on April 16 by supporters of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi against military rule, emphasized Win.
Referring to the MMMCC’s meetings with NUG officials, Win said: "If we want to defeat military rule in Myanmar, we must fight side by side with all ethnic and religious groups in the country.”
“That's why we support the NUG without any conditions. We want to make sure that the mistakes made in the previous military governments and the National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Suu Kyi, which came to power in 2015, will not be repeated.
“Anti-coup groups should stand in solidarity with Muslims. The NUG officials we have met so far have assured us that together, they will build a new Myanmar,” he added.
– ‘ASEAN can discourage Myanmar people’
In order for the NUG to succeed against military rule and achieve unity among the people, they must cancel the Citizenship Law signed in 1982, which deprived many ethnic minorities, especially Rohingya Muslims, of their citizenship rights, underlined Win.
"The Myanmar army did not listen to any of the decisions taken at the meeting” of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on April 24, Win said, noting that the special summit, which was aimed at resolving the political crisis in Myanmar, was inconclusive.
“They're still killing people. Five compromise clauses have already been scrapped,” he noted.
"ASEAN's role could discourage the people of Myanmar," he said, recalling that some ASEAN countries sent letters to the UN asking it to abandon its plan to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.
“That is why the international community must…share responsibility for solving the crisis in Myanmar,” he said.
Win stressed that Myanmar Muslims are ready to pay any price to restore democracy and justice to their country, saying the resistance shown by the Turkish people during the July 15, 2016 defeated coup attempt in Turkey is a good example for them.
Myanmar's military ousted the government of Nobel laureate and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 this year, detaining her with several of her party members.
*Writing by Merve Berker
