[From the point of view of Myanmar’s economy, the Rakhine State is important and no Myanmar Government can afford instability there. The only saving grace is that the present incidents were started by the Buddhists and not by the Muslims. If the clashes continue and threaten to spread to areas outside the Rakhine State, the position of President Thein Sein, who has initiated a policy of political and economic reforms and reconciliation with Suu Kyi, may be weakened tempting the pro-China hardline elements in the Army to stage a comeback.]
By B. Raman
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| Image: The New York Times |
2. On June 3, 2012, over 100 Buddhists (Rakhines) stopped a bus in Taunggote in the Rakhine state, allegedly dragged out 10 Muslims and killed them. They suspected that these Muslims were involved in the rape and murder of the Buddhist girl. Only two of the Muslims killed were locals. The remaining eight were from Yangon (Rangoon). They were returning to Yangon after visiting a mosque in the Rakhine State on pilgrimage.
3. The same evening hundreds of Muslims gathered outside a police station in the capital town of Sittwe and threw stones. The Police managed to disperse them after using tear-gas and opening fire with rubber bullets.
4. The next day, Aung San Suu Kyi met representatives of the Muslim community in Yangon and urged them to remain calm and let the law take its course against the Buddhist culprits.
5. The Maungdaw Township of the Rakhine State, where the Muslims constitute about 96 per cent of the population, saw serious incidents of anti-Government and anti-Buddhist violence on June 8 and 9. Muslims, coming out of a mosque after prayers, went on a rampage attacking a government building, a police station and some primary schools for Buddhist children. Seven Buddhists were killed and an estimated 500 houses were burnt down. The Police shifted the Buddhist residents to refugee camps. Incidents of arson were reported from Sittwe. The Police opened fire at Maungdaw and imposed a curfew. But this did not improve the situation.
6. In the meanwhile, there were reports of rival demonstrations in Yangon by small groups of local Buddhists and Muslims.
7. On the night of June 10, 2012, President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the State, authorising the Army to assist the civilian authorities to restore law and order.
8. In a nine-minute speech televised nationally, Thein Sein said that the violence in the Rakhine State was fanned by dissatisfaction harbored by different religious and ethnic groups, hatred and the desire for revenge.
9. He added: “I would like to call upon the people, political parties, religious leaders and the media to join hands with the government with a sense of duty, to help restore peace and stability and to prevent further escalation of violence.
10."If both sides kill each other in hatred and revenge, putting anarchy before everything, the violence is in danger of spreading outside Rakhine State.
11."I would like everyone to take special care because of the damage that could be done to the peace, stability, democratic process and development of our country during its period of transformation, if the unrest spreads," he said.
12. Buddhists constitute about 89 per cent of Myanmar’s total population and Muslims about four per cent. The remaining seven per cent consist of Christians and animists.
13. The Muslims in Myanmar are of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi origin. The Muslims of Indian and Chinese origin have had no problems in integrating themselves with the rest of the society. The Muslims of Bangladeshi origin, known as Rohingyas, who speak Bengali, and who live in the Rakhine State in the areas bordering Bangladesh ( about 750,000), have not been able to integrate themselves with the local Buddhists though Muslims in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh generally have no problems in living together with Bengali Buddhists.
14. The Rohingyas have not been given full citizenship rights by successive Myanmar Governments. International human rights organisations such as the Amnesty International describe the Rohingyas as a highly persecuted ethnic and religious minority group in Myanmar. The feelings of alienation of the Rohingyas had led to violent clashes with the local Buddhists in February 2001 resulting in the imposition of curfew.
15. The Myanmar authorities look upon the Rohingya Muslims as illegal Bengali immigrants from BD and do not treat them on par with other ethnic groups. There is a feeling among the Rohingyas that even Suu Kyi, who has been supportive of the ethnic rights of other minority groups, has not shown much empathy for the Rohingyas.
16. The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami of Bangladesh, normally referred to as HUJI (B), had played an active role in the jihad against the Soviet and Afghan troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Its members studied in the Pakistani madrasas and fought as members of different Afghan mujahideen groups, after having been trained by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The HUJI (B) also recruited a number of Rohingya Muslims from the Arakan area of Myanmar and took them to Afghanistan for fighting against the Soviet and Afghan troops.
17. If there is an aggravation of the feelings of alienation of the Rohingyas there could be a danger of its being exploited by HUJI (B) to revive its activities in the areas across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
18. The Rakhine State has rich oil and gas resources and has attracted many oil/gas companies from China, India and other countries. The Chinese, who have already struck gas, have undertaken the construction of an oil/gas terminal port at Kyaukphyu, gas/oil pipelines from the port to Yunnan and a railway line connecting Yunnan with the Rakhine State.
19. From the point of view of Myanmar’s economy, the Rakhine State is important and no Myanmar Government can afford instability there. The only saving grace is that the present incidents were started by the Buddhists and not by the Muslims. If the clashes continue and threaten to spread to areas outside the Rakhine State, the position of President Thein Sein, who has initiated a policy of political and economic reforms and reconciliation with Suu Kyi, may be weakened tempting the pro-China hardline elements in the Army to stage a comeback.
(The author is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate, Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-Mail: seventyone2@gmail.com . Twitter: @SORBONNE75)
@ South Asia Analysis Group
IN A TIME TO SHINE, INDIA CAN’T GET OFF THE GROUND
[Indians are deeply status conscious — the country’s ancient caste system includes thousands of categories — so the battle within the pilot ranks at Air India is no small matter to them. But the failure to resolve these issues before the plane’s arrival reflects other vexing contradictions in India: a near-paralysis in government decision making, as well as a continued insistence that the government retain control over important national industries. This unfortunate combination of control and indecision has crippled its coal mining, power generation, oil and agriculture sectors. And now Air India.]
[Indians are deeply status conscious — the country’s ancient caste system includes thousands of categories — so the battle within the pilot ranks at Air India is no small matter to them. But the failure to resolve these issues before the plane’s arrival reflects other vexing contradictions in India: a near-paralysis in government decision making, as well as a continued insistence that the government retain control over important national industries. This unfortunate combination of control and indecision has crippled its coal mining, power generation, oil and agriculture sectors. And now Air India.]
By Gardiner Harris
The latest example involves India’s plans to be only the second country to roll out Boeing’s newest jet, the superefficient 787 Dreamliner, on its international routes. Instead of being the guest of honor at a celebration at Indira Gandhi International Airport here, however, India’s Dreamliner has been sitting on a tarmac in Everett, Wash., waiting for a formal invitation.
And even when the plane does arrive, which could be as early as next week, any celebration is likely to be muted because of a noisy dispute between pilots at the state-owned airline, Air India, that has led to a strike and a shutdown of some international flights.
Indians are deeply status conscious — the country’s ancient caste system includes thousands of categories — so the battle within the pilot ranks at Air India is no small matter to them. But the failure to resolve these issues before the plane’s arrival reflects other vexing contradictions in India: a near-paralysis in government decision making, as well as a continued insistence that the government retain control over important national industries. This unfortunate combination of control and indecision has crippled its coal mining, power generation, oil and agriculture sectors. And now Air India.
“There is more pretense than substance to our hankering for great power,” said Bharat Karnad, a professor of national security studies at the Center for Policy Research here. “Most of our problems come from self-inflicted wounds, and there is no easy remedy.”
The last time India muffed a chance to star on the international stage in such a public way was in 2010, when its failure to provide adequate sporting and hospitality sites for the Commonwealth Games was deeply embarrassing, particularly because it came only two years after China had carried off its spectacular Olympic Games like clockwork.
As with everything about India, the reasons for the latest public debacle are complicated.
Manufacturing glitches led Boeing to put off the plane’s completion by three years, so most of the company’s customers cannot get the plane fast enough. But not India.
“India’s airplane is ready,” said Dinesh Keskar, a senior vice president for sales at Boeing. “We are waiting to give it to them.”
First, the country demanded that Boeing pay a $1 billion penalty for the manufacturing delays in India’s 27-plane order. Boeing offered a small fraction of that. The two sides have since come to an agreement but have not disclosed the amount. A government cabinet meeting is scheduled for the end of this week to approve the deal. But until then, no plane.
But even after that dispute is finally put to rest, Air India faces a fight with its pilots over who among them should be allowed to fly the 787.
Air India’s pilot problem has festered since a merger was announced in 2007 between the two state-owned airlines, Air India and Indian Airlines. Pilots from the original Air India argued that since the Dreamliners were bought before the merger, only pilots working for the carrier at the time should be allowed to fly them.
But Air India, seeking a more flexible and efficient operation, sent 32 pilots from each of its predecessor companies to Singapore for training on the new plane. In response, hundreds of pilots have been calling in sick since May 7.
The merger of the two airlines was intended to create a carrier strong enough to compete globally and burnish India’s reputation. Just the opposite has happened, as repeated strikes, poor service and safety fears have left Air India flailing even as the domestic and Asian air travel markets have grown rapidly. On Sunday, a nose wheel on an Air India jet with 52 people aboard fell off during takeoff from Silchar Airport, and the plane made an emergency landing in Guwahati, in northeastern India, with no major damage or injuries.
“In hindsight, I can say that the merger didn’t work out,” said Ajit Singh, India’s minister of civil aviation.
The government agreed this year to give the airline a $5.4 billion bailout as long as it met certain financial milestones.
“That’s why the strike came at such an inopportune time,” Mr. Singh said. “This is the public’s money.”
Mr. Singh announced last week that he had fired 101 of the 400 striking pilots and that the airline was in the midst of training new ones. Air India has had to cancel all its flights to Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul and Toronto. Mr. Singh urged the pilots to return to work without preconditions.
K. Swaminathan, an Air India spokesman, estimated that normal operations would resume within three or four months, and he said the airline had enough trained pilots to fly all three Dreamliners expected to be delivered this month. But the loss of highly profitable international routes will cost the airline dearly.
Air India’s turnaround plan depends heavily on the improved efficiency that the 787 will bring, so getting the airplane into the airline’s rotation is crucial. The 787 is the first major commercial plane made almost exclusively from composite materials. Its wings flex like a glider’s when flying, and its reduced weight saves fuel.
“I’m very confident we will succeed,” Mr. Singh said.
Others are less sanguine. Air India is unlikely to turn itself around, said Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research in London, “until they sort out the strike and get pilots working again and streamline their top-heavy management team with one that knows how to run an airline.”
Vikas Bajaj contributed reporting from Mumbai, and Heather Timmons from New Delhi.
@ The New York Times
@ The New York Times
