INTERVIEWS by RICK HEIZMAN

in MAUNGDAW TOWN and AREA

in September 2017, January, 2018, and October 2018

U Hla Shwe
from Bo Mhu Village, downtown Maungdaw,
maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Maungdaw, September 2017
(Maungdaw cameramen)

[A brave photographer who filmed the only videos of the

rampaging and destructive Bengali Muslims as they launched
the attacks of June 8, 2012]

I am U Hla Shwe, son of U Mae Maung. I am a photographer.

On Friday June 8, 2012, we heard the Bengalis in Maungdaw

had a so-called Praying Ceremony. Around 9:30 AM, I went to my Photo Shop. The whole
town was so quiet. Later I closed my shop and went outside and saw thousands of Bengali
Muslims from many villages around Maungdaw who came and gathered in the Maungdaw
Central Mosque to join the ceremony. Then, I felt unsafe on the road and went upstairs to the
United Guest House building. I saw thousands and thousands of Bengalis praying inside and
outside of the Mosque. I started recording with my camera without knowing something bad
would happen.

At that moment Bengalis came out of the Mosque, and started shouting and the mob spread
out in different directions. While I was shooting video, the Bengalis threw stones at me.
When the security police came, they ran away. Then I took my motorbike to go to my house
in Bo Mhu Village, but I was blocked by Bengalis and entered my fathers home.

I saw many Bengalis coming from Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) village coming into the downtown
area and destroying shops and things around the Thazin Guest House. Then the NaSaKa (a
border protection force) Vehicle came and stopped in front of my fathers house. When
Bengalis saw that they threw stones and the NaSaKa Vehicle moved away.

I was filming from upstairs at my fathers house. When they saw me shooting with a camera,
they threw stones at me. They also threw stones to every house along the road. Then, on the
road in front of Thazin Guest House, they burned all the things they had destroyed around
there.

The two groups of Security police were watching this and did nothing. They were under
orders not to shoot.

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Then the Bengalis torched our houses in Bo Mhu village. All the villagers ran outside of the
village crying and asking NaSaKa for help. But they got no help. Bengalis were burning as
much as they could. (They knew that the police could not stop them). My house was burned
down too. About 15 houses of our village had been burned.

In our village, a retired police sergeant U Hla Maung was killed. Doctor Khin Maung Lat, U
Kyaw Hla and Zaw Than were also seriously wounded. Then, in the early evening, many
Rakhine villages were burning, and we saw a lot of dark smoke in the sky.

Name unknown
from Aung Ba La Village, Shwe Zarr Village tract,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Shwe Zarr, January 2018
(Shwe Zarr 1)
Our village of Rakhine people, named Aung Ba La, is
surrounded by many large Bengali villages in the Shwe Zarr
village tract.

One evening in 1988, we villagers could hear the sound of

many Bengali people yelling. At first, we thought it must be
some kind of activity at the mosque or something, but the
sound became louder and louder, and it was becoming
worrisome.

At that time there were no security forces nearby. In those days, if anything strange was starting
to happen the women and children would all go to the monastery for protection. The men and
boys would have to make a circle around the village, and keep trouble out. But, the men were
afraid to go to the distant end of the village to protect it. We worried that if the Bengali Muslims
attacked in large numbers, a lot of the Rakhine men might panic and run away.

There were no telephones at that time, and no Border Guard Police outposts - there was no
way to have protection for our families. We could hear that the mob was heading into
Maungdaw town nearby.

In Maungdaw town, there was a big rice mill, and there were 3 policemen there - only 3. We
heard gunshots, but we didn't know what happened. And, we could hear that the Bengali
mobs were going back to their villages. The next morning we started to hear the news of
what happened.

Many Bengali Muslims had tried to enter the town. They were stopped at the Shwe Zarr
Bridge by those 3 brave policemen. And, someone pointed out that the communication
tower nearby had bullet holes in the antenna dishes. [The date of that attack was May 13,
1988, the anniversary date of the launch of a genocidal massacre of 30,000 Buddhists in
Maungdaw in 1942.]

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U Ba Aye asked: How did you feel at that time?

Answer: Well, In those days with no telephones and no police or Border Guard outposts we
felt very hopeless. Due to the history of violence against us, from the Muslims, we must be
prepared to flee anytime. We knew that we could lose our homes and land, but we can't risk
losing our family or village members. It was difficult and dangerous to live with that
unpredictable threat against us.

U Ba Aye: What happened in 2012, 2016, and 2017?

Answer: Nothing much unusual happened here in 2016, but in 2012, we were once again
under attack. In 2012, one day at about 3:30 pm, 600-700 Bengali Muslims armed with
sticks and swords from the Bengali village just to the north of us started crossing the rice
fields, moving towards our village to attack it. All the women and children were sent to the
monastery, and just 30-40 Rakhine men were standing in front of the large Bengali mob.
Some of us had sticks or swords, but we were greatly outnumbered about 20 to 1. We yelled
to the Bengalis, "Please don't attack us, don't come closer. If you don't attack us, we won't
do anything." But many Bengali men were yelling loudly and threateningly.

They caught a pig and cut it to pieces in front of us, to show how bloodthirsty they were.
They grabbed some stray dogs and other animals and butchered them, trying to make us run
away in fear. At that time, the 3 policemen arrived [coincidently 3 again, but not the same as
in 1988] and they had 3 guns, but one gun didn't work, so they had 2 guns. They fired a few
shots in the air to scare the attackers, but the Bengalis were not afraid of that and did not
back off. The Bengalis shouted to their own people, “The guns don't have bullets, so don't
be afraid of them!” One of the policeman then shot a coconut down from a tree to prove that
they had some bullets. That sobered the Muslims a bit, and then the soldiers began shooting
at the ground just in front of the Muslims, and then the frightened Muslims ran back to their
village. [The police probably had no more than a couple of dozen bullets, with 2 working
guns, and facing a menacing mob of 600-700 agitated Muslims.]

In 2017, we faced the largest attack by the Muslims. Many Bengali Muslims, around 1000,
tried again to attack our Rakhine village people again. We couldn't sleep at all for a couple
days. At that time all of us fled to Maungdaw, Buthidaung or Sittwe refugee camps, rescued
and transported by the overwhelmed army. Only 15 men stayed to try to prevent the Muslims
from looting and burning our village.

As a couple of Border Guards were approaching our village, by motorcycle, a Bengali laid
landmine exploded. The blast destroyed the motorcycle and 2 Border Guards were injured
by the explosion. One soldier was hit by shrapnel just under his eye, and another soldier had
his hand mangled by the landmine.

Our Aung Ba La Village is really in a dangerous situation when hostilities break out. We are
surrounded by Bengali Muslim villages and there is no way to escape. We are lucky that the
military came and rescued us, and had the trucks to get us out of there.

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Unknown name
from Maungdaw
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in refugee camp, 2012
(2012 Old man 3)

March 1, 1940, Japanese bombs started falling near here.

[He said 1940, but actually it was 1942] I was a young
policeman then. [In 2012, when interviewed, he was
about 95 years old] I was also studying law. U Nu came
here at that time and had a meeting in Maungdaw.

We all had to flee to India as the Japanese army was

advancing towards us. But, the greater threat was from
the Bengali Muslims. As the British retreated, the land
was left without any authority. The Bengali Muslims, trained and armed by the British to fight
the Japanese turned their weapons upon us and began massive slaughters of us Arakanese
Buddhists.

All of the Arakanese Buddhist had to flee over the Mayu Mountains, or across the border into
British India [now Bangladesh] and so many were slaughtered. From where we were we fled
into India. The Hindu Indians were kind and gave us food, salt, dried fish, beans - even
though they were poor.

In 1944 the British gained control again and the Japanese were out, and the British were
back. The British demanded that the Muslims who were now living in the Arakanese villages
that they had taken after massacring and driving away all the Buddhists, evacuate those
villages and allow the Buddhist refugees coming back from India to reclaim their villages. The
Muslims resisted and only a small number of Buddhists were able to return to their villages.
The British military moved some Muslims to Dhaka, and also destroyed some troublesome
Muslim villages. The British had to put military posts in many villages to prevent the Muslims
from burning and killing.

In Alay Than Kyaw Village [20 miles to the south of Maungdaw town] and other places, the
Muslims had slaughtered all the Buddhists after the British had retreated in 1942. My
brother-in-law and some other men I knew had to flee horrific massacres in Alay Than Kyaw
when the Muslims attacked in 1942 with unspeakable brutality. They barely escaped by
running up the coast and then fleeing and hiding as they made their way over the Mayu
Mountains. All Arakanese people were slaughtered or managed to flee to temporary safety,
then flee again.

All of the Arakanese people of Alay Than Kyaw and surrounding villages had to flee for their
lives. About half of them climbed up the mountain, and half of them fled, in groups, to the
forest and river.

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There were Bengali Muslims who shouted to some groups of fleeing villagers, “I will help you
to get to a safe area! Follow me through the forest this way, there is no danger this way!….”
The Buddhist villagers were very simple honest people, so they followed, but were led into a
trap, and the whole group would be slaughtered.

The people from Pan Taw Pyin Village [a few miles south of Maungdaw town] were killed by
the Muslims that way. The Arakanese villagers trusted the Bengalis - that is the way they are.

To the south, in Inn Din Village there was a jetty, built by the British, and used by the British
navy, and the Bengalis came to that jetty, shooting guns. The police returned their gunfire.

Many Buddhists, from so many different villages were massacred by the Muslims.

In Maungdaw and Buthidaung there was a British appointed District Administrator - U Kyaw
Khine - a respected and well-liked man. While he was alive the situation was okay, but after
he was assassinated the problems intensified greatly.

He was killed by a single shot fired by a sniper while he was on a boat going to Gu Dar Pyin
to discuss the deteriorating situation with the Muslim leaders. I don’t think he did the right
thing. If he had ordered martial law, the Bengalis would have been thwarted. Instead, the
Bengalis killed him, and blocked the roads, and tried to kill all the Buddhists.

Among the Bengalis that U kyaw Khine was going to meet was Marracan, [became a
notorious Mujahid leader] and his son, and another Bengali named Poe Khine, who was a
Muslim lawyer. So, Marracan and Poe Khine, and others had plotted to kill U Kyaw Khine.
They planned it and did it.

Also, at that time Bengali Muslim soldiers serving in the British Army had just returned from
duty in Singapore [also a British colony at that time]. They knew that U Kyaw Khine was
going to come by boat to Gu Dar Pyin, so they put snipers at several points on the waterway
in order to succeed with their plot.

After U Kyaw Khine was assassinated the remaining authorities could have arrested
Marracan and others, but they were quickly paid large amounts of money not to arrest them.

In 1942, we suffered greatly because of the Muslims.

On May 13, 1988, on the anniversary date of the launch of the 1942 huge massacres, the
Muslims tried again to eliminate us. Again they shouted, “Nariya Takbir! Allahu Akbar!” [both
phrases are praising Allah as the greatest].

And, now again [2012] the Muslims are attacking and killing us again.

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Adu Raman - Muslim
from Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) Village,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) Village, Sept 2017
(Ka Yin Tan Muslim 1)

I am Adu Raman, Village Administrator of Ka Yin Tan

(Myoma) Village.

We know the violence happened. We do not want Terrorism.

We want to live together in peace. We condemn Terrorists
and Terrorism.

Nothing has happened to our village, it is still normal. The shops are closed, that is why the
village is not active. We just heard about the violence, we did not see it. Our village elders try
to be against terrorism.

We have promised the authorities to arrest the terrorists if they are in our village.

Mahmed Ismie - Muslim

from Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) Village,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) Village, Sept 2017
(Ka Yin Tan Muslim 2)

I am Mahmed Ismie, from Ka Yin Tan (Myoma) Village. I am a

village elder.

We have been living with Rakhine ethnic people since long

before. We want to live with them in peace and harmony.

We do not want any kind of terrorism or violence. We want to cooperate with Rakhines and
live together in peace.

It will be better if the shops in downtown can open - like before. Most of our villagers are
paid daily for their labor. They will be okay if they can go out and work - like before the recent
conflict started.

I think it will be better if we have an All Religion Inclusive Organization in the village and
township levels.

We want to live with good-will to everyone.

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Chandrwa Maung Hein - Hindu
from Kan Yin Tan Village, Padauk Village Tract,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Hindu refugee camp, Maungdaw town,
September 2017
(Hindu man 5)

My name is Chandrwa Maung Hein and my fathers name is U

Zulanarwa. We lived in Kan Yin Tan Village in Padauk Village
Tract in Maungdaw Township. We lived in several separate
houses. There are seven men, including me, and four women
comprising my family members.

On August 24, 2017, one of my sons went to Maungdaw market with a motorbike to buy
something. As he could not get it there, he went to Thonemiles Village Tract, where there are
two villages of Mro and Thet ethnicities there. There are some small hills between those two
villages. When he arrived there, Bengali Muslim terrorists followed him and tried to catch
him. So, he ran into the forest nearby, according to an eyewitness. Since that time, I have not
had any contact from my son, and still, we cannot find him.

That same month, on August 27, 2017, Bengali terrorists entered our compound and
attacked my house. There were at least 25 militants and they surrounded all of us. Among
them, there were 7 or 8 Bengalis that rushed inside, holding weapons in their hands, such as
long knives and swords, pistols, small bombs, and heavy wooden sticks.

After bursting in they searched for our phones and grabbed them all. Then, they arrogantly
spoke to me using bad words. They threatened us to cut our heads off if we did not convert
to Islam by the day after tomorrow.

Also, before exiting, they forced us to destroyed our holy Hindu shrine and deities, and told
me not to keep and not to pay homage to our sacred deities. They ordered us to “destroy
immediately. Destroy your pagan shrine and idols immediately and if you want to live here,
you must change your false religious into our superior Islam” is what they said to me very
arrogantly. One of them tried to hit and beat me.They took two Kyattha [a unit of
measurement] of gold and 70,000 Kyats (Myanmar currency) together with our mobile
phones. After that they exited the house.

Of the terrorists who entered my house, among them was a leader of the RSO (Rohingya
Solidarity Organization - terrorist group) among them, named Adu Habist, and the rest of
them are from our village.

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Name unknown - Muslim
from Maungdaw town,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Maungdaw town, October 2018
(Maungdaw Muslim 1)

Question: Around 700,000 Bengali Muslim people fled to

Bangladesh, about 80% of Bengali people fled, and 20%

stayed here, so why didn't you flee?

Answer: 80% of Bengalis fled because they are homeless now.

Question: Do you have contact with other Bengalis who fled

to Bangladesh?

Answer: No, no contact. They are not a concern of us, we live here.

Question: Did any of your relatives flee to Bangladesh?

Answer: No, my relatives are here in Maungdaw.

Question: At the moment is everything okay?

Answer: Yes, everything is okay.

Name unknown - Muslim

from Maungdaw town,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Maungdaw town, October 2018
(Maungdaw Muslim 2)

Question: We come here as tourists. Can we interview you

for 2 or 3 minutes?

Answer: Okay, 2 or 3 minutes.

Question: Do you live here in Maungdaw?

Answer: We live in Maungdaw, in a village nearby. In downtown

we have a shop. That's why we come here to open the shop and sell things.

Question: Most of the Bengali people fled to Bangladesh, so why didn't you flee?

Answer: We live here as before. Normally we live in the village. In the morning time we come

here and open the shop and sell things.

Question: Do you have contact with other Bengalis who fled to Bangladesh, including your

relatives if they fled there?

Answer: No, our relatives didn't flee to Bangladesh.We all live together in the village. And, we

we don't have contact with other Bengali people who fled.

Question: Do you have any plans to go to Bangladesh in the future?

Answer: No, we don’t.

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Name unknown - Muslim
from Maungdaw town,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Maungdaw town, October 2018
(Maungdaw Muslim 3)

Question: We come here as tourists. Can we interview you for 2

or 3 minutes?

Answer: Ok, 2 or 3 minutes no problem.

Question: Most of the Bengali people fled to Bangladesh, so

why didn't you flee?

Answer: We didn't flee. We are doing our business normally in the town. We live in the

village, and in the morning we come to open our shop in downtown.

Razam Dura - Hindu

from Shwe Zarr Village (outskirt of Maungdaw town),
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Hindu refugee camp in Sittwe,
September 2017
(Hindu man 2a)

My name is Razam Dura. I am a shopkeeper. When I came

back from buying things at the market for my shop Bengali
Muslims stopped me. They took my things and attacked me
with swords and sticks. I have many wounds on my back.

I came back to my village and told my villagers that Bengalis beat me and that they told me
that they would kill Hindus first. The villagers then decided to leave the village and go into
the town for safety. Our village has no security and is surrounded by many Bengali villages.

Then we called the authorities to send security for us. We fled our village with the help of
security forces. Some of our villagers stayed in temporary camps. Some of us came here, to
Sittwe.

We have lost everything. We came here only with our children. We do not want to go back.
We don't want to live together with Bengalis. This is what we feel. We will live here [with
Buddhists in Sittwe].

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Razam Dura - Hindu
from Shwe Zarr Village (outskirt of Maungdaw town),
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
interviewed in Hindu refugee camp, Maungdaw town,
October 2018
(Hindu man 2b)

[I first interviewed him in September 2017, in a Hindu refugee

camp in Sittwe]

I am from Shwe Zarr village. My name is Razam Dura. I went to

the market past the corner of the road to buy some things. When I was on the way back
home Muslim fanatics encountered me. They asked me, “Where are you taking the things?” I
said I am taking these food items to make meals for our family. They said, “You can’t have it!”
and knocked me down. They beat me with sticks and stabbed me. When I shouted, “Why
are you doing this?” another one tried to beat me. At that time I managed to get away, and
ran through the paddy fields. When I was trying to escape through the paddy field, the
Muslims surrounded me and watched me. As I was going back to my village other villagers
asked, “What happened?” to me. I said, “Nothing happened.”

When I arrived back in my own village I told the other Hindu villagers what had happened.
We gathered in the village and phoned MaYaKha (Township administrative office). The
authorities told us to be ready and said they would take us away from there with security
vehicles.

After 3 days security forces arrived and took us away. The security forces interviewed us
about the trouble. We were so afraid because we heard that Fora villagers were killed and
Fora village was completely destroyed. Bengali terrorists also came around where we were
then, fired guns and threatened us. We were not be able to stay there either. So, we went to
Sittwe.

In Sittwe, we stayed in a Hindu temple / refugee camp. We were provided medical treatment
and I recovered from my wounds. After we were kept there for one or two months, we were
told to go back to Shwe Zarr Village. The Muslims said, “If you come to back to Shwe Zarr
Village, we shall hack you into pieces. Don’t come back here.” Our houses were totally
looted.

How can we go back together with our young children? We decided not to go and we are
staying in a refugee camp. We survive with the rations provided by the government, and we
stay like this here. We do not know what will happen in the future. The villagers are afraid
because the terrorists are looking for us. When the villagers are afraid, what we can do? We
just stay in the town.

Where can we go with our young children? We cannot go to Shwe Zarr Village because we
become frightened just seeing Muslims. The government and our Hindu leader also told us
to stay here and said they would see what they could do. My stab injury is already healed.
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But, we are afraid to go to Shwe Zarr village. How can we survive with our young children
among the Muslims? There are many extremists around our Shwe Zarr village. We cannot
make our living because of many difficulties. The children cannot go to school. Our houses
and belongings were taken by terrorists.

The Muslims use this way to occupy the country. They beat us, hack us, and intimidate us to
flee, and then they seize our lands.

Nowadays the Bengali Muslim villages are huge - it’s like 10 villages in one village. How can
we live near the Muslims?

Unknown name - Hindu

from Nan Do La Village, near Shwe Zarr,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed in Nan Do La
September 2017
(Hindu man 1)

We have a small Hindu village, with about 64 homes, at the

edge of Maungdaw town. It has become surrounded by large
Bengali Muslim villages.

There is no market to buy the basic things like salt, chili peppers, cooking oil and vegetables,
so we have to go through the big Muslim villages to a section where Buddhists have a
market. The Muslim villages will not even sell us these basic necessities. They say such thing
as, “You and the Buddhists get along, so don’t bother us you filthy Hindus. We don’t sell
things to infidels like you.”

We cant’s go alone through the Muslim Villages, it is too dangerous. Last year a Hindu man
went alone and he was beaten severely. He even pleaded with them, “I have 4 sons and my
wife to care for, please don’t kill me.” But, as he was being badly beaten he managed to
break away and ran back to the Hindu village. His fellow villagers were upset again with the
Bengalis, but could not do anything except dress the wounds of the man.

When there is trouble we feel very unsafe. We can’t run in any direction because we are
surrounded by Bengalis. The Bengalis periodically run into the village, scaring the Hindu
people away with taunts of violence, such as, “You idol-worshippers only deserve death, go
away, never come back, our knives are for you!”

They barge into our Hindu temple. They destroy our statues, and even pictures of our deities
on the wall. They shit on our holy things, and pee all over. It is so disgusting. They have
broken our statues so many times - that is why we have no statues anymore - we only have
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pictures and tiles of our deities, and they will destroy them also, but at least we can buy
more for just a small amount of money.

We don’t feel safe here anymore, we are really scared. And they are constantly threatening us
with death - because we are Hindu, and they hate our statues and deities. There are no
security guards here, no protection at all. We are surrounded by hateful Muslims that will kill
all of us someday.

If the Burmese government can find a safe place for us we will move there. We do not want
to live here anymore. We can’t live in fear of our lives. We have been here for many
generations, a long time ago there were just Buddhists, and maybe just a few Muslims. But,
the Muslim population increased so much - by using violence. We are attached to our land
here, but now we will gladly move for a safe future.

We hope the government can bring us to a safe place to live with the Buddhists, we always
live peacefully with Buddhists, but not with Bengali Muslims. We do not want to live even
near them. If they can’t find a peaceful place for us then they need to put a police station
here, with a lot of security forces, and only then can we live here, where our roots are.

Our only skill is that we traditionally make jewelry - that is what we know. But, we are
surrounded by hostile Muslims, and it is difficult for us to sell jewelry and to buy the supplies
we need to make it. We have no real education, and no economic opportunity.

If I go to Yangon, maybe I can work hard everyday and make some money - but I cannot
leave my family here - I must be here to protect them. Our lives here are very difficult - very
difficult and dangerous.

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Kyaw Kyaw Naing / Shu Bun - Hindu community leader
from Maungdaw town, block 4,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
interviewed in Hindu refugee camp, Maungdaw town,
October 2018
(Kyaw Kyaw Naing 3)

[I have previously interviewed Kyaw Kyaw Naing in Sept

2017, and January 2018]

My name is Kyaw Kyaw Naing, from block 4 of Maungdaw

town. First, I will tell you my experience of the June 8, 2012
attacks by the Bengali Muslims around here. Around noon I
saw many Bengali Muslims gathering in groups around
here, and then walking the road into the middle of the
town. I noticed that, and I wanted to know what they were
doing. So, I asked some of the Muslims. [The Hindus there
are largely Bengali speaking Hindus] Muslims told me they were going into the town center
for a religious holiday.

After 12 noon I heard very loud yelling from the mosque. After hearing that I alerted my
parents, because it was strange and worrying, and I told my parents to be aware and be
careful.

There were more and more agitated Muslims running around. I got on my motorbike to go
and try to see what was happening - because it was worrisome. I saw Muslims throwing
rocks at traffic police. The traffic police, as they were hit by rocks got on their motorbikes
and retreated back to the police station. When I got back to my house, I saw many windows
were broken - the Muslims were throwing rocks to break windows. About 4 pm I saw houses
being burned in the northwest part of town.

After that we Hindus were all alerted, and we gathered in our village and decided that we had
to flee to the nearby Rakhine Buddhist village for safety, where there was also a small
security force. At nighttime the Buddhist and Hindu young men - armed only with sticks -
had to stay awake outside their homes and guard their women and kids, and the whole
village. The Muslim population around there is very large, larger than the Hindu and
Buddhist. When the Muslims start yelling so loudly, the Hindus and Buddhists become very
fearful, and feel that they must flee again.

Just near the Buddhist village is a police outpost - but there are only 3 policemen assigned
there. We Hindus decided to ask the police for help. We went to the police and said, "Please
help us, we need security. Very soon, perhaps, these Bengali Muslims will come and attack
us. So we all will die, including the children.”

Those 3 policemen then asked the Border Guard Police for help, and about 13 BGP joined
those 3 officers. At the village, the security forces shot up into the air - to warn the Muslims
13
not to attack other people. 4 or 5 times they shot in the air. The next morning things calmed
down a bit. And then the next day or so the threat of violence had subsided.

Then, on October 9, 2016, the Muslims attacked at the same time - by surprise - 3 different
Border Guard Police bases.

Before, when I was younger, we Hindus used to work together with Muslims. Hindus could
go to Muslim villages and sell clothes and food, or use our skills to mend broken metal pots,
or fix boxes. And, we would buy things from Muslims, and do some business like that.
Before there was no problem to go to Bengali Muslim villages, but now we can't, because
they don't want us to come to their villages to sell or buy things, they don't want to interact
with non-Muslims. So, our Hindu people suffered because we couldn't do any business, as
before, with the Muslims. So, many of us started to go to downtown Maungdaw - to work
any kind of job - usually menial labor.

In 2017, the Bengali Muslims attacked - again. Our Hindu village here is surrounded by larger
Muslim villages. When the Muslims start yelling so loudly it is frightening. At around midnight,
on Aug 24, 2017, all the Bengali villages around us were yelling, “Zindabar! Zindabar!”

[Victory! Victory!, or Forever! Forever!, as in Victory for Islam!, or Islam Forever!].

We Hindus know, from experience, that when the Muslims shout those kind of powerful
slogans there is big trouble starting any minute. So, fathers were gathered together and told
that this was a very bad situation now, and there will be very big trouble coming any minute -
so be prepared.

The yelling of so many Bengali Muslims was so loud that even Hindus in our village who
were trying to talk with each other had trouble hearing the person talking with right in from of
them. It was difficult to hear and to understand at that crucial time when we were trying to
figure out what to do.

Then I heard gunshots coming from the Muslim village. I didn’t know who was shooting, and
who or what he was shooting at, but it was coming from the Muslim village.

As the morning light came we moved all of our Hindu women, children, and elderly to a safer
place - the nearby Rakhine Buddhist village, but our men stayed in our village to protect it,
and prevent it from being burned down. The next morning we Hindu men heard loud yelling
again, this time only Muslim men. And we saw that some of the Bengali houses were
burning. Not just one Bengali village was burning, but many Bengali villages were burning.
There were fires every direction. That made us so frightened.

Finally, army troops arrived and we felt safer. If the army had not arrived we would probably
all be slaughtered. The Bengali Muslims target, and would kill all the Buddhists, Hindus, and
the ethnic minorities - all non-Muslims.

Then the Hindus were moved to block 3, where there was a school [this school / temple] and
the women and kids stayed here, but many of the men stayed in our village to guard it.

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An interesting observation - When we saw the Muslim village house burning - at that time -
there were no military or police forces around there - none. The next day the military arrived.
So, it can't be said that the military burned the Muslim houses. We also knew that it is
impossible to go to the Muslims villages if you are not Muslim. It would be very dangerous
for any non-Muslim to even get close to one of their villages. We know that they burned their
own village houses.

We began to hear the news of all the police outposts that were attacked on August 25, 2017,
and so many ethnic minority villages that were targeted and burned. Hearing this news made
us very frightened again. We felt, again, that we all may die soon, at the hands of the Bengali
Muslims. We are not even safe here. So, we arranged to evacuate to Sittwe for safety. In
Sittwe, we stayed as refugees in a Hindu Temple complex, which became extremely
overcrowded, and the sports stadium, which also became very overcrowded. Eventually we
came back to Maungdaw, when it seemed safer.

We must remember, the Muslims's goal, when they are shouting "Zindabar! Zindabar!", is to
kill or chase out all Buddhists, Hindus, and tribal people - they don't want to live with any
non-Muslims. They know that if they kill 5 Buddhists in a village than the rest of the villagers
will all run away - and so they will then have that land. Look at Kha Maung Seik Hindu
villages - over 100 Hindus were executed by Bengali Muslims, and in Maungdaw town 7
Hindus were murdered on August 25, 2017. Later, some of the international media came and
wrote very biased and wrong stories about these incidents!

I have a question for the world: “Why do so many defend the aggressors and accuse the
victims?”

I think the UN agencies, and international groups come her only to help the Muslims, maybe
only 10% goes to Buddhist and Hindu victims and concerns. I hear about and know about
this from many friends who work with these groups.

Here is another question, “If the NGO's and other aid organizations come to help why don't
they balance the aid between Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and tribal minorities?”

Another thing - the Bengali Muslim Mawlawis [Imams] in Maungdaw received a lot of money
from foreign sources, and in the villages they distribute this money to entice more and more
young men to undergo militant training with weapons and fighting techniques, and join ARSA
- so they all become ARSA Islamic terrorists. I have seen that the Bengali Muslims - from
kids to Mawlawis - with the help of foreign money, is totally under the spell of militant Islam.

The Hindu people here are very poor, and very much a minority. Our education is not well.
Nowadays we have an Education Youth Committee with 32 members, so we are active with
educating our young people well. We support the education of our children in the correct
official way, and work with the government. Because, the government is our mother and
father. We inform them of our progress and our difficulties. There are still many families that
are very poor.

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Most of the parents of our children are not educated, they were very poor, and either had no
schools, or were too poor to go to school, but now we try to educate all of our kids. They
can learn to read and write, and we all need to know the Burmese language, because it is
the national language, and we live in the nation of Myanmar. The government has donated
books to here. Our Education Youth Committee, with its 32 members does not ask for help
from the NGOs that are here, we support our programs with our own efforts.

Now, I would like to say to the Bengali Muslims, "Stay away from us. We don't want trouble
from you.” Look at the Kha Maung Seik massacre - so many Hindus were killed there, and
also here, in Maungdaw. Now, our Hindu village is too close to a large Bengali village - only a
3 minute walk. We always have to worry when they will attack again.

25 days after the attack Bengali men came into our Hindu village, and they knew which
house was mine, and my house was burned down by those Bengalis. I reported this attack
to the authorities and to the State Minister. I have been targeted numerous times by the
Muslims, because I know a lot about the Muslims, and I am a Hindu community leader, and I
speak and am interviewed about the abuses that our Hindu community suffers because of
the Muslims.

At the moment there is no security around our Hindu village - and that's why we don't feel
very safe. Sometimes we hear the threats from the Muslims that their first target is the
Hindus - they will first slaughter the Hindus, and then the Buddhists.

We Hindus now know, that the Muslims want to kill us, and they will try to do it again and
again. That's why we must be aware and careful - always.

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 Kyaw Kyaw Naing / Shu Bun - Hindu Community
Leader
from Maungdaw town, block 4,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed at border fence near Maungdaw,
January 2018
(Kyaw Kyaw Naing fence)

Hindu Leader Kyaw Kyaw Naing tells of being kidnapped by

Bengali Muslims

[We were at the border fence between Bangladesh and

Myanmar. All of a sudden Kyaw Kyaw Naing climbs over the
fence, and back in about 30 seconds - He just wanted to show us how easy it is, and how
useless the fence is. He said he learned to climb the fence when he was kidnapped. I said,
“Kidnapped?!?!' Tell us the story……”]

I was kidnapped on April 25, 2016, at 1:15 in the morning and taken by boat across the wide
Naf River, behind me, to Bangladesh, in the darkness. I had to climb over this fence in the
darkness at knifepoint. They knew that I was leader of the Hindu minority, and that the
Hindus would have to come up with big money to get me back.

I was taken to what seemed like a terrorist training camp. I

was beaten everyday for 8 days, and told that they would
cut off my head if money did not come.

They said that the Hindu people were a problem for the
Bengalis because the Hindus get along with the Buddhists,
and interact with each other.

I had to call my brother in Myanmar, and he had to collect

money from our poor Hindu villages. On day 9 he arrived
with the money (over $10,000 USD) and I was freed.

They gave me bandages and medicine for my wounds, and told me that I should stay in the
hospital for a few days - but I didn’t want to spend anymore time, not even one more second
in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh police notified the Myanmar officials and I got back to my family and village
later on the 9th day.

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Kyaw Kyaw Naing / Shu Bun - Hindu Community Leader
from Maungdaw town, block 4,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Interviewed at Hindu Refugee camp in Sittwe, Sept 2017
(Kyaw Kyaw Naing 1)

On August 27, 2017, 7 Hindus - a woman, 3 Men, and 3 children

were killed by Bengalis in Myo Thu Gyi village near downtown
Maungdaw. And, in Zin Pine Nyar village a Hindu father and his
daughter were abducted. We still have no information about
them, but we believe that they have also been brutally murdered. Then, in Pa Din Ka Yin Tan
village, one Hindu from a family was abducted, and that villager is believed be dead, also.

In Kha Maung Seik Village Tract, there are two Hindu Villages named Ye Baw Kya and Taung
Ywa. There were over 120 villagers in those two villages. Ye Baw Kya village has a Hindu
Temple.

I want the whole world to know the term 'Genocide' does not apply to the Bengali Muslims,
but rightfully for our Hindu people. All the villagers from Ye Baw Kya and Taung Ywa were
slaughtered by the Bengalis. This was massive killing committed by Muslims. And then, 8
young and pretty Hindu ladies were threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam.
The very frightened ladies accepted this to save their own lives, and the terrorists chose
each of the ladies for marriage and took them to Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, when the Hindu ladies were being interviewed by reporters, a Hindu man
noticed that they were Hindu. He noticed that they were Hindu by seeing the traditional and
cultural things they were wearing. Hindu women wear Red or White bracelets, and they have
a red spot called tikka on their forehead. Hindu men wear bracelets called rakhid which can
bring good luck or good fortune.Then the Hindu man told Guru Gyi - a Hindu holy man -
about this and Guru Gyi informed a Hindu reporter about this discovery. The reporter
urgently went to find the Hindu girls and interview them, and then get them out of there,
because they were not safe.

After that the reporter went there and told them that he was a Hindu, the Hindu ladies started
crying with relief. They said that they were forced by Bengali terrorists to say their families
were killed by Rakhine Buddhists and Army troops. They had to say that because they are
afraid of being killed.

The Hindu ladies asked the Hindu reporter to please save them from the hands of the
murderous Bengalis as soon as possible. If not, they would have to suffer the fate of being
Muslim against their will. They were also forced to eat beef (which Hindus don't eat). Then
the reporter told all of this to Guru Gyi and soon Hindu and Bangladesh authorities saved
them.

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After the ladies were saved, they gave detailed information to us. Their husbands were
beaten by the Muslims with iron rods, tortured and killed in front of them. Bengalis shouted
that Hindus and Buddhists together conspired against Muslims.

Now Hindus in Bangladesh are in great danger. In the Bangladesh refugee camps, there are
492 Hindus from Thit Tone Na Kwa Sone Village. There are 8 women and 7 children from Kha
Maung Seik Taung Ywa and Ye Baw Kya Villages. I urgently request the authorities to save all
of them.

We Hindu people are the victims running from the Bengali terrorists to safety among the
Rakhine Buddhist community. We have lost everything, including houses, cows and all we
possess. All we have is our lives and one set of clothes.

The Bengalis have burned our houses and some of their own houses too. We saw this with
our own eyes. We lived with the Rakhine Buddhist community at one corner of the Ward.
Bengalis live in the other three corners. We only have one way to escape.

Around 11:30 PM ,on that night of August 25, 2017, the Bengalis started shouting "Islam
Zindabad" (Long Live Islam) so loudly. We realized then that we had to run for our lives
because we understood that they are going to fight and kill all the Buddhists. We first
escaped to downtown Maungdaw and took shelter there. But we felt unsafe there, so most
of us came to Sittwe.

If the Government want to resettle us, we will not live together with these Bengali Muslims.
We request the Government to settle us next to the Buddhist Rakhine community. We can
always live peacefully with them. We can only live far away from Muslims. This is what I want
to say as the leader of all these Hindu victims.

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Rashad Ullah - Hindu
from Maungdaw town,
Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar
interviewed in Hindu refugee camp, Maungdaw town,
October 2018
(Hindu woman 4)

I am Rashad Ullah, 70 years old. During the attacks [August

25, 2018] no Hindus were allowed to go out of our village - for
safety. We had ten men on this side, and 10 men on the other
side of the village patrolling and watching the boundaries of
the village, ready to warn us of trouble.

The Bengali Muslims call us Hindus 'begoni' - which means eggplant. Before, I argued with
Bengali Muslim women, "Why do you call us 'begoni' [eggplant]? We are Hindu people. What
do you want?" Then, the Muslim women tried to kill me with a sword. They chased me and I
ran back to my village home.

The night after the attacks all the Hindu people couldn't sleep well, and couldn't eat well,
children were crying and screaming - we were surrounded by Bengali Muslim villages. We
wanted to flee someplace safer, but we were trapped, there was no place to go.

I like to chew betelnut, and I needed some. So I went out of the village, with a sword, to get
some betelnut from a shop in the Muslim village. I saw a leader of the Muslims, named Noru.
We know each other. I asked him, "Can I go this way to buy some betelnut?" He said, "No,
don't go there. If you go this way now the other Muslims will kill you."

But, I wanted my betelnut, so I went that way anyway. I got to the shop and said, "Sell me
some betelnut." Then I went back, but on the way some Muslims chased me with a sword,
but I was faster than them.

The Bengali Muslim leader, Noru, warned all the Hindu people in our village with his
megaphone, "Don't go out to the market, and don't go anywhere, just stay in your village, it is
very dangerous now.”

After that we all fled to Hindu temples and schools in Sittwe for safety.

These Bengali Muslims make a lot of trouble for us.

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This one is not an interview,
but a horrific tragedy that happened
to a Hindu family on the
edge of Maungdaw town.

On August 25, 2017, in the early AM hours, this car, with a

Hindu family and relatives totaling 12 people, was driving
back to Maungdaw. They were just a few miles from home.

Suddenly, they had to slow down because the road was full
of armed Bengali Muslims, and they instantly knew that their
lives were in danger. The driver, saw that the road was
blocked and dangerous and he swerved onto the driveway of
this unfinished building.

He shouted for everyone get out and hide in the dark building. What nobody knew was that
the militant terrorist group, ARSA, was just launching its massive simultaneous attacks, and
they were planning to use the empty building that night as a Command Center.

As the family piled out of the car, and into the building there was a chorus of yelling coming
from around 100 ARSA militant terrorists. “Hindus! Hindus! Allah, we give you the Hindus! We
kill them for you! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”

In a hail of gunfire and sword blows 6 of them were dead quickly. 2 ladies were critically
wounded.

4 children jump out of the building, and run in total darkness - terrified - until they get to a
village (fortunately not a Bengali village) and tell the police outpost what happened. (There
were a total of 6 children in the car, but 2 were already dead at the building.)

The police post already knew something was happening because they heard the gun shots,
and they could hear that other police posts were now under attack.

They bundled the kids into a vehicle grabbed their guns, and went to the building, being
careful not to be ambushed. They found the dead bodies of 6 of the 12 Hindus, and 2 Hindu
women that were still alive - barely. They took the ladies to the hospital, and they survived.

But 6 Hindus died, at the hands of the

Bengali Muslims, and their never-ending
supremacy, intolerance, and hatred.

Ironically, the empty building is the new

Maungdaw Court of Justice.

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INTERVIEW CATEGORIES

• Southern Maungdaw Township

• Northern Maungdaw Township

• Maungdaw Town and Area

• Southern Buthidaung Township

• Northern Buthidaung Township

• Rathedaung Township

• Hindu victims

• Ethnic Minority victims: Mro, Thet, Diagnet, Khami

• Others: Yangon, Sittwe, Mrauk-U

A DATABASE IS COMING: Enabling you to find all interviews with these types of parameters:

• Rescued / saved by Army

• Used to get along / employ / work with Bengali Muslims

• Bengalis would not buy, sell, or interact in any way with non-Muslims

• ARSA or RSO terrorist group info

• Terrorist training camps found

• Eyewitnesses to Bengali Muslims burning their own homes and villages

• Interviews by: Hindus, Muslims, Khami, Thet, Diagnet, Mro

• Talk about 1942 Massacre times, or 1950s Mujahid campaign

ALL INTERVIEWS ARE ON VIDEO AT:

https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/Interviews-October-2018/

and:

https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/INTERVIEWS/

and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXpfh5XdTXbt6mNgNzGjZ7A

Produced by Rick Heizman June 18, 2019

Facebook: Arakan Eagle 7

twitter: @FrankSmitherma1

Photos and Videos of Arakan at: arakan-reality.smugmug.com - go to Conflict videos

Photos and Videos of all of Myanmar at: rickheizman.smugmug.com

Papers at scribd.com/rheizman

Email: rickmusic4@gmail.com burmafriend88@gmail.com

The BEST and most ACCURATE FILM about the CONFLICT in RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR:
ARAKAN - ANCIENT BUDDHIST KINGDOM, ENDANGERED BY JIHAD - in 4 parts:

https://arakan-reality.smugmug.com/ARAKAN-the-CONFLICT-VIDEOS/MY-EXCELLENT-MOVIE/

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