TRYING TO END

THE “CHITTAGONG
MOSLEM WAR”

From - Michael Davidson,

“The Scotsman” Special
Correspondent

AKYAB (Arakan), Tuesday, May

18, 1949

A peace mission to North Arakan

(which lies toward the Pakistan
border) is trying the end “the
Moslem War,” which is one of
the Burmese Government’s
many headaches.

Moslem elders, carrying an order

from Prime Minister Thakin Nu,
are in contact with the insurgent
Moslems, and the latest reports
from these emissaries say that
some Moslems have already laid
down their arms. These guerrilla
operations are less a Moslem
insurrection against the
Government than a “communal”
action against the Arakanese - a
prolongation of the Moslem-
Buddhist riots of 1942. The
Moslems - natives of Chittagong in East Bengal, now part of Pakistan - fear oppression by
the Arakanese. The Arakanese, an intensely clannish community less than a million strong,
hate their Burmese kith and kin, and are afraid of losing their identity in the growing
Chittagonese population. Neither trusts the other.

A dangerous aspect of this fighting is its international aspect: Moslem insurgents have been
carrying the Pakistan flag, and many of them clamor for the incorporation of this end of
Arakan with Pakistan. It was suspected that they drew arms from across the border: the
Government, however, is now satisfied that their rifles and ammunition are old stocks left
behind by the Japanese and British. An official of a neutral Embassy in Rangoon told me
recently that Pakistan’s attitude is entirely “correct” - Though if Burma were to disintegrate,
Pakistan would doubtless step in. The great majority of Arakan Moslems are said to be really
Pakistantis from Chittagong, even if they have been settled here for a generation. Of the
130,000 Moslems here, 80,000 are still Pakistani citizens.

by Rick Heizman, January 9, 2019, San Francisco

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