During his visit on Thursday, Shri Modi visited iconic Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. PM
Modi, who is in Myanmar for three day bilateral visit, also visited Kalibari.
Prime Minister Modi said India and Myanmar can together do a survey for
an INA memorial. Naming Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Rabindranath
Tagore and Bahadur Shah Zafar, he said Myanmar had become the “second home” for
those who had to leave their own homes during the freedom struggle. The INA
also known as ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ was formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in
Southeast Asia during World War II to secure Indian independence from British
rule.
Things are not well
in the neighbouring Yangon !! it was the
fast-flowing river that doomed the inhabitants of Tula Toli. Snaking around the
remote village on three sides, the treacherous waters allowed Burmese soldiers
to corner and hold people on the river’s sandy banks. Some were shot on the
spot. Others drowned in the current as they tried to escape. The story of Tula Toli, while horrific, is
not unique. The army, in retribution for guerrilla-style ambushes on 25 August
by an emergent Rohingya militant group, has led a huge counteroffensive across
northern Rakhine state. Many Rohingya had already escaped. Communal clashes
with Buddhists in Rakhine prompted 140,000 Rohingya to leave their homes in
2012. Thousands have since died either at sea or in brutal jungle camps run by
people smugglers.
Described as persecuted
people, reportedly 1.1 million Rohingya
people live in Myanmar. Rohingya people claim
themselves to be descendants of Muslims,
perhaps Persian and Arab traders, who came to Myanmar generations ago. Unlike
the Buddhist community, they speak a language similar to the Bengali dialect of
Chittagong in Bangladesh. The Rohingya are reviled by many in Myanmar as
illegal immigrants and they suffer from systematic discrimination. The Myanmar
government treats them as stateless people, denying them citizenship. The minority
is described as "Bengalis", reflecting a mainstream perception that
members of the Rohingya group are foreigners - immigrants from Bangladesh, with
different culture and language. What is seen by many internationally as a human
rights issue is viewed in Myanmar as one of national sovereignty, and there is
widespread support for military operations in northern Rakhine.
Most Burmese view
international media coverage as one-sided, putting too much emphasis on the Rohingya,
and failing to adequately cover the plight of others in Rakhine who have fled
violence in their villages. Local media has focused on "terrorist
attacks" and on evacuations of non-Rohingya who have been internally
displaced by the conflict.
Yangon formerly
known as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as
Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military
government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in
central Myanmar. Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in
Southeast Asia. The city is also home to
the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda — Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda. The
mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor is located in Yangon, where he had been
exiled following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
The British seized
Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and
subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of
British Burma. Colonial Yangon, with its
spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture,
was known as "the garden city of the East. After World War I, Yangon
became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon
University students leading the way.
Myanmar has a
sizable Hindu population who however struggle to maintain their identity amidst
the country’s historically dominant Buddhists. Indians have been present in
Myanmar for 2,000 years, but most came in the mid-19th century, when the
country’s British rulers brought a million people from various parts of India
to take up posts in the government and the army, build roads and railroads or
engage in commerce and farming. During World War II, Myanmar (then Burma) was a
major battleground between Japanese and Allied forces, with huge loss of life
on all sides. Now just two percent of the population, Myanmar’s Hindus are an
unassuming and apolitical community focused on their farms, trade and small
businesses, rejoicing in the freedom they have to practice their religion.
Down there in
Yangon exists Sri Kali Temple, locally known as Kali Bari temple, located in
the Little India in downtown Yangon, Burma, tracing back to 1871 built by Tamil migrants. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi visited
this temple and here are photos thanks to pib.gov.in.
He
also visited the Ananda Temple,
at Bagan in Myanmar. This is a Buddhist
temple built in the early 12th century. It is the second largest temple in
the entire Bagan region. The Archaeological Survey of India has carried out
structural conservation and chemical preservation work of this temple.
Restoration work is being carried out after damage during the earthquake last
year. The Prime Minister was shown a photo exhibit depicting the ongoing
restoration work at the temple. He offered prayers and made a Parikrama of the
temple, during which ASI representatives explained the restoration process.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
7th
Sept. 2017.
