The Burmese Labyrinth - A History of the Rohingya Tragedy

A first-hand account of the complex, bloody history of Myanmar and the origins of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas In 2011, Myanmar embarked in a democratic transition from a brutal military rule that culminated four years later, when the first free election in decades saw a landslide for the party of celebrated Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, even as the international community was celebrating a new dawn, old wars were raging in the northern borderlands. A crisis was emerging in western Arakan state where the regime intensified its oppression of the vulnerable Muslim Rohingya community. By 2017, the conflict had escalated into a military onslaught against the Rohingya that provoked the most desperate refugee crisis of our times, as over 750,000 of them fled their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh. In The Burmese Labyrinth , journalist Carlos Sardiña Galache gives the in depth story of the country. Burma has always been an uneasy balance between multiple ethnic groups and religions. He examines the deep roots behind the ethnic divisions that go back prior to the colonial period, and so shockingly exploded in recent times. This is a powerful portrait of a nation in perpetual conflict with itself. "A first-hand account of the complex, bloody history of Mayanmar: and the origins of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas In 2011, Burma/Myanmar embarked in a democratic transition from a brutal military rule that culminated four years later, when the first free election in decades saw a landslide for the party of celebrated Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, even as the international community was celebrating a new dawn, old wars were raging in the northern borderlands and a crisis was emerging in western Arakan State, as the regime intensified its oppression of the vulnerable Muslim Rohingya community. The trigger of the latter was a series of episodes of intercommunal violence between Muslims and Buddhists in 2012, in which the army and police took sides attacking the former. By 2017, the conflict had escalated into a military onslaught against the Rohingya that provoked the most desperate refugee crisis of our times, as over 750,000 of them fled their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh. In The Burmese Labyrinth, journalist Carlos Sardiña Galache, gives the in depth story of the country, combining reportage and history. Burma has always been an uneasy balance between multiple ethnic groups and religions. He examines the deep roots behind the ethnic divisions that go back prior to the colonial period, and so shockingly exploded in recent times. This is a powerful portrait of a nation in perpetual conflict with itself."-- Provided by publisher "A first-hand account of the complex, bloody history of Mayanmar: and the origins of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas In 2011, Burma/Myanmar embarked in a democratic transition from a brutal military rule that culminated four years later, when the first free election in decades saw a landslide for the party of celebrated Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, even as the international community was celebrating a new dawn, old wars were raging in the northern borderlands and a crisis was emerging in western Arakan State, as the regime intensified its oppression of the vulnerable Muslim Rohingya community. The trigger of the latter was a series of episodes of intercommunal violence between Muslims and Buddhists in 2012, in which the army and police took sides attacking the former. By 2017, the conflict had escalated into a military onslaught against the Rohingya that provoked the most desperate refugee crisis of our times, as over 750,000 of them fled their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh. In The Burmese Labyrinth, journalist Carlos Sardina Galache, gives the in depth story of the country, combining reportage and history. Burma has always been an uneasy balance between multiple ethnic groups and religions. He examines the deep roots behind the ethnic divisions that go back prior to the colonial period, and so shockingly exploded in recent times. This is a powerful portrait of a nation in perpetual conflict with itself."-- A first-hand account of the complex, bloody history of Myanmar and the origins of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas In 2011, Myanmar embarked in a democratic transition from a brutal military rule that culminated four years later, when the first free election in decades saw a landslide for the party of celebrated Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, even as the international community was celebrating a new dawn, old wars were raging in the northern borderlands. A crisis was emerging in western Arakan state where the regime intensified its oppression of the vulnerable Muslim Rohingya community. By 2017, the conflict had escalated into a military onslaught against the Rohingya that provoked the most desperate refugee crisis of our times, as over 750,000 of them fled their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh. In The Burmese Labyrinth, journalist Carlos SardiNa Galache gives the in depth story of the country. Burma has always been an uneasy balance between multiple ethnic groups and religions. He examines the deep roots behind the ethnic divisions that go back prior to the colonial period, and so shockingly exploded in recent times. This is a powerful portrait of a nation in perpetual conflict with itself Maps Note on Burmese Terms Introduction: Trapped in the Burmese Labyrinth Part I‘Discipline-Flourishing Democracy’ 1. The Transition 2. The War in the ‘Green Hell’ 3. Days of Fury in Arakan 4. ‘We Will Build a Fence With Our Bones if Necessary’ 5. The Counted and the Excluded 6. The Burmese Cage Part IIHistory and Its Traces 7. The Worlds of Precolonial ‘Burma’ 8. Burma Under the British 9. The Emergence of Nationalisms 10. World War II and the Road to Independence 11. An Embattled Democracy 12. The Burmese Way to Socialism 13. A Long ‘Caretaker Government’ Part IIIA Diarchic Government 14. The Election 15. ‘The Lady’ in Power 16. ‘An Unfinished Job’ 17. After the Ethnic Cleansing Conclusion: The Failure of Burmese Nationalism Acknowledgments Notes Index