When our government, particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, took some time to respond to Myanmar’s mass killings of the Rohingya population, I wasn’t too surprised.
I fathomed that Dhaka was observing the situation and waiting for the international community to respond. And rightly so, the wait bore some results.
Slowly but surely, we watched a global diplomatic split on the issue. By the time of writing this piece, envoys of 42 countries have visited the region and said that they would stand by Bangladesh on this issue.
In the beginning, the international community was silent on this holocaust. Apart from Turkey, the Muslim-majority countries also watched the genocide unfold with disbelief.
The UN has issued a warning to Myanmar, but it hasn’t taken any action. It has also issued an advisory to the government in Yangon for according a legal status to their Muslim population, but the Myanmar government has not responded.
The global media was busy telling us how Malala Yousafzai was heartbroken, how Boris Johnson was being criticised over his statement, and how the Muslim world was angry with Myanmar.
However, no one was speaking up on how the world needed to behave with Myanmar, a country that has been, with clear motive, trying to cleanse a population from a region.
However, we were quite surprised when we saw that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a visit to Myanmar, had endorsed as well as supported the Myanmar leadership in dealing with the issue.
That is a clear signal to the leadership to go ahead with its ethnic cleansing.
India has also addressed it as a “terrorist” problem. A Modi-Suu Kyi joint statement said that they wanted to work together to solve what they termed “a terrorist problem.” Suu Kyi thanked India for its strong stance with regard to, what she calls, the terrorist threat, a couple of weeks ago.
On the other hand, China has said it backed Myanmar’s efforts to “safeguard stability” in the ongoing crisis over the Muslim minority Rohingya population there.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang has said: “We think the international community should support the efforts of Myanmar in safeguarding the stability of its national development.”
Beijing, like New Delhi, is also focused on the attacks and the Myanmar government’s response to safeguard the country against “extremist forces.” The Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka, Ma Mingqiang, has suggested that the Rohingya Muslim insurgents are to blame for the crisis now brewing in the Rakhine state.
We must say that it’s only possible for a Bangladeshi leader to show that kind of magnanimity in the face of such an international crisis
However, the people of India, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries have protested against the atrocities and condemned the killings and persecutions.
The world started to respond when Bangladesh’s prime minister visited the region and announced her stand on the issue. While visiting the camps at Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar, our Prime Minister said that Bangladesh could feed the Rohingyas.
She said: “We have the ability to feed 160 million people of Bangladesh and we have enough food security to feed the 700,000 refugees.”
The prime minister broke down in tears while talking to a child with a bandaged nose.
Sheikh Hasina sounded quite confident when she demanded that Myanmar “take steps to take their nationals back” -- assuring temporary aid until that happens. She also warned the Myanmar government saying “we will not tolerate injustice.”
There were attempts to stage protest rallies in front of the Myanmar mission in Dhaka, but the authorities of Bangladesh have successfully prevented anyone from committing any untoward incident.
The stark difference surfaced when Sheikh Hasina took her stand in favour of the Rohingya population.
One leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize is now silent over the genocide being committed in her own country, and the other is extending a helping hand to a people who are being ethnically cleansed.
We must say that it’s only possible for a Bangladeshi leader to show that kind of magnanimity in the face of such an international crisis. Bangladesh may have many other problems, but the reception we have given to Rohingyas is incomparable across the world.
Bangladesh’s prime minister has taken her country to a new height by expressing our collective love for the people who are facing death in their own country. Obviously, Bangladesh, like the nations who are silent on the issue and support Myanmar also have business and diplomatic stake in that country -- but Bangladesh did not hesitate to take a humanitarian stand.
In fact, Bangladesh has shown the world how to care for a population in distress, for which Dhaka, I believe, deserves a global thank you.
The UN would do a great job if it adopts a thank you resolution at the General Assembly.
Ekram Kabir is a fiction writer.