Demonstration of '10,000' Islamist Extremists in Dhaka Against Myanmar

The extremist Islamist group known as 'Islam Protection' held a demonstration on Monday, September 18, with the participation of over 10,000 people in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, towards the Myanmar embassy. According to the Associated Press, the demonstrators shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and 'Death to Myanmar,' demanding the separation of Rakhine State from Myanmar and the establishment of a Muslim country in that region. The Muslim Rohingya minority residing in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has a population of about one million; approximately half of them have sought refuge in Bangladesh so far. The 'Islam Protection' group, composed of students from Islamic schools, has been involved in killing secular bloggers in Bangladesh and staged a large protest against bloggers in May 2013, which turned violent and resulted in the deaths of around 50 people. In recent weeks, 'hundreds of thousands' of Muslims in Chechnya, located in the Caucasus region of Russia, have also held gatherings in Grozny to express solidarity with Muslims in Myanmar and demand an end to their slaughter. Meanwhile, on Monday, the commander of the Myanmar army called on the people of the country to unite against the Rohingya minority issue and stated that the cleansing operations carried out in Rakhine State (located in the north of the country) were aimed at driving out Rohingya militants who attacked a police station on August 25 (September 3). According to the French news agency, General Min Aung Hlaing also stated, 'Rohingyas have no roots in Myanmar.' Continued violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar has so far caused over 400,000 of them to flee to Bangladesh. Several UN leaders have commented on the ongoing crisis, stating that all signs indicate 'ethnic cleansing' of the Rohingyas. The position of Rohingya Muslims has long been a contentious issue in Myanmar. Many leaders of the Buddhist majority in the country believe that Rohingyas are Bengalis from Bangladesh who have entered Myanmar and deny the existence of an ethnic group called Rohingya. General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander of the Myanmar army, also referred to this issue on his Facebook account, stating, 'They have demanded recognition as the Rohingya ethnic group, which has never been one of the ethnic groups of Myanmar. The Bengali issue is a national issue that we must unite to clarify the reality regarding them.' The defense of the highest-ranking military official in Myanmar for the operations of the country's soldiers comes after a wave of international opposition to the violent treatment of Rohingya civilians has emerged. These people have been forced to flee to Bangladesh to escape the slaughter, and the Bangladeshi government is struggling to accommodate them and provide for their food. The Myanmar government announced on Sunday that those Rohingyas who have fled the country will no longer have the right to return, as they are accused of having connections with government-opposing militants. In a statement, the government said, 'Those who have fled their villages have done so out of fear of being arrested because they participated in violent attacks. Legal support will only be granted to those who have not fled from their villages.' Previous government statements indicated that 'camps for Muslims in northern Rakhine have been planned to ensure they have no connections with terrorists.' Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has called the violence in Myanmar 'ethnic cleansing,' and the Security Council of the organization has also urged the Myanmar government to take immediate action to end the violence. In a statement signed by all 15 members of the Security Council on Wednesday, September 13, concern was expressed over the increasing violence of government forces in Rakhine State, and the Myanmar government was asked to create conditions for the non-discriminatory return of Rohingya refugees to their homes. Just hours before the issuance of this statement, the UN Secretary-General reiterated that the most accurate term to describe the events in Myanmar is 'ethnic cleansing.' On the other hand, Aung San Suu Kyi, who effectively leads the Myanmar government, announced on Wednesday that she would not attend the UN General Assembly due to the internal situation in her country. Ms. Suu Kyi had previously stated that a 'mountain of misinformation' had emerged regarding the events in her country, which she claimed were caused by 'terrorists.' Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, called Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, a 'ruthless woman' for what he termed 'inaction' regarding the situation of Muslims in Myanmar and called for 'practical action' from Islamic governments against the actions of the government of that country in this regard.