Arakan News agency | Exclusive
Maungdaw’s historic Grand Mosque, which is nearly 200 years old, has been reopened on Friday after being closed for almost 13 years.
Locals told Arakan News Agency that the reopening brought relief to the local community. “This mosque is part of our identity, to step inside again after so long brings deep emotions,” said a local elder.
The mosque, also known as Monshi Masjid, is approximately 200 years old. It was closed in 2012 following communal violence, with successive Myanmar governments maintaining the ban. The Myanmar military briefly reopened it in April 2024, but it was closed again after the Arakan militias gained full control of Maungdaw in last December.
The mosque was reopened in a ceremony organized by the Arakan militias and its media affiliates. However, the celebration remains overshadowed by ongoing concerns as Rohingyas continue to suffer restrictions on movement, arbitrary detentions, and property confiscation. Basic freedoms, including mobile phone ownership and usage, remain significantly limited by the militias.
The militias face allegations of conducting massacres, enforced disappearances, and systematically settling Rakhine populations in Rohingya villages, such practices were described by observers and Rohingya as attempts to permanently eliminate Rohingya presence from the region. The reopening of Maungdaw’s Grand Mosque highlights the complex realities facing Rohingya communities under Arakan Militias control.
