Arakan News Agency
Myanmar’s army chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, said the Muslim minority of Rohingya issue and had no roots in his country and called on his compatriots to confront the “issue” and face accusations against his army of systematic cleansing.
“They demand recognition of them as Rohingya, a community that has never been an ethnic group in our country,” he said in comments posted on his Facebook page on Saturday. The Bengalis issue is a national issue and we need unity to find out the truth about it. “
General Aung Hlaing’s defense of his army’s operations came amid international condemnation of the violence that forced Bangladesh to shoulder the daunting task of sheltering the tens of thousands of refugees who flock to it.
The Myanmar army says its operations in northern Arakan state are aimed at eliminating the Rohingya rebels who attacked police stations on August 25th.
Since the recent Rohingya crisis and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi have come under fire for canceling her trip to the United Nations General Assembly, which began 2 day ago in New York and before she canceled her trip to Indonesia in November for fear of protests.
Who is General Min Aung Hlaing?
In 2011, the Myanmar Army Command, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, dissolved the junta and allowed elections to be held by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which formed the government in April 2016.
However, General Hlaing has retained many papers. The parliament still has 25 percent of the military appointed by the army chief, which means a guarantee of disrupting any radical change. Aung San Suu Kyi’s authority overrides three basic ministries: the interior, the defense and the border.
In Arakan, where the violence is taking place, the army, especially its commander General Hlaing, is in charge.
“Aung San Suu Kyi can not stop atrocities by order,” the British newspaper The Guardian wrote in a recent editorial. “The army is in control of the main tasks and institutions of the government in fact, the most important of which is security, despite its overwhelming victory in the elections. “
“Aung San Suu Kyi can form public opinion in Myanmar and aim to stop the military on their own. A fanatic who has exploited the support of the international community can not ignore her fears. They can press foreign supporters to pressure the military,” the paper said.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has an ethical responsibility to protect the Rohingya,” They said. “She tried to avoid this responsibility, but it is a small part of the problem and a solution that seems far away.”
