Hin Kao’s Buddhist temple was the largest and the most important Temple in Kangri Choung of Ruthi Dong District. Every now and then, monks and priests of the surrounding areas congregated in the temple. Than Kin started this tradition. Than Kin presided over the meetings with permission from Hin Kao. Sometimes, police officers, district commissioners and regional commanders of Tatmadaw would be invited. In a meeting like that, Brigadier Lee Bu Sun and Ban La were invited. By ten in the morning both guests arrived at the temple. Than Kin welcomed them and escorted them to Hin Kao for his blessings. When the formalities of the blessings were over, as usual, at one part of the temple, the meeting began. The meeting was being presided over by Than Kin. Right at the beginning of the meeting, the monks described their experiences with the Rohingyas.
To convey his anxieties, a priest from the neighboring temple said, “The way the Rohingya population has been increasing everywhere in the state of Rakhain, we fear a time will come when even the neighboring Magway and Chin states will also be occupied by them. Of course, they have taken over the Rakhain state much earlier. In future our monks will no longer get donations. They’ll have to migrate to Yangon.”
Lee stopped the priest and hurled a question, “When did the Rohingyas take over Rakhain by force? They are majority only in a handful of villages. Exaggeration is one of your bad habits. This only makes the situation more complicated.”
After pausing, when Lee looked at Ban La, in a casual manner Ban La responded, “I have data which shows that in many places these Rohingyas have been spreading like rats.”
At this point, Lee said, “It would have been better if you could specifically point out the places the Rohingyas have been spreading like rats.”
With a smile in his face Ban La said, “I don’t have the list right now. Later sometime it can be managed. What really matters is that if it goes on like this, a time will come when Rohingyas will become majority everywhere in Myanmar. This is not mere speculation, the possibilty is real.”
A number of ceiling fans had been running inside the temple. Even after that, the atmosphere was quite suffocating as more than hundred people congregated over there. There were thin lines of sweat on everyone’s forehead. But none paid attention to it. A few ordinary villagers were also invited to the meeting. One at a time, the monks and the priests described the difficulties they had been facing because of the Rohingyas. Then it was the turn of the villagers. A resident of Mine Pu informed how Rohingyas stole brinjals from his field. Another resident of Mine Pu complained, Rohingyas stole cauliflowers from his field. A villager from Than Chaung said Rohingyas had stolen bottle gourds from his field. A resident from Kangri Chaung said his papayas were stolen. Hence, from these descriptions of the villagers, it seemed that the Rohingyas were about to deplete the entire state of Rakhain of resources. However, none could specifically mention the name or address of any Rohingya who was involved in such burglary. When Lee attracted attention to this fact, eventually, a villager from Aung Syke stood up and lodged a complaint that with his own eyes he witnessed Rahim Mollah’s elder son, Karim stealing tomatoes from his field. But when asked why he didn’t stop him, he could not come up with any satisfactory reply.
Then, a villager from Koi Tan, a village to the west of Aung Syke stood up. He didn’t come up with complaints like potatoes or cauliflowers being stolen. His complaint was much more serious. Almost five feet six-inch-tall, this skinny man looked like he had lost everything before coming to the meeting. He had dark patches around his eyes. Perhaps, it was the result of sleepless nights. The whole congregation stared at him, waiting to listen to what this ghost-like figure had to say. He began by stating his name, his address at Koi Tan and a brief description of his family background. He had rice fields in Koi Tan. He also owned a grocery store at Koi Tan Bazaar. He was a father of two sons and two daughters. His two sons were below eighteen. One of his daughters worked for an NGO. The other one was a student of class ten in a government school in the same village.
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Even before he could describe the incident, he had an emotional breakdown. Those who had been sitting around him, stroked his head and back in order to console him. Then the man began the tale of his ordeal. With a depressed expression, Gurtej said that a month earlier his elder daughter Hayma went missing. She could not be found at the NGO where she used to work. After the search went on for a month, she was seen with a Rohingya youth in the same village. After interrogation, Hayma disclosed that willingly she married the Rohingya youth. Then she addressed herself as Halima. A priest named Win Thura who had arrived from Mandalay exploded in anger. He said, “Can we remain indifferent even after this? Terrorists are staring at our wives and daughters like a pack of hungry wolves. If things continue like this, a time will come when these Rohingyas will take over the entire country.”
After requesting Win Thura to calm down, Lee asked Gurtej, “When did you last talk to your daughter?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did she tell you?”
“I tried to persuade Hayma to return home. She wouldn’t listen to me. She is determined to live with that Rohingya youth. People of our neighborhood have put pressure on the youth’s family, but it’s not working. My daughter has been spoiling all efforts to get her back.”
“Since your daughter is responsible for this entire episode, the administration cannot do anything.”
When Lee had finished his statement, angrily Win Thura said to Lee, “After the Maung Dao incident, we expected Tatmadaw would take necessary steps to address this situation. But as of today, we have not seen anything like that.”
“Tatmadaw’s responsibility is to provide Security to the state. Preventing theft, kidnapping, unpleasant affairs is not the duty of Tatmadaw. As far as the unfortunate incident at Maung Dao is concerned, Tatmadaw was ready to take steps in this very month. However, at the last moment, it was postponed. Why it was postponed, my colleague Brigadier Ban La can tell you about it more precisely.”
Everyone stared at Ban La, eagerly waiting for him to disclose to them the facts in line with what Lee had just said. Two Brigadiers sat next to each other. As it was a sensitive issue, before giving his statement, in a low voice, Ban La consulted with Lee. Briefly, they discussed just how much they could reveal to the villagers or to those who were present in the meeting. He cleared his throat, and in a slow pace began saying, “We have to be patient. The army is not an institution outside the government. After consulting with the government, Tatmadaw will take steps according to the instructions given by the government. We have interactions with many countries in the world. Hence, we have to keep an eye on our image abroad. Yes of course, we will take severe steps against terrorism. You can be certain about this.”
After this assurance from Ban La, there was cheerful expression in everyone present in the meeting. Gurtej had the hardest expression of all. Upon raising his fist, he kept demanding that the Rohingyas be crushed.
When everyone had been busy following Lee and Ban La out of the temple, with a sad expression, Hin Kao stared at them from behind. Right behind Lee and Ban La, the extremist priest from Mandalay, Win Thura had Than Kin’s hand in his own. This scene created unease in Hin Kao. The old priest felt, Gautam Buddha’s message of peace and fraternity was going to be exiled by his own disciples. At the time, the weather outside the temple was quite pleasant. Everyone became relaxed after being relieved from the suffocating atmosphere inside the temple. In front of the temple gate, two green land rovers of Tatmadaw had been waiting. When the driver from one of the land rovers opened the door, Lee was surprised to see his daughter Su sitting inside. With signs of surprise in his expression, he asked, “Su, when did you come here?”
“Oh it’s a working trip. I’ve come to visit Aung Syke and the neighboring villages. Now tell me the outcome of the meeting you had inside the temple.”
“The meeting was a success because it did not have any agenda. Those who attended, expressed their fears and hatred in any manner they could.”