In the meantime, with the help of internet all Rohingyas in Medina became aware of Hin Kao’s killing. They couldn’t imagine that the murderer was one of them. It was not possible to stay calm seeing the dead body of someone’s father being hung publicly. And so was the case, as far as these Rohingyas were concerned. Shamsu broke down after watching the video of Nuru’s corpse being hung in front of Hin Kao Temple. None could think of any reason why Shamsu’s father would commit such a crime. They didn’t have to wait for long to get an answer to this question. Even two days couldn’t pass before Shamsu’s missing family was traced back in the refugee camps of Bangladesh. They were found in the Shamlapur Camp in Cox’s Bazaar. On YouTube a journalist had uploaded an interview with his family. Subsequently, the history behind the Hin Kao murder was exposed. The family told the journalist how the entire family was locked up for fifteen days, how Shamsu’s infant son was decapitated in front of them. They also revealed who had forced Shamsu to kill Hin Kao and why he agreed to do this. All of this came up in the interview. After watching this news, like other Rohingyas, Rafiq was troubled by the gruesome incident. The news had been flowing from Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia that the Buddhist Monks wearing orange robes were being beaten publicly by the infuriated Muslim youths. The entire world came to know this, but the people of Myanmar were kept in the dark. The military regime stopped the news from reaching Myanmar while it was busy transmitting the images of the Hin Kao murder. Consequently, the anti-Rohingya sentiment spread like wildfire. In this situation, Tatmadaw began the drive against the Rohingya Muslims. Brigadier Lee’s thirty-third and Brigadier Ban La’s ninety-nine light infantry division spearheaded this brutal drive. On their return journey from Mandalay, Lee advised Su to put her project of building bridges with the minorities on a fast track. When operation ‘Red-Blood Greetings’ began, it became clear to Su why her father had advised to do so. She was shocked, when she saw the footages of the operation from the international media. She could not imagine, the man who loved his family so passionately, could be so cruel and inhuman. Su knew, her father did not like the Rohingyas. But she didn’t realize, the extent of it was so horribly and inhumanly deep. However, Su would not let herself be dragged into an argument over this. By this time, she had learned from Rafiq the reason behind Hin Kao’s murder. In Yangon, quite swiftly, she organized everything she had to do. She visited her father at Sittwe and told him, she was going to prepare a documentary after having a tour of the Ruthi Daung district. When she was asked about the subject of the documentary, she reassured her father that the documentary was going to highlight all the steps the government had taken to improve the relation with the minorities.
From Sittwe Su decided to take a different route to travel to Ruthi Daung. She took the rural route along the banks of the River Lamu. She began her journey from Maagi Chaung situated at the mouth of Lamu. For her journey to Ruthi Daung, earlier she had rented a Thaon Bein, a motorized rickshaw widely used in Myanmar. These vehicles were particularly fit for the muddy rural roads.
There was no sign of rain other than white clouds floating in the autumn sky.
Su observed smoke belowing from at least three spots before travelling through Tha Yet Chaung. Once she felt like she should go and investigate. But she had to reach Aung Syke before noon. Therefore, even though the urge in her was quite strong, she didn’t go in that direction. Finally, when she had been travelling through Tha Yet Chaung, three hundred yards from the road, she saw three huge smoke clouds. This time Su couldn’t resist herself. She learned from the bystanders that those were the homes of the Rohingya villagers being burnt down. They also informed her that the soldiers of the armed forces and the paramilitary had captured a number of Rohingya terrorists along with their cache of weapons. She saw at least ten burning homes when she reached the spot. At times, the flames went thirty feet up in the air. The soldiers and the paramilitary forces surrounded the burning homes. Hundred yards from where she stood, ten to twelve blind folded men were made to kneel down on the ground. Their hands were tied behind their bodies. When she wanted to approach them, a soldier stopped her and asked, “Madam, what are you doing over here? This place is restricted for civilians.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Su displayed her ID card, and said, “I’m a journalist. I’m working on a project for the government.”
The soldier took the ID card from Su and gave it to an officer who had been standing a couple for yards from the apprehended men. The rank on his shoulder told her that he was a Captain. Right below his shoulder on the left arm, Su could see the logo of the thirty-third light infantry division. The yellow star with a red background and below the star was written ‘Thirty-Three’ in white and blue color. She often saw her father wearing this logo. The hard expression on the officer’s face disappeared when he discovered that Su was Brigadier Lee’s daughter. With a smile, he approached her and extended his hand for a handshake. Then he said, “I’m Captain Ye Min U. How can I help you, madam?”
Pointing her finger at the men under custody, she asked, “Who are those people? What are their crimes?”
“They are the members of the Rohingya terror outfit, ARSA. The weapons you see on the ground have been captured from them.”
Su moved ahead of the captain to talk to a well-built bearded Rohingya man. He had crew cut hair and a rather square face. For a few seconds, she looked at the man and slightly dropped two of her eyelids. Perhaps the man realized that Su wanted to say something to him. Having understood this message, he said, “We were working in the fields. We know nothing about these weapons.”
A tremendous blow from the rear by a rifle butt stopped the man. From the rear of his head, he started bleeding. Then the soldiers began kicking and punching him. Su looked at the soldiers and said, “The man has lost consciousness. What’s the point of kicking and punching him?”
Having heard this from Su, Captain Min U said, “The entire state of Rakhain is burning because of these terrorists. There won’t be peace in the country if we cannot eradicate them.”
Su looked at the Captain and said, “Who confiscated these weapons? Were they your soldiers?”
“It was done by the paramilitary forces. In order to root out these pests from our land now we will give a nice finishing touch to this drive.”
“Where are the families of these men? I don’t see them.”
“They’ve all fled. Perhaps, they’re hiding somewhere around.”
Su didn’t prolong this conversation. Slowly, she stepped away from the spot. After crossing an open field, she saw four men coming out of a bush. Su became suspicious. Cautiously when she came near the bush, she became dizzy. A fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl lay on the ground. It looked like she was pressed down as her limbs were spread out. Her throat was slit with something sharp. However, her wind tunnel was not completely severed. The lower part of her body was totally naked showing signs of physical abuse. At the time, she was still alive. She was trying her best to open her mouth and breathe. A few yards from the girl, a seventy or eighty-year-old woman had been staring at her. Very gently Su touched her head and asked, “Who’s the girl?”
The eighty-year-old woman could not think what she should say. For a while the old lady just stared at Su, and then whispered, “She’s my granddaughter.”