On the second floor of the Army headquarters in Mingaladan, Colonel Lee Bu Sun has been sitting in his office watching the international news and planning his work schedule for the next one month. It has been three years since the US declared war against Muslim terrorists in Afghanistan, and there’s no sign of it ending anytime soon. Matter of fact, it's about to spread to the neighboring states. Muslims are displaying aggressive attitude everywhere in the world. So, it is assumed that sooner or later the Rohingya Muslims will be affected by this situation. Hence, the policy makers in the government have sent out secret directions to find a final solution to the Rohingya problem. Clandestinely, every single Rohingya in Myanmar has been brought under close observation. The entire population will be evicted if slightest connection with the foreign terrorists is discovered.
Colonel Lee Bu Sun, a devoted admirer of the military regime in Yangon, looks a lot like the North Korean leader. But he is not obese like the North Korean leader. Like most members of the armed forces, Lee believes that Tatmadaw needs to have its representatives in the parliament. The country cannot go down the drain in the name of democracy. Nonetheless, the international trend is against the military rule. Countries like Myanmar, having a communist system, are facing very difficult times. But hopefully, in place of communism, Muslims have now become the new bogeyman for the western countries. In this kind of atmosphere, along with his colleagues, Lee thinks, it has become much easier to take extreme measures against the Rohingya population. The Rohingyas are like a cyst to the country. Not only to the communist system, they pose a threat to the Buddhist majority in the country as well. No matter what, this threat has to be neutralized. They dwell along the entire western coastline. Without getting rid of them, exploiting natural gas from the Bay of Bengal will be a problem.
For the last two years, Lee has been performing his duties from this room of the Army headquarters. All the officers at higher positions know about Lee. His intelligence, hard work, determination, and above all, discipline are appreciated by all. Because of these leadership qualities, Lee has been assigned the responsibilities of the army camps and paramilitary forces in Maung Dao, Buthi Daung andRuthi Daung for the next two years. Lee has already received the transfer order by mail from the army headquarters. Lee will carry out his responsibilities from Sittwe, the capital of Rakhain state. It’s a big opportunity for Lee. If he succeeds, one day this may open the door to take over the highest position of Tatmadaw. At the moment, he is facing difficulties at home about this. In Yangon, Lee’s daughter Su Min has been completing a diploma course from a technical institute. The duration of the course is four years. Three and a half years have already passed. She has to complete the remaining four-five months before she can secure her professional degree on information technology. Under the circumstances, she cannot leave Yangon for Sittwe with her father. Lee's wife Kim Sun won’t leave her daughter alone at their official residence in Yangon either. Hence, Lee has finally decided to go to Sittwe alone. He will apply to retain his government residence in Yangon by showing special reason. At the time of the year when educational institutes will stay closed for holidays, his wife and daughter will come and visit him at his official residence in Sittwe.
Kulsum could hear her father-in-law talk to some strangers from the bathing spot next to the tap. She came to take a bath around twelve after preparing the meal for lunch. The washing spot is surrounded by tin. This single tube-well meets the demand of water of the whole family. She heard the footsteps of the outsiders right when she had finished bathing. There's a door behind the kitchen to enter the house from the washing spot. Kulsum silently entered the room through the door and hid behind the door of her bedroom. Through the crack of the door, she could see two Buddhist monks wearing dark orange robes. Her father-in-law had been talking to them from the veranda of his own bedroom. Usually these monks avoid entering the premises of the Rohingya homes. But today, at the advice of Than Kin, they have come to Rahim Mollah's hut. They have come in order to collect wood for their temple. They requested for two teak trees for their temple from his grove. It seemed weird to Rahim that the monks had been asking for wood for their temple from a Muslim. Still, Rahim did not send them away empty handed. Majority of the people of Arakan are Buddhists. He accepted their request as a gesture of good will. He asked the monks, “Why do you need wood?”
One of the monks replied, “We have to change the doors and windows of our temple.”
Rahim asked again, “How many doors and windows does the temple have?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
One of them replied, “Five windows and three doors. Two of the windows are four feet by eight feet.”
Rahim Mollah said, “I have three hundred trees in my grove. You can cut and take any two trees you want, but not more than that.”
“May Buddha bless your life,” said the monks and left for the temple of Kangri Chaung.
Kulsum came out from the back of the door after the monks had left. She looked at her father in-law and said, “Father you donated trees for the mosque in Kangri Chaung, just a few days ago, it wasn't necessary to donate tress for the Buddhis temple too.”
In an advisory tone Rahim replied, “I have given wood for the mosque. Now, if I don't give for their temple, they will say I’m communal. Take this charity as an investment. It will pay off in future.”
Kulsum was not done talking. She said, “The character these monks possess, they will accept the donation alright, but they will never refrain from slander. The tall one that was standing behind the others used to tease me when I was in school. Almost regularly, he threw at me filthy comments back then. Now he wears the garb of a monk. I don't think he has yet come to terms with the dirty monster inside him.”
Rahim Mollah took a deep breath. Then, addressing her as mother, he said, “The society is full of both good and bad people. There is no point in referring to the old incidents. We are the minority in this country. Making loud noise will just brew more trouble.”
Kulsum returned to her room with her head held low, after listening to her father-in-law's speech. While Kulsum had been busy having conversation with her father-in-law, from a distance, one of the monks stared at her attractive physical features, the way a hungry wolf stares at a lamb. The tall monk did not leave the premises of Rahim’s home, even when the other monks had left. He kept standing under the huge banyan tree until Kulsum disappeared into the hut.
Lee has packed all his files and documents into his briefcase at the Military headquarters. He’s about to leave the headquarters. Before leaving the office-room, he turns off the TV, and stands beside the window. Downstairs, just in due time, Tatmadaw’s green Land Rover assigned to Lee, arrives at the parking lot. Lee's driver has picked up his wife and daughter from their residence in Yangon. Today, Lee will have lunch with his family at Yangon's Italian restaurant 'Le Opera'. 'Le Opera' is one of the best restaurants in Yangon. The restaurant is situated in a spectacular environment beside the Lake Inia. The lush green splendor around the restaurant, makes it an attractive venue for spending good times with the family.
Lee's daughter Su loves Italian food. Hence, he has a plan for lunch at 'Le Opera' today. Su has worn a light blue Taipon over a white lungi. Taipon's sleeves and bottom waist are covered with white lace. Her beauty beats even the models of Myanmar. Her silky black hair has cascaded down below her shoulders. Unlike most fathers, Lee is way more concerned about his daughter. Quite often Lee takes pride in his daughter when he’s with his colleagues. When Kim was of Su’s age, Lee’s wife earned enough praise for her beauty as well. Her age is close to forty, but hardly anyone can tell that by looking at this lady. She has put on a dark Red taipon with golden lace attached over it, and a printed, red and black check lungi. While dressing themselves, both mother and daughter have been a bit more attentive today than the other days, because the next two or three years, they will see very little of Lee.
In the afternoon, while walking past the Lake Inia, towards the Swedagon Pagoda, Su has been thinking about her father. She has left the restaurant saying she was going to the temple. Su’s father believes in communism. He has no interest in religion. However, he does not prevent Su from going to the Buddhist temple. In line with the principles of communism, even Su’s father believes that religion is a kind of dope. He thinks, it would have been better if religions that worked like drugs had been isolated from the other religions. As for Buddhism, he thinks, Buddha’s message of peace can never be harmful to mankind. Within Lee, Su views it as hypocrisy. It makes her sad. Undoubtedly, her father loves her. However, he has a darker side, and she is aware of it. His father won’t hesitate to kill millions of people for the sake of this country or communism. While having lunch, Lee had said something about the Rohingyas. It made Su quite uncomfortable, but she didn’t let her parents perceive it. He commented that the Rohingyas were a threat to Myanmar and when the time would be right, they were going to be thrown out of the country. This comment exposed to his daughter, the monster residing in Lee. Su stares at the crystal-clear water of the Lake Inia. The beauty of the lake seems incompatible with her father’s ugly side. Su keeps asking herself, “If nature is so beautiful, why is human soul so ugly? Isn’t the human spirit part of nature?”
At one point, the paved path beside the lake takes a turn to the left, next to a large banyan tree. Under the tree, Su finds her loved one waiting for her. Su calls him Sun. Sun works as the assistant manager at Le Opera. Su and Sun once studied in the same technical institute for a diploma course on information technology. Sun has already graduated and achieved his diploma after completing his fourth year. They met each other three years ago at Yangon Technical College. This acquaintance transformed into an affair. Su has kept this hidden from her parents for Sun being a Rohingya. The Buddhist population has recently become very suspicious of the Rohingyas. To avoid harassment, Su hides his identity as a Rohingya, and calls him Sun. Sun looks a bit like the Chinese which makes it easier to hide his real identity. After spending almost an hour together, Sun returns to Le Opera, and Su heads for her home.