MP SPEAKS I was honoured to be on board with a group of parliamentarians from across the globe on a Myanmar mission at the invitation of the International Parliamentarian Platform for Freedom of Religion and Beliefs (IPPFoRB) based in Oslo. Although we had different political ideologies, faiths and cultures, we were united in our stand for freedom of religion and belief.

The uniting factor was our passion and enthusiasm to see the world free from persecution of religious beliefs and discrimination based on race and religion. I had never known my comrades in the mission prior to meeting them in Yangon, but our common goal and passion to achieve it has made it easy for us to get acquainted quickly and get in action as a team.

We were made up of parliamentarian from Canada, South Africa, Thailand, Panama, Norway and officials from the House of Lord of Britain.

It’s not easy to conclude a black-and-white answer in the case of Myanmar, and the Rohingyas’ plight in particular, but the framework of our understanding was build upon UN reports and other sources of information on religious persecution and the human rights perspective.

Nevertheless, we were very careful not to have preconceived ideas on the issue of freedom of religion in Mynmar, that was why we conducted meetings with civil society organisations (CSO) and individuals who provided us perspectives on the issue of rights to freedom of beliefs and their thoughts on what is going on among the Muslim and Christian minorities.

We also had the opportunity to meet the relevant ministries and officials to get the official standpoint of view. Our chance to meet with a few MPs from the ruling party also provided us a bigger outlook of what is going on from a legislative point of view. We also had a good perspective from the party in power who spoke on the party’s stand on related issues.

We held post-mortems among the team members after every meeting, and we had to conclude our perspective and revisited our framework of understanding for fresh additional thoughts. We sometimes challenge our own bias so that we could explore any new possibilities to our fact-finding mission.

My reflections and thoughts on Mynmar religious feeedom and beliefs in regards to minorities rights especially Rohingyas are as follows -

1. The official stand negates any form of religious persecution, simply because the Myanmar Union State Constitution provided such provisos on freedom of belief and religion. Such a given stand do not answer the dire state of the Rohingyas minorities (mainly Muslims) and the Chin (mainly Christians) who from the actual records have suffered discrimination and persecution on religious grounds.

2. The inconsistencies of the enshrined freedom of belief appeared in the contradictory policies and other laws that to some extent lead to selective judgment in cases of religious issues.

3. Buddhism, although not stated as the official religion, but its status commands a high respect as a raison d’être to the Union. I have no qualms about such a status as historical narratives have a strong influence over the state constitution, but it shall not intrude into the spheres of freedom for other faiths and the universal human rights guidelines.

4. The Rakhine State where the majority of Rohingyas reside has many narratives to the ordinary public, CSOs and the officials. There were attempts to dictate a common understanding by the government. As such Rohingyas Muslim were redefined and renamed as Benggalis.

The Rohingyas were also said to be involved in illegal border crossing from Bangladesh and that caused a major border security problem to the authorities, and those who refused to be vetted for verification process for citizenship are considered illegals. For many Rohingyas who refused to be vetted for citizenship process, this has contributed to escalating the problem. But undoubtedly killings and slaughtering will definitely not help to solve the problem.

5. The rise of extreme religious organisations such as Ma Ba Ta (a Buddhist extremist movement) added fuel to the existing problems. What was worse is that the previous government kept mum over the extreme actions taken by Ma Ba Ta in persecuting Muslims and Christians alike, although the current government tries to keep away from any attachment to the Ma Ba Ta.

The fear is that a similar reaction of violence in retaliation by Muslims would incite more bloody clashes between followers of the faiths. Violence begets violence, a vicious circle that never ends.

6. The new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi inherited a whole lot of baggage handed down by the previous junta government. It would not be easy for the new democratic government as there are a lot of priorities for her reform ideas for Mynmar.

As such the National Reconciliation project she is embarking on is hoped to include putting a stop to religious violence and opening up more space for freedom of religion. Aung San Suu Kyi’s reputation as an icon for democracy has been tarnished for her slow reactions to stop persecution on the Rohingyas.

7. Freedom of religion is essential in the aspired development for the nation. The more freedom we give, the more prosperous the nation will be. It will be a great opportunity for the new blooming democracy in Myanmar to grab such an opportunity. Failure to do so will dampen the hope of a truly democratic Myanmar where the religious right of the minorities are not just protected but must be seen protected.

8. Incidents where religious minorities’ place of worship have been intruded into, demolished as a result of actions deemed insulting to the main faith ie Buddhism have been recorded. It is feared that such incidents will dampen the hope for a greater freedom of faith.

9. Attempts by individuals and CSOs to propose a law known as the National Harmony Bill modelled on a Singaporean law have yet to see the light. Although such laws are needed , the public must be aware of the need to live peacefully among different faiths.

Among others these would include interreligious dialogue, leaders of different faith must get together to symbolise peace and harmony, while other recreational activities across different beliefs will help increase peaceful interactions.

10. CSOs must exert a concerted effort together in educating the public and apply pressure for their agendas through public engagement. It is observed that the CSOs in Mynmar have not combined their effort in synergy, rather they are scattered whilst they enjoy common objectives.