A 24-year-old Rohingya student says she has had apologies from some fellow Burmese protesters for the treatment of the Rohingya - but she still feels nervous when she carries her protest sign in public.   

I am currently taking part in anti-coup protests, I started on Feb 8. Sometimes friends join me, but I’ve also gone on my own to protest in front of embassies. 

I carry posters with signs saying things like “We want democracy. Save Myanmar. Rohingya Student”. It can draw quite a bit of attention. I see people looking at me and taking photos surreptitiously, including journalists but I didn’t see those photos in news outlets. If I have to worry about whether I will be verbally or physically abused for carrying a sign saying the word “Rohingya” in a busy place like Yangon, you can imagine how horrible it must have been in Rakhine, where there were Internet and electricity blackouts. I would like people to feel compassion for them. 

If I meet soldiers or police I change direction. Members of the public also let us know where there are soldiers and police. 

My parents support me. They want to protest themselves, but they have heart problems so I had to convince them to stay home. 

Since independence, our country has not been able to stop civil conflict and since 1962, as the country was struggling to recover from economic troubles and conflict it again fell under dictatorship. It was like being stuck in a bog on a moonless night. The military junta that governed the country changed their names from MaHsaLa (Burmese name for Ne Win’s BSPP) to SLORC to SPDC, but they didn’t change their authoritarianism.

The ruling military leaders and their relatives became richer and richer while the Myanmar public became poorer and poorer. But in addition to keeping the people impoverished, the junta also systematically destroyed the education system to break the spirit of resistance. They forced through a constitution in 2008 that enslaved the people under the military. 

Myanmar is a multi-ethnic country. The Ne Win regime created the list of 135 recognised ethnic groups to influence people (Editor’s Note: the list, which doesn’t include the Rohingya, has apparently been used by Myanmar’s successive governments to determine who meets the requirement for citizenship). Even the 1974 census showed there are 144 nationalities. Both the 1982 citizenship act and the 2008 constitution are also ways to rule people with lies. I’d like to urge the public to oppose these laws and send the military which committed genocide to the International Criminal Court. 

Even in 2020 what we had wasn’t real democracy, just a gold-plated one. Now there is a military coup and they are back in power. I am really worried that if we keep continuing on this road, we could reach a point where we won’t be able to save the country anymore. I’m protesting because I don’t want future generations to endure these prolonged civil wars, the useless education system and terrible human rights standards. I want them to grow up in a peaceful federal democracy. 

Because I’m a Rohingya, my national ID card says Bengali. So I dare not travel safely all across Myanmar. If the country would recognise us as citizens, I’d like to do philanthropic activities around keeping the nation green and support children orphaned by the civil war. 

My uncle, my mother’s brother, is one of the Rohingya IDPs who had to flee in 2017. He would call my mum once every several months. Despite being in a refugee camp, his troubles are not over. There are reports that there are Burmese military's conspirators in the camps and that they are abducting people. So I’m worried not only for my uncle's family but also for everyone in the refugee camp.

People have apologised to me (for their past treatment of the Rohingya). I see that people are apologising not just to the Rohingya, but also to other minorities. 

But the people who have the right perspective are not even a tenth of those who haven’t changed their minds, so I’m worried it is going to be a long journey to reach federal democracy. 

Artwork courtesy of Art for Freedom (Myanmar) https://www.artforfreedommm.com/.