Against backdrop of nationwide outrage after military\u2019s power grab, some are grappling with their complicity in Rohingya suffering.<\/strong><\/div>\n\n
Feverishly scrolling Facebook in the tense days after the\u00a0 Myanmar coup<\/a>, app developer Aung Kyaw Paing saw a post that he could not stop thinking about. His friend said the Feb. 1 power grab was karma for the widespread denial of atrocities against the country\u2019s minorities, especially the Rohingya Muslims\u2014a campaign the United Nations has called genocide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized I had been racist,\u201d he told VICE World News. \u201cWe were talking bad about the UN, blaming them for wanting to destabilize our government with their criticism of the Rohingya issue. Now we are looking up to them for help.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He decided he needed to make a radical break from the past at a key moment in Myanmar history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I die tomorrow in the protests, I don\u2019t want to have this regret on my mind,\u201d the 23-year-old said, referring to the nationwide civil disobedience campaign against the coup.<\/p>\n
The military\u2019s violent expulsion of more than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims in 2017 brought condemnation around the world and\u00a0 ruined the reputation<\/a>\u00a0of former rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who\u00a0 sided with the very military<\/a>\u00a0that now has her under detention\u00a0 on multiple charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I die tomorrow in the protests, I don\u2019t want to have this regret on my mind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But fueled by online propaganda and decades of brainwashing depicting Rohingya as outsiders, it was the refusal by members of the public to believe allegations of rape, arson and murder that stunned supporters of Myanmar\u2019s fledgling democratic transition.<\/p>\n
The military successfully painted the \u201cclearance operations\u201d in Rakhine State as a mere counterinsurgency against Rohingya militants. At the time, it was common to accuse Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh of being \u201cdrama queens\u201d and \u201cliars\u201d who made up the horrific tales for money and international support. Some even took to the streets in support of the armed forces that convinced people they were protecting them from \u201cMuslim terrorists\u201d attacking Buddhist-majority Myanmar.<\/p>\n
After the coup, however, a shift in thinking has started to take place, with apologies on social media and in protest signs on the streets. That is being matched by Rohingya refugees showing support for demonstrations despite not receiving it in their time of need. Some even joined the rallies in Yangon, risking arrest or persecution in a society that denies them basic citizenship rights. They now have a mutual foe, Myanmar coup mastermind Min Aung Hlaing, who is accused of overseeing the campaign against the minority.<\/p>\n
While difficult to judge how broad this reckoning will be, it is deeply meaningful in a country where only a few years ago uttering the word \u201cRohingya\u201d could trigger an angry outburst from strangers.<\/p>\n
Aung Kyaw Paing is one of several people speaking up with remorseful posts. Starting with a Twitter thread, he apologized for having been involved in the development of a voter app last year that was called out by activists for labeling a Rohingya candidate \u201cBengali\u201d\u2014a derogatory term for the Muslim minority that denies them their identity and, by extension, their historical citizenship rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am starting to understand the fact that my silence during that time made me complicit in the genocide of Rohingya,\u201d he said in one tweet.<\/p>\n
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I know it's too late to say these words, but I have to admit something that has been haunting me. Back in October, I developed @mvoterapp<\/a> with a couple of my friends, and the app got called out by @JusticeMyanmar<\/a> for being racist towards Rohingya. (1)<\/p>\n
— Aung Kyaw Paing (@vincentpaing) February 21, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n