By tradition, ‘October’ is the month when Nobel Prize announcement takes place. Though it is yet to be October but speculations among people around the world on probable winners, especially in Peace and Literature, is notable. Even people in different part of the world get involved in betting on probable winners. this year’s announcement is of no exception given the torment political situation around the world, specially for Myanmar, where one of the previous Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is accused by many for ethnic cleansing of Rohingya people in her own country. Already a big number of refugees from Myanmar were forced to flee to the neighbourhood countries, specially in Bangladesh, which already hosted around six hundred thousand refugees-took shelter under inhuman conditions. Those, who win the Nobel Peace Prize, are expected to be the ‘Noble-hearted’ human and their work for the humanity should be exemplary for the world till their death. Previously the glory of Nobel Peace Prize got damaged several times for the questionable and contradictory deeds of its winners, which also raised a finger on the ‘Will’ of Alfred Nobel. These trends contribute in increasing disrespect and disbelief for the prize itself and the institution as well!
The west part of Myanmar-the Rakhine province, is inhabited by people of Rohingya ethnicity,- an ethnicity which is different from the mainstream of Myanmar and most of whom follows Islam. In the recent past, around a million of Rohingyas used to live there. A recently published report by the UN human right high commission revealed that ‘'devastating cruelty' against Rohingya population in Myanmar's Rakhine province’ is taking place. However, alike the previous juntas of Myanmar, the present government of National League for Democracy (NLD) party-led by Aung San Suu Kyi, is also denying such facts along with recognizing Rohingya as the citizen of Myanmar. NLD led government claims that Rohingya are Bangladeshi citizens and by generations they are living in Myanmar illegally- a claim incompatible both with history and the country’s origin. Since long, a huge number of Rohingyas contributed in the growth of the GDP of Myanmar and even some of them were the Member of Parliament and the member of local government. Being in the parliament without being citizen of the country does not make sense at all.
During the First World War, the then Turkish army killed around 1.5 million of around 34 million Armenian. Around hundred years later, somewhat same atrocities are happening with people of Rohingya ethnicity, that too in the presence of a Nobel Peace prize winner. Ethnic cleansing of Rohingya people has reached to a level now, where it is comparable with the situation of Bosnia, Rwanda and Syria. Only in 19 days, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were killed and forced to leave their home and country- where they lived for generations. Around six hundreds of thousands Rohingya has taken shelter under the temporary refugee camp setup by the government of Bangladesh at Coxs Bazar region- a place near the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Professor Ole Danbolt Mjos was a former chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In 2008, I had the opportunity to take an interview of him. I asked him that whether the Nobel Committee awarding Nobel Prize to persons who are politically controversial, biased or inspired with the ideology which does not go with the ‘Will’ that Alfred Nobel wrote before he died! In reply he said, ‘The guideline of Alfred Nobel is the basis for the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition the Nobel Committee has a continuous discussion about criteria for the Peace prize. We think that there are several paths to peace not mentioned in the Will of Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Committee is committed to follow the will of Alfred Nobel as the basis. But, in addition the Nobel Committee has widened the concept of peace so that fight for human rights, fight for sustainble development, and fight against poverty are also recognized as "path to peace"’. In answering another question he said, “In my opinion it was a great mistake that Mahatma Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He was deserving more than many others. I don't think it had anything to do with lack of good advocates for him. It rather had to do with the process and discussion in the Nobel Committee itself”.
Coming to our discussion, at present the country of Gandhi- India is hosting around forty thousand Rohingya refugees and have decided to deport them. Since the beginning of the problem, Pakistan clearly stated not to take any responsibility for the Rohingya. Other countries in the world are yet to be taken an effective stance in favour of the persecuted community in question except for aiding with some emergency relief.
For Bangladesh, a country ridden with its own population of 170 million people, this sudden influx of refugees coming from Myanmar, is obviously an unexpected pressure for which it was nowhere near to deal with. Another dimension of the problem is the indirect involvement of super powers, where, as it seems, the Bangladeshi government is helpless so far. Moreover, the Bangladeshi opposition parties and the Islamic fundamentalist groups which are actively opposing the government are also visibly taking advantage of this vulnerable situation and the exploiting the helpless refugees to further their political agenda.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is visiting a Rohingya refugee camp!
Recently the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina went to visit some of the refugee camps to observe the situation by her own eyes. Notably, she cried after seeing the unbelievable human catastrophe and perhaps connecting herself with somewhat same situation, as she was also a former political refugee. Without thinking twice, she declared to stand besides the Rohingya Refugees. She said, ‘if her government can arrange food for the 170 million, she can also arrange for the more 700 thousands too. “If necessary, we shall share the food with them. But we are not going to let a single refugee suffer from hunger”, she added.
Suu Kyi is not the only bearer of this shame- the suffering of Rohingyas. Instead of dealing the incident humanly, Suu kyi’s Myanmar regime continuously provoking Bangladesh to a war-probably the only a way out for Suu Kyi from her own shame. But Bangladesh government so far maintained a policy of keeping peaceful relation with neighbours and not resolving matter through military response.
Aung San Suu Kyi was prevented by the then military junta to participate the peace prize ceremony in 1991. To show the concern about her, the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s then Chairman Ole Danbolt Mjos said to me during the conversation that “It is my sincere hope that she one day will be allowed to come to Oslo and receive it. First of all she has to be released from house arrest and be a free citizen inside her own country. All leaders in the world should come together to have her released and thereby contributing to a democratic Burma (Now Myanmar)”.
It is a while Mr Danbolt retired from his position and Suu Kyi eventually made it to an influential governmental position of Myanmar. If I had the chance to meet him again, I would ask him, if he regrets for his prayer for Aung San Suu Kyi which he did in 2008. Also, I would ask him, if the Nobel committee wants to get rid of the historical repentance for their mistake on Gandhi, by awarding Hasina a due recognition?