According to this theory, Rohingya and Rakhine both come from the same ancient
word for Arakan it
is just that one term is used by the Buddhists and one by
the Muslims. And certainly, from the early 1950s onwards many local Muslim
leaders have insisted on this new designation for their people, whereas many
Buddhist Rakhines will still tell you that it is simply a fabrication or invention. To
this group, while they accept the historic existence of a certain number of
Burmesespeaking
Muslims in Arakan, the people who today describe themselves
as Rohingyas are simply Bengalis, most of whom crossed in under the British or
have used the periodic upheavals of the last 50 years to illegally enter Burma.
This whole subject, it should be stressed,is still unresolved and any comments or
further discussion are welcome.
So to return to the main narrative, any peace in Arakan after the ceasefires
of 1961 was very shortlived.
In 1962 General Ne Win seized power in a military
coup, imposed his idiosyncratic"Burmese Way to Socialism", and set off a new
wave of social unrest and insurgencies around the country. Ethnic Indians were
once again a main target, and an estimated 300,000 residents of Indian origin,
mostly merchants and businessmen, quickly left the country following Ne Win's
nationalisation of all schools, the currency and most of the economy between
1962 and 1964. Such pressures were especially deeply felt in Muslim
communities in Arakan, where a number of new armed Muslim forces, including
the Rohingya Patriotic Front under Muhammad Jafar Habib, sprang to life.