Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has unleashed a comprehensive rebuttal against Myanmar’s ICJ submissions in the high-stakes Rohingya genocide proceedings. At the heart: Myanmar’s insistence on dubbing Rohingya ‘Bengalis,’ framing them as unlawful entrants and domestic dangers – a narrative Dhaka labels as outright fabrication.
Designed to eclipse the 2016-17 pogroms and forced migrations, this ploy fails against historical scrutiny. Rohingya ancestry in Arakan predates 1785, rooted in Mro Haung’s storied landscapes. Evolving from ‘Rohang’ outsiders to proud ‘Rohingya,’ their ethos diverges sharply from Bengali, beyond Chittagong dialect ties.
Myanmar’s own history shows Rohingya as civic pillars until the 1982 Citizenship Act’s bias. They voted until 2015, then faced orchestrated statelessness climaxing in 2017 clearances.
The ‘Bengali’ epithet assaults their birthright identity, retroactively blessing violence. Myanmar’s 1978 pact hailed them ‘valid Burmese residents,’ yet eight years on, it evades repatriation amid breached 2017 accords.
Dhaka swats away the baseless 1971 ‘Bangladeshi influx’ myth for lack of proof. This ICJ confrontation reinforces Bangladesh’s role as Rohingya advocate, pressing for repatriation, accountability, and an end to denialism.