Bangladesh’s Rohingya Problem

What is the issue?

The population of Rohingyas in Bangladesh as of now is 8,85,000 and the refugee population is increasing rapidly by 35,000 every year, which is a serious security implication for countries mainly in South Asia.

What is the Rohingya issue?

• Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim group who live predominantly in the Rakhine state of Myanmar and speak the Bengali dialect.
• The Rohingya are not recognized by the Myanmar government as an official ethnic group and are therefore not given citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law.
• It is claimed that there were no Rohingyas in Myanmar before the British brought ‘Bengalis’ to Burma.
• But there is sufficient proof to show that the Rohingyas pre-existed before the British-engineered migration, during the British occupation of the Myanmar State in 1823.
• Even those who arrived in Burma post -1823 could not go back to Bangladesh, now they have no citizenship claims there.
• This makes them stateless people.

What about the involvement of Bangladesh in this issue??

• Bangladesh has been providing food and shelter for the refugees and trying to create the condition in Myanmar for their safe return.
• Till now from 2017 more than 700,000 Rohingya fled as the country’s military launched a massive campaign of terror against the community, including torture, mass executions, and gang rape.
• The forcibly displaced ROHINGYA from Myanmar get settled in the Cox Bazar district in Bangladesh and underwent dramatic expansion.

STATUS OF REPATRIATING OF REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH

• According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there were 926,486registered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as of May 31, 2022.
• A sharp increase in their population is witnessed in the camp due to peace, absence of violent persecution, assurance of food and medical care
• Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement in 2017 but both had not agreed on a concrete process or a deadline for completion of the repatriation.
• In 2021 a tripartite virtual meeting was mediated by China, but the Myanmar military staged a coup and put the repatriation process on ice.

CURRENT ISSUE WITH MYANMAR

• The rate of growth of the population is 1% in Bangladesh while the population of the Rohingya is growing at 6 to 7%.
• The massive Rohingya population is putting a high burden on resources and the environment, besides creating conditions for criminal activity and friction in local society.
• It carries a serious social and security implication for sensitive northeast India.
• It also leads to an increase in crime such as kidnapping for ransom, petty theft, etc.
• It also leads to an increase in organized crime and can increase extremist activity too.

Both Bangladesh and Myanmar have to sensitively handle this issue with a focus more on finding a long-term solution that will strengthen the security of both the nation and the entire region.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA

The eighth International Day of Yoga was celebrated on 21 June 2022 across the world.

The Theme for 2022 was ‘Yoga for Humanity.

The idea of the International Day of Yoga was given by India during the opening of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly held in 2014.

The United nation proclaimed 21st June as the International Day of Yoga by passing a resolution in December 2014.

The first Yoga Day was celebrated in 2015 at Rajpath in New Delhi which created two Guinness World Records.

It was the world's largest yoga session with 35,985 people and 84 nationalities participating in it.

YOGA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

• Yoga is an ancient physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in India.
• The word ‘yoga’ is a Sanskrit word that means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.
• Today it is practised in various forms around the world and it is continuously gaining popularity around the world.
• Yoga also plays an important role in the psycho-social care and rehabilitation of Covid-19 patients which were in quarantine and isolation.

The World Health Organization has also asked its member states to practice Yoga and has included it in its Global Action Plan for physical activity 2018-30.

The International Day of Yoga aims to inculcate a behaviour of meditation for the peace of mind and the self-awareness which is necessary to survive in a stress-free atmosphere.

OTHER RELATED INITIATIVE

M-Yoga App

• The Prime minister of India announced the M-Yoga App which will help in achieving the One World One Health concept.
• The app is a work of collaboration between the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of the AYUSH Government of India.

New website for International Day of Yoga (IDY)

• This web portal provides all the updated and relevant information relating to the International Day of Yoga.
• It has a social wall where all the social media interactive platforms are available for the visitors, to keep track of the discussions and participate in them.

Yoga is recognized as the Sports Discipline:

• The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, after reviewing the categorization of various Sports disciplines, recognized Yoga as a sports discipline and placed it in the Priority segment in September 2015.

Common Yoga Protocol:

• The Ministry of AYUSH in its Common Yoga Protocol has listed Yama, Niyama, Asana, and the popular yoga ‘sadhanas’.

As life is becoming stressful and complicated, yoga emerges as the solution to tackle the negative behaviour of our body and mind and to ensure a healthy way of life.