Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi Laughs At Allegations Of Rohingya Genocide
She called them a mere "fabrication".
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 05 Dec 2016, 06:27 PM
While the world is condemning the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim community that has been going on for more than a century, a video of Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar laughing at the allegations has surfaced
The YouTube video that was posted on 2 December by one Haikal Mansor titled, 'Aung San Suu Kyi laughs out loud at Rohingya genocide allegations', shows Suu Kyi laughing and urging the Burmese people to rubbish the allegations of Rohingya genocide as mere "fabrications".
The video's description reads, "Watch Myanmar Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi laughs out loud at Rohingya genocide allegations with Burmese crowds in Singapore on December 1, 2016. She openly agrees with the allegations as "fabrications", and urges the Burmese public to disbelieve and counteract these allegations."
When speaking at the Burmese Public Meeting in Singapore last Thursday, 1 December, Suu Kyi was reading out a question from a Burmese man - "How do you perceive these allegations of abuse and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya fabrications that are causing you challenges?"
Laughingly, Suu Kyi replied that the fact that the Burmese man already recognises these allegations as "fabrications" is already a plus point.
She looked amused as she responded to the young man's question.
She ended by saying that what really matters at the end of the day is that the Burmese people are not "swayed or influenced or buying into these fabrications."
"Let me stress this, as long as our Burmese public do not buy into these fabrications they cannot really become any serious problem - beyond them becoming really annoying," added Suu Kyi, that was kept under house arrest for 15 years as the Burmese government saw her as someone who is "likely to undermine the community peace and stability".
The 2:15 minute clip ended with the Nobel Peace Prize winner admitting that governments and leaders can make mistakes.
"If our government needs to make changes, in the way we govern, I request you all, the public to come forward boldly with suggestions and ideas which rest on good intentions."
Aung San Suu Kyi, First and incumbent State Counsellor and Leader of the National League for Democracy
Image via The Oslo TimesThe video has since courted controversy and flak, with some even saying that the Nobel Piece Prize was wasted on her as she is denying the existence of such an important human rights abuse issue
Even the Queen of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofiah has voiced out her discontent over the way Suu Kyi has handled the Rohingya persecution issue
The post has garnered more than 10,000 likes and 3,000 shares ever since it was posted yesterday, 4 December.
The Rohingyas are a predominantly ethnic Muslim minority group who mostly live in Myanmar's Rakhine.
For years they have been the minority group that has faced terrible persecution by being made the subject of human rights abuse.
Dubbed as the world's most persecuted minority, the Rohingyas are some of the poorest people in Myanmar. So many of them have been living in inhumane conditions, forced into camps and living in the constant fear of being killed in the various anti-Muslim riots that have been going on in Myanmar for decades now.
The cause for concern comes from the fact that the Rohingya community has been denied citizenship under Myanmar's 1982 Citizenship Law which requires them to prove that they have lived in Myanmar for 60 years. The problem is that, they are often denied the paperwork for citizenship, rendering them stateless with no rights. They can't study, work, travel, marry or obtain health services even.
The predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has had countless anti-Muslim riots that have cost the lives of hundreds of Rohingyas over the years. Seeking asylum, a large number of Rohingya people have been pouring into Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia over the past years.
Just a day ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak stressed that Aung San Suu Kyi must take the necessary actions to stop the persecution of the Rohingya people and that he will continue to lobby against the Myanmar government's denial of the atrocities that the Rohingya people face.