The Two Faces of Democratization in Myanmar: A Case Study of the Rohingya and Burmese Nationalism

Abstract

The Rohingya have faced discriminatory policies and actions by the Myanmar government since independence in 1948, with many within the state seeing them as foreigners. This paper uses historical process tracing from pre-British colonialism to present day to argue that the persistent persecution of the Rohingya stems from the divergent experiences under British colonialism for the Rohingya and majority Burman population and, as a result of this, Burmese national identity forming around the dominant Burman ethnic group and the Buddhist faith. The government following independence, then, institutionalized this national identity, excluding the Rohingya as a part of the nation and denying their identity, arguing instead that they are “illegal Bengali immigrants”. As shown through this case study, the resiliency of these anti-Rohingya policies and attitudes within the Myanmar government through successive regime changes is a result of national identity being defined as both Burman and Buddhist, which remained constant. It also helps to explain how the political opening provided by the democratization process resulted in a number of anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya operations by Buddhist monks and other Buddhist nationalists, government policies, and even military operations.