Beyond Europe

While revisiting the large-scale refugee crisis in Europe, the EPW editorial “Refugees in Europe” (26 September 2015) rightly reminded us that the postcolonial states should “face their own history of tyranny and oppression.” The recent research-based study, Rohingyas in India: Birth of a Stateless Community, released by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG) in September 2015, opens up the precarious state

While revisiting the large-scale refugee crisis in Europe, the EPW editorial “Refugees in Europe” (26 September 2015) rightly reminded us that the postcolonial states should “face their own history of tyranny and oppression.” The recent research-based study, Rohingyas in India: Birth of a Stateless Community, released by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG) in September 2015, opens up the precarious state of Rohingya refugees in India. The small stories of the Rohingyas bear testimony to the fact that small is not always beautiful.

The Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic group of western Myanmar, are persecuted in their homeland, Rakhine, formerly known as the Arakan state. The testimonies of Rohingya refugees inform us that, in their homeland, they were subjected to several kinds of oppressions. They have to provide unfree labour to the military, ask for permission to get married, their houses and villages are burnt, women raped and children and adults ruthlessly killied.