The Rohingya Muslims have been described as one of the worlds’s most persecuted minorities by the United Nations. The shocking conditions and the persecution of the community has been in the headlines for some time now, in recent weeks thousands of Rohingyas have fled Burma seeking asylum elsewhere.
The more than one million Rohingya in Burma have often been described as stateless people who migrated from Bangladesh. Since the start of this year as many as 25,000 have left Burma by boat to seek asylum elsewhere but with little success and most of them have been left stranded at sea.
The silence of the International community on the issue of Muslim persecution is telling there has hardly any effort to bring relief to the community. The Muslim world has also been a silent spectator on the issue. Turkey was the only Muslim country that tried to aid the community and sent a navy ship to rescue the stranded people from the coasts of Malaysia and Thailand.
The first statement of real concern that emerged from Pakistan was that of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan who wrote an open letter to the Secretary-General United Nations, he also appreciated Turkey’s effort for the rescue of Rohingyas. Countrywide protests were organized on Friday in which the civil society, political and religious figures participated to highlight the plight of Rohingyas. Despite little interest of the Government as well as the media the massive protests on Friday depicted the sentiments of the Pakistanis for the Rohingya community.
After the issue was raised by Imran Khan, Sirajul Haq and members of the civil society the Pakistani Government finally realized the gravity of the situation and PM Nawaz Sharif on Saturday constituted a federal cabinet committee to suggest measures that Pakistan can take for the Rohingya Muslims.