Rakhine hosts boxing bout amid crisis
MAUNGDAW ( Myanmar): A boxing-fan tycoon, a venerated monk and the army lured some of Myanmar’s top fighters to Rakhine state this week in an attempt to show normality is returning after a military crackdown drove 700,000 Rohingya into exile.
The deep cuts and brutal knockouts of Lethwei, Myanmar’s bare-knuckle traditional boxing – made a debut in Maungdaw, a town with a history of violence against Rohingya Muslims.
For seven long months, Maungdaw in northern Rakhine has been under curfew as the military systematically forced Rohingya Muslims over the border into Bangladesh.
Ethnic Rakhine stand accused of colluding with the security forces in mass killings, widespread rape and the burning down of Rohingya vil- lages – actions the UN has labelled as ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar vehemently rebuts the allegation, saying it was forced to act to fight off Rohingya militants who launched raids on police posts on August 25 last year.
Authorities – aided by rich businessmen – have piled in with redevelopment cash and say the refugees are welcome back, insisting that the communal scars are healing.
Yet only 556 Rohingya have been ‘verified’ for repatriation so far – and none have returned.
Soe Tun Shein, a tycoon known for his love of Lethwei and his anti-Muslim views, stumped up the cash behind the Lethwei event – the first ever in Maungdaw – which organisers confirmed was given the green light by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who heads Myanmar’s army.
“The army chief is supporting this and instructed his officers here to make sure the competition was a success,” said Myanmar Lethwei Federation Chairman Thein Aung, 71, in an interview.
“I believe that (Lethwei) encourages people to love the country and to develop our traditional arts,” he added.
But critics decried the event as a PR move by authorities desperate to gloss over crimes against the Rohingya.
‘It is another squalid stunt in a series of propaganda shows crudely fashioned to delude the people of Myanmar and the world,” said Yangon-based independent analyst David Mathieson.
“It is military soft power that will not assuage the fears of people left in northern Rakhine.”