The Role of the Sikh Community for the Rohingya Muslims

"Sewa karat hoye nehkami tis ko parapat hot swami".

"One who performs Seva, without thought of reward, shall attain
his Lord and Master."

The Role of the Sikh Community played

in helping the Rohingya Muslims

Dear Readers,

Before we get to know the amazing role played by our committed Sikhs in helping the Rohingyas, we

must know the history of the Rohingya Muslims in short as maybe some of us may not know about them

i.e. who and where they come from.

The Rohingya people historically also termed Arakanese Indians descended from 7th century Arab,

Mughal, and Bengali merchants and are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine State, Myanmar.  

There were an estimated 1 million Rohingyas living in Myanmar before the 2016–2017 crisis. The

Rohingya persecution in Myanmar refers to the ongoing military crackdown by the Myanmar Army and

police on Rohingyas in Rakhine State in the Myanmar. While the majority of Rohingyas are Muslim,

attacks have also occurred against Hindu Rohingyas. The crackdown was in response to attacks on

Myanmar border posts in October 2016 by Rohingya insurgents. The Myanmar army have been

accused of wide-scale human rights violations claims which the government dismisses as

"exaggerations". On 22nd October, 2017, the UN reported that an estimated 603,000 refugees from

Rakhine, Myanmar had crossed the border into Bangladeshi town of Ukhia since August 25, 2017 /

September 15, 2017.  This number increased to 624,000 by November 2, 2017.  At least 240,000 of

\them are children. They have been described as "amongst the world's least wanted" and "one of the

world's most persecuted minorities." They have been denied Burmese citizenship since the 1982

Burmese nationality law was enacted and are also described as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The Rohingyas have also lost a lot of arable (farming) land, which has been confiscated by the military

to give to Buddhist settlers from elsewhere in Myanmar.

Sikhs come to aid of Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing Burma for Bangladesh

The true path to God lies in the service of our fellow beings -

Guru Granth Sahib

A team of volunteers from UK-based Khalsa Aid reached the border of Bangladesh-Myanmar and set up

a relief program for the refugees.

Khalsa Aid volunteers handing out food and water in Cox's Bazar area

Members of a Sikh organisation, Khalsa Aid International, the group, which is registered within the UK,
had reportedly reached the village of Teknaf in the Cox's Bazar area, Bangladesh on September 10, 2017
which was a crossing point for tens of thousands of Rohingyas, to help the Rohingyas get free food and
water.They reached the Bangladesh-Myanmar border with a goal to provide relief to the Rohingya
Muslim families fleeing Myanmar. The volunteers described the situation as extremely desperate and
that they launched a major relief operation. While the world is more or less doing armchair activism
around the Rohingya crisis, the Sikhs are fortunately walking the talk. Sikh volunteers began handing
out food and water to Rohingya refugees.

The Khalsa Aid charity said volunteers from its India arm were already "working in tough conditions
on the border areas" in Bangladesh to provide aid.

The Khalsa Aid had done a pre-assessment before launching a major relief operation. They had come
prepared for providing relief to some 50,000 people, but found that there were more than three lakh
refugees here. A group of Sikh volunteers had reached the Bangladesh side of the border to help
Rohingyas get free food and water as they were living without water, food, clothes, and shelter. They
were sitting wherever they could find a corner. As it was raining, people did not have anywhere to go.
It was miserable, to say the least. These refugees had been travelling for ten days to reach Teknaf and
after crossing thick jungles on foot in Myanmar, they crossed the border through boats and continued
their journey on foot.

The Sikh volunteers said that the Rohingyas were in dire need of food and water.

The volunteers had to bring raw materials from Dhaka, which is more than a ten hour drive away. The
rains and weather conditions hindered the transportation but the community still continued to serve
langar till the crisis averted completely and the refugees reached the border safely.

Currently, there are more than three lakh refugees who are homeless in their own country  have taken
refuge in Teknaf, a Bangladesh border town. The conditions are deplorable, to say the least.

Serving humanity, above politics. Kudos to the efforts of this humanitarian organisation, that worked to
help Rohingyas that had been left displaced. This organisation worked tirelessly to provide langar
(community kitchen) food and shelter. They also arranged tarpaulins but since the number of refugees
had overwhelmingly exceeded their preparations, it took some time to make arrangements, and other
amenities to those displaced in what is being touted as one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in the
world. They even provided shelter to lakhs of Rohingya Muslims.

Incessant rains and poor connectivity to the Bangladesh capital Dhaka proved to be a major stumbling
block in arranging material for preparation of langars.

But the Group was just committed to run langar (community food) till the crisis was not over. The priority
was not to let anyone sleep without food. Children were roaming without clothes and begging for food.
Those who do not get space in camps were sitting along roads in the hope of getting food from someone.

But images like these restore our faith in humanity. That there are a few people left in the world who care
for others. This Sikh volunteer is a beacon of hope.

***************

Then of course there was another crisis the Muslims faced during Bakr-Eid namaaz.

In a rare incident of communal solidarity in an increasingly communally tense India, the Sikh community
in the Chamoli district in Uttarakhand offered Muslims their gurdwara, after flooding prevented the
Muslims from using an open ground for the Bakr-Eid namaaz. The floods occurred due to heavy rains
in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand.

Between 9 am to 10 am, around one thousand Muslim brethren offered namaz at the Gurudwara to mark
the festival. The Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee also plied them with snacks.

The local administration also lent a helping hand in making the arrangements. It is also know that
Gurudwara have offered their space for offering namaz to the Muslim brethren under similar
circumstances in the past as well.

Joshimath is located on way to Badrinath and the famous Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib.

Well if and whenever we can get together and say that it is always a proud moment for us Sikhs all
over the Globe to know that there are Sikhs helping the needy in any part of the World.

P. Narang
1st December 2017