Myanmar Reflections

The central river plains of Myanmar are dominated by the Burmese as an ethnic group and they make up 60% or even more of the total population and they control all of the riverine networks and most of the food production in the country and, it's always been thus.

On the coastal side, there's a small mountain range on this coastal side in the West. And there you find on the other side what you call the Arakan. The idea that they're rebels against the central government and that they've been fighting the central government because of domination and cruelty is a farcical narrative. The reality is that the Arakanes have been fighting the Manipuris, which is just above present day Bangladesh on the Indian border, and the Bangladeshis and fighting Muslim incursions into their territory for more than 400 years, right through the colonial period and, before the colonial period. This is not new.