What is Jamiatul-Ulama ?
The Jamiatul-Ulama of northern Arakan (est. 1932) was a Muslim religious political wing in northern Arakan. During 1942 communal riots in Arakan, the Jamiatul-Ulama had formed peace committee and took effective control of northern Arakan area. The V-force, which formed under Jamiatul-Ulama, was a military wing which assisted British re-entry to Burma in 1945. In some ways, the group was tactically allied with AFPFL in expelling the Japanese forces. However, the AFPFL government or the Burmese army had found no reason and never have given credits to the sacrifices made by the forces under Jamiatul-Ulama. It's also conceivable that at the time of British Allied forces victory, the forces under Jamiatul-Ulama had a considerable military strength.
| Emergence of Jamaitul Ulama by Aman Ullah |  |
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| The AFPFL Secretariat Communication to Jamiatul Ulama (PDF Downloads) |
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The Jamiatul-Ulama further stated that they had been ignored at Panglong Conference and therefore requesting Her Majesty Government to do justice by given equal status as those minorities at Panglong.
13. That by practical deeds through out the recent Burma campaign we have conclusively proved our ability to manage our own internal affairs. Thus we venture to suggest that the smallest unit of the Frontier Areas represented in the Panglong Conference can never equal North Arakan in population, area, importance or in any other respect. Under the circumstances stated above we fervently pray and confidently hope Your Honour would be good enough to move His Majesty's and Government of Burma to extend to us the benefits of the agreement unanimously arrived at in the Panglong Conference and demarcate North Arakan accordingly.
The Secretariat of AFPFL had replied on February 1947 that the request for separate Muslim state based on religion is unacceptable. The Secretariat had advised Jamiatul-Ulama that, since they are group of migrants, they should better took up as nationals of Burma and represent themselves in the coming April 1947 Constituent Assembly.
The Secretariat had explained at length about the criteria for an indigenous state which may qualify to represent in Panglong Conference as:
"In the case of other states in Burma, historically speaking they had independent states during Burmese Kings which were subsequently annexed to Burma proper by conquest. Muslims in Arakan side were always under the Arakanese or Burmese Kings and not existed seperately as a state. Territorially speaking they had always been included in Burma and subjects of the Burmese Kings not having claimed a sovereign right by themselves and there is no reason why they should be accorded a separate state at the present time." "So far as this memorial is concerned, the memorialists were born and brought up in Burma and as such they should be treated as Burmese Nationals for all purposes and are Burma subjects. They cannot claim a separate state on the basis of religion only. Having immigrated to Burma they cannot have the right something like a conquest as an independent state."
The Secretariat had further advised that the "Frontier Areas" which eligible to participate in the Panglong Conference wasn't merely about seperate ethnic grouping residing at Burma's border areas. The Frontier Areas were specified in part 1 of Second Schedule to the Government of Burma Act, 1935 (See Historical Documents).
We've got to be aware that the period 1946-1948, Burma's freedom from the British rule was still much a fragile concept. General Aung San and his cabinet had to tread carefully with existing groups, especially the ones which likely to have British backings. In retrospect, the AFPFL Secretariat had given a firm and unambiguous -- and probably the wisest -- advise to the Jamiatul-Ulama. It has become one of the most unfortunate political decision made by Jamiatul-Ulama that such given advise had been ignored.
Jamiatul-Ulama of northern Arakan appeared to cease its existence with Burmese military takeover in 1962. However, the political thinkings of Jamiatul-Ulama may found to have survived within the population of northern Arakan. For example, such illogical thinking of 'Muslim' as a 'race' or 'distinct ethnic group' has been used to justify by present day pro-Rohingya activists when it comes to claiming themselves Rohingya as the natives, which equal amongst the indigenous people of Arakan. The Jamiatul-Ulama hijacking of the mythical historic identity 'Rohingya', along with the story of ship-wrecked Arab descendants, have been revived again and again with the 1991 exodus of Bengali/Rohingya.
The Jamiatul-Ulama's 1948 creation of Rohingya identity, at that time politically convenient, and the Burmese politicians had full knowledge of the migrant grouping of Jamiatul-Ulama, and therefore may not have taken seriously. The case, however, have become serious when the elders of the state, such as U Nu and Ne Win, had passed away, and now no one really knows the origin of 'Rohingya identity'. This myth over identity of Rohingya has, again, been exploited with political opportunism, when the Burmese government oppressed the Bengali/Rohingya population in 1991.
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