Source: Associated Press
By GRANT PECK
BANGKOK (AP) — A U.S. government-affiliated broadcaster that provides news to countries in Asia where freedom of information is restricted is losing its partner in Myanmar after refusing to stop using the word “Rohingya” to describe an oppressed Muslim minority.
Monday was the last day DVB Media Group’s network would carry Radio Free Asia’s television broadcasts, RFA spokesman Rohit Mahajan said. He said RFA told Myanmar authorities that it was unwilling to bow to their pressure to use a term other than Rohingya.
About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since Myanmar’s government launched a violent counterinsurgency campaign last August in western Myanmar, where most Rohingya lived. Many people in Myanmar call the Rohingya “Bengali” to reflect the contention that they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh rather than natives.
Categories: Asia, Myanmar, Rohingya Muslims, The Muslim Times