The talk presented by Daw Saw Khin Tint, the chairperson of Arakanese Women’s Association, at Aloetawpyi Monastery of Rathetaung Township, Rakhine State, on 27th June, 2012
Today, I‟d like to talk about some facts that Arakanese should know. In King Ananda Canda‟s stone inscription in the precinct of the Shitthoung Pagoda in MraukOo, our Arakan or Rakhine Land was recorded as Arakkhadesh (Arakan Land). Arakkhadesh, then Arakkha, next Rakkha and from Rakkha to Rakhine, thus had changed, it was recorded. Our land had been called Rakhine or Arakkhadesh; likewise, all the nations like England, American, French, Portuguese, Denmark, Norway, etc. have called our land “Arakan”. So „Arakan‟ is our land and some Rakhine historical documents and eyewitnesses had been lost and our Arakan had been occupied, we have been able to find the term „Arakan‟ instead of „Rakhine‟ in all the research papers and historical books about which many prominent researchers from the Western Countries had studied in various scientific ways. So if one wants to find some information about Rakhine in world history, one has to do so by using the term „Arakan‟. But during U Nu‟s premiership in 1951, Bengali people were given the posts of parliament representatives, whereby a Muslim called Abdu Gava used a brand new term „Rohinger‟ in 1951 and created a brand new nationality „Rohingya‟ in Arakan. (So-called) Rohingyas who had been created thus have presented to the world saying, “We, Rohingyas, have lived in Arakan for about 1000 years – prior to the present Arakanese people. So Arakan is our land. Arakanese are our nationality.” As Saya U Bo Min Phyu has said, never before 1949, i.e, until the end of World War (II) in world history, had this name heard of in Buthitaung and Maungdaw. But they submitted research papers to the world, presenting themselves as a nationality who has been living in Arakan for over 1000 years. They have been so aggressive as to submit the research papers for over 20 years. We, Arakanese, didn‟t know or find out such a thing. They are just invaders who have never been hinted. For over 40 years, they have received financial support from the Muslim Circle to be able to make the world known about their made-up story concerning their so-called history by saying constantly in every possible way, “Arakan is our land. Rohinger is our name that has been in