1942
Massacres and displacement in Arakan
During the Second World War, extensive intercommunal violence broke out in Arakan. For the Rohingya people, 1942 became one of the most traumatic chapters in their history. According to the Rohingya historical understanding, the conflict did not arise only spontaneously between communities; it was also orchestrated by Burmese politicians and Rakhine nationalists in cooperation with the Japanese army. The Rohingya were accused of collaborating with British forces, an accusation many Rohingya regard as deliberate propaganda used to justify attacks, massacres and displacement.
During this period, many Rohingya villages in upper Arakan were burned down, and large numbers of people men, women, children and older people, were killed with swords, bows and other local weapons. According to Rohingya sources, more than 140,000 people were killed or displaced. Those who survived largely fled to northern Arakan, especially Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung. This is one reason why very few Rohingya remain today in many towns of upper Arakan.
For the Rohingya, the 1942 massacres remain a collective trauma and an early warning of how dangerous a political power vacuum, ethnic hatred and nationalist propaganda can become. In Rohingya collective memory, the Kaladan River is described as filled with the blood of murdered Rohingya, a powerful symbol of the brutality and suffering inflicted on the people during this period.