[dropcap color=”#d67520″]T[/dropcap]he editorial of Frontier Myanmar labeling it as a “turning point” is an appropriate term. But whether this would really be a no return to the wrong path chosen previously by the NLD-military regime is totally another matter.

It is good that the UN Security Council was invited in April and the recent memorandum of understanding that the 700,000 or so Rohingya refugees will be taken back on voluntary basis. And also a positive move that the government will form an independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged human rights violations in northern Rakhine State “and related issues”.

It is even more encouraging to see that the government was working on a strategy toward closing internally displaced persons camps in the country, although for now this is by and large just an ad hoc, public relation exercise at this point, which Frontier Myanmar rightly pointed out.

But in order that all these well-meaning difficult issues could be tackled and addressed, it is most essential to look deeply into the causes of all these “man-made disasters”.

In clear text, questions like: why the civil war or ethnic conflict has started and how to handle and resolved the root cause; why is it that there are so much racial hatred, particularly on the Rohingya, and who indoctrinated this racist ideology and how this could be overcome; why is the war in the north – Kachin and Shan States have been allowed to go on with intensity and who are behind this all-out war of annihilation; needed to be asked critically in order to determine the root causes, so that they could be tackled properly.

Without clear understanding of the root causes and a vision to overcome all these challenges and just dwelling on piecemeal solutions, one at a time as is now the case, just to ward off the international criticism isn’t a wise approach and lack a grand strategy to handle the woes encompassing the country in a holistic manner.

In this respect, the government needs a clear holistic vision that in trying to become mainstream again in international arena, it has to accept the international human rights norms and all the related values and need satisfaction that come with it for all the ethnic groups residing within Myanmar or Burma.

Link to the editorial: A turning point?