Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace & Human Rights
September 29, 2024
Mohibullah seated in his ARSPH office, dressed in traditional Rohingya clothing.
Mohibullah was one of the most important leaders for the Rohingya, and the most important figure living in the camp in Bangladesh. We called him comrade and Peace Father. To us, the authors of this article, he was father, father-in-law, and closest colleague. He was assassinated in the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday, 29 September 2021. Today, we honour his legacy.
I, as Nowkhim Mohamed, honour his legacy as my mentor and closest colleague. We worked in tandem every day, documenting evidence of the atrocities committed in Myanmar against our people to share with the international courts; collecting thousands of signatures in support of initiatives promoting justice and the human rights of the Rohingya; and writing letters and statements demanding a place in international conversations about our futures. He was tireless; unstoppable – his energy pushed and inspired me to fight alongside him. Even now, I continue that fight.
And I, as Hashmat Ullah, honour his legacy as my father is a kind and amazing and my favorited saying was ‘be kind’, and this is exactly how he chooses to live his life. My father has always been my source of encouragement. When I was very young, he would take a book from our small home library and read aloud to me every night. Looking back, I realize that every step of the way, through my childhood and adolescence, my father has been there for me whenever I needed him. When I was sick, he took me to the doctor. He would know just the right things to say. In any kind of trouble. I would just have to give him a call. He would surely be there. At night when I sat down with him, he asked the history to me about our Country and Rohingya people how the Government denied us from the citizenship although we are originally from Myanmar we are living here for a century and century. He not only told me the history of our motherland but also, he encourages me to know about our motherland, culture and community. He also told to me if you go anywhere in the world try to do something for the community, I would like to say to my community people try to explain and teach our culture and history of our country to the children or not we will lose our Culture. as a son, I will keep continuing his words in my life.
Mohib has always work tirelessly to stand up for the rights of our people and bring about a better future. On the anniversary of his death, we want to look back on his journey to becoming our leader.
Since 2000, the Myanmar government tried to make the Rohingya people work without pay. When a government person would change their duty station, for example, they would demand that local Rohingya people carry all their possessions – usually 50- 70kg – to the next station, day and night, without rest. Mohib would constantly agitate about this – he would write letters about it to the UN and visiting country delegations. He would try to meet with diplomats when they came to Myanmar. From those days, when he worked with an NGO, we learnt of his talent in mobilising people. As part of his job, he would go from village to village – he would talk to people, connect with them, and build his network. People saw that he was a good person. They shared their problems with him, and he would try to solve those problems. Day by day, he gained popularity with the Rohingya people.
In 2010, he became the Chairman of the local branch of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a political party in Myanmar – through which he thought he could make some of his vision become a reality. In 2012, as he familiarised himself with the internet, he began to write blogs for RohingyaBlogger.com about the atrocities committed against our people, and the need for justice. In November 2014, he met with US President Barack Obama when he visited Myanmar and expressed concern about the country’s treatment of ethnic minorities.
In October 2016, when the violence against the Rohingya intensified, Mohib collected video footage of the carnage, such as murdered people and burning houses, to try to show evidence of this genocide to the world. He also tried to calm and inspire people, giving motivational speeches and offering emotional support and advice about how to stay mentally strong. It is then that people began calling him Peace Father.
In 2017, when the Myanmar military’s mass killings and burning of our villages forced over 700,000 of us into Bangladesh, Mohib arrived and immediately established the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH). Everything he did for us since then is well documented.
Though we are some of those who were closest to Mohib, there are hundreds of people whose lives he touched personally, and to whom his death left a hole that cannot be filled. There are thousands who met him and were inspired by his energy and vision. And there are tens of thousands to whom he represented hope in a better future, and who will be mourning him today.
The enormity of Mohib’s personality and vision is the reason he was targeted. He was threatened constantly, including on the day he was killed. His assassination was devastating, but it did not come as a surprise – to us, or to him. “If I die, it’s okay,” he used to say. “I will give my life for my community.” Still, he tried to stay with us longer. He enlisted friends and neighbours as guards for his shelters, and sometimes slept at the shelters of others when he felt particularly in danger. He had applied for a grant to be able to pay those acting as his security guards just a few days before his assassination. It was approved the day after he was killed. In the end, he was murdered not in his house or that of his colleague’s, but in his office, as he was speaking to community members – something he was never going to stop doing, even in the face of death.
Our prominent leader may have died, but his ambitions are still alive. His existence was extinguished by the extremists – but the extremists can never extinguish his dream. It is now on us to fulfil his vision for our community.
“If I die, It’s okay. I will give my life for my community.” We must remember his words forever. We must remember his spirit, and we must find a way to let that spirit live on – for the sake of all our Rohingya people.
Remembering Mohibullah, The Peace Father and Voice of the Rohingya Community.