The Jameh Mosque in downtown Maungdaw—a frontier town near the Bangladeshi border in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State—reopened on Sept. 12 after being closed since communal violence erupted in the area in 2012. The reopening, which was marked by a ceremony attended by Rohingya Muslims, local administrators, Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus, allows local Muslims to once again worship daily in the town’s largest and oldest mosque.
The event was organized by the Maungdaw Muslim Affairs Council, mosque trustees and community elders. Built in 1818 by a donor family, the Jameh Mosque has for centuries been a central place of worship for Muslims in Maungdaw. It had been sealed since Aug. 6, 2012, when violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya communities engulfed the town.
Local leaders said the decision followed a request made by Rohingya representatives during an Aug. 30 meeting with Arakan Army (AA) chief Tun Myat Naing, who granted permission for the reopening.
“This is a historic day,” said U Aung Thaung Shwe, district administrator under the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government, the AA’s administrative body.
The mosque’s reopening reflects the AA’s vow to uphold religious freedom and equality in Rakhine, he said.
“I hope all the people in Rakhine, whether Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, can live peacefully together, and I hope to see more peaceful gatherings like this,” he said.
Muslim elders expressed joy, saying the reopening would foster harmony. “This mosque is at the heart of Maungdaw. It is a symbol of our town,” said U Maung Maung Aye, deputy chair of the Maungdaw District Muslim Affairs Council.
U Bassel, head of an advisory group to the Maungdaw District administration, added: “We haven’t seen this kind of interfaith cooperation inside the mosque for years. This is a first.”
A painful history
The Jameh Mosque was once a flashpoint. In May 2012, a Rakhine woman was raped and murdered in Kyauk Ni Maw Village, Ramree Township. A week later, 10 Muslim men traveling through Taungup were randomly killed in an act of retaliation. Authorities failed to contain the unrest, and hate speech and incitement spread rapidly.
On June 8 of that year, a large group of Muslims leaving prayers at the Jameh Mosque reportedly attacked Buddhist homes and religious sites in Maungdaw. Violence spiraled across Rakhine State, spreading to Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Myebon, Minbya and Pauktaw. The unrest lasted five months, leaving at least 192 people dead—134 Muslims and 58 Rakhine—and destroying more than 8,600 homes. Nearly 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, were displaced, according to a 2017 report by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Armed Rohingya groups
In 2016, during the period of the civilian, National League for Democracy-led government, Muslim armed groups belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) began attacking border guard posts in Maungdaw. On Aug. 25, 2017, they launched large-scale assaults on security forces and nearby villages.
ARSA’s attacks in 2016 and 2017 killed civilians from many communities, including Muslims, Hindus, Mro and Rakhine.
The Myanmar military responded with a sweeping “clearance operation” in 2017 that forced nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, where most remain in refugee camps today.
Ironically, in the past few years, ARSA has received weapons and training from the Myanmar military junta, as they now have a common enemy in the AA.
Today, ARSA, along with armed groups the Rohingya Solidarity Organization and the Arakan Rohingya Army, remain active along the Bangladesh border and in the Mayu mountain range. They have been accused of extortion, killings of civilians including Muslims, and occasional clashes with AA forces.
Locals allege the Myanmar military trained and armed all three groups during fighting with the AA in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships.
While some Muslims support these groups, many reject them. “They recruit by spreading propaganda that Arakan [Rakhine] is our country, but in reality, they only bring suffering to Muslims,” said Norji Mullah, a young Muslim working under the AA administration in Buthidaung. He alleged that teachers and religious leaders who opposed the groups had been targeted and killed.
A Muslim schoolteacher in Maungdaw, who asked not to be named, said: “We don’t support them. We just want to live peacefully in Arakan. But they bring violence, drugs and crime.”
Muslim participation in AA governance
The AA now controls 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and has appointed around 5,000 Muslim staff in Maungdaw District—where Muslims make up the majority. They include senior officials including the deputy township administrator. It has also established advisory bodies such as the Muslim Affairs Council and local juries composed of respected elders. These juries act as advisors to the administration, while the Muslim Affairs Council handles cultural, literary and religious affairs for Muslim communities.
AA spokesman Khaing Thukha told The Irrawaddy: “We are working for social harmony and justice among all ethnic and religious groups in Arakan. This is part of our nation-building process.”
Still, Rohingya activists abroad accuse the AA of abuses, including killings, forced labor, restrictions on movement, and arbitrary arrests. The junta has echoed these claims, though many locals dismiss them as propaganda.
Local observers note that unlike past and present military regimes, which pursued divide-and-rule policies, the AA has sought to rebuild trust. Field visits by The Irrawaddy found Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims cooperating in administrative and economic activities under AA control.
U Bassel, head of the advisory group to the Maungdaw administration, said Muslims are increasingly participating in the AA-led administration because the ethnic army prioritizes reconciliation and trust-building, while the previous regimes divided communities and discriminated against Muslims.
Religious freedom in practice
Residents say Muslims have access to all of the approximately 40 mosques in Maungdaw and are able to worship freely in them. Religious festivals are being held openly in other Muslim-majority areas of Rakhine and local Muslims are also involved in AA-led administrations in those places, they say.
“This was the only mosque that closed. Now that it has reopened, it makes life much easier,” said a Muslim shopkeeper near the Jameh Mosque. “Before, we had to walk long distances to pray five times a day. Now we can worship nearby. We are very happy.”
