I know of the Arakanese Muslims since my childhood. I cam to know the Rohingya in 1958 when the Mujahideens surrendered to the government of the Union of Burma when General Ne Win was the Prime Minister of the Care-Taker Government.

I have good number of Muslim friends in High School as well as in the University. I have a good number colleagues who are the Muslims when I served in the Universities of Rangoon and Mandalay,  under the  Ministry of Education in Burma. Many of my professors are the Muslims. I have very good impression of them. They are intelligent, humble, and warm with friendliness. I do not have nay political association with them. In 1985, during my Haj I met many Rohingya refugees in Saudi Arabia.  They earnestly expressed their sincerity and good wishes for the Rakhaings and peaceful co-existence in the spirit of compatriots.
Iin 1998, when I served the Rakhaing MP-elect U Tha Noe and his party Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) that I took initiative to contact all ethnic groups of Arakan.  It was U Aung Win, the Secretary of ALD in exile, who made the  contact and asked for help from me in 1994. I was  already in the United States at that time. I accepted it sacrificing my scientific career advancement. U Aung Win and U Tha Noe needed me. In other words ALD and Arakan needed me.
The first challenge I faced was the NUPA-AA and Indian Operation Leech in 1998.  You can read the AA and Operation Leech tragedy at my web site:-
http://www.shwelumaung.org/PleaToPM-India/UrgentPlea-forAA-toPM-India-121504.html.pdf
http://www.shwelumaung.org/PleaToPM-India/PleaToPM-India--June20-98.html.pdf
I wrote a very strong letter to Indian Prime Minister Atalji.  The letter reached him in about 6 months. I have the  return slip signed by the Prime Minister's office.  At the same time, I wrote to everyone and every party I knew to throw their support behind NUPA and  AA. It was our Arakan National Interest.  Only, I say only, one party responded my appeal. It was the Organization of Displaced Rohingya Muslims (ODRM) led by Brother Maung Sein alias Mohd. Mohiuddin. He responded and wrote a letter to the Indian Prime Minister in support of  the AA members.  He also wrote to OIC, WAMY and other international organizations in support AA and ALD. What he did was more than I expected.
With great appreciation, in my capacity of the Diplomatic Representative of ALD and Personal Emissary of U Tha Noe,  I invited him and ORDM to join ALD and I extend my diplomatic recognition of the Rohingya as our Rakhaing compatriots. NUPA followed my suit and  made alliance with ARNO,  to form AIA (Arakan Independence Alliance). Then the storm began. ALD terminated my service, although it was my voluntary  civil service upon their request. In their mind and philosophy I violated ALD regulations by recognizing the Rohingya as an ethnic group of  Arakan and  honoring them as our  Rakhaing compatriots.  It was in 2000.
Now, I feel I have stay silent long enough and decided to record the historical events.  The new pages are put up in the name of The Rohingya.

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