A speech delivered by former Major Tun Kyaw Oo, Chairman of the National Party, on Rohingya National Day, January 3, 1991

Respected leaders of various parties and honored guests,

Today is also the eve of the 43rd Independence Day. It is the 2nd anniversary of the National Party. Above all, it is Rohingya National Day. On this auspicious and special day, the National Party is honored and delighted to hold this gathering with our distinguished guests. If there has been any shortcoming in our hospitality, we ask your forgiveness in advance.

Respected honored guests,

We wish for this special occasion to one day fill the entire sky of Rakhine State with the national flag. Today, we can only hold it in this one place. But on behalf of the National Party, I pledge that in the future we will hold celebrations of this kind on a grand scale in every locality throughout Rakhine State where large Rohingya populations live.

Respected honored guests,

The Rohingya are family to the Rakhine. Therefore the Rakhine and the Rohingya are family to the Burmese people. The Rohingya cause is the Rakhine cause, and the Rakhine cause is likewise the Rohingya cause. In the same way, the Rakhine/Rohingya cause is the Burmese cause, and the Burmese cause is the Rakhine/Rohingya cause. This is exactly what the National Party believes regarding the Rohingya.

Respected honored guests,

For fellow ethnic brothers who find this hard to understand, let me briefly explain who the Rohingya are. The Rohingya are twin brothers to the Rakhine. In Rakhine State, they are the second-largest population. They are a people with strong ethnic pride who love their own nation. Among the peoples of Rakhine, they are a model people. They are a people devoted to their religion and who live in accordance with it. They are simple and straightforward — not deceitful, not scheming, and practice humility. They are hardworking, they build up their livelihoods, they are patient and even-tempered, and frugal. They do not boast. They are absolutely loyal to the motherland, fulfill the duties of hospitality, are generous, and care well for others. They show complete respect to the national leader, the national government, elders, teachers, and parents. They are a loyal people. For this reason, among the peoples of Rakhine State, the Rohingya are truly a model people.

Respected honored guests,

Even though the Rohingya are so valuable to the Union, we find that the political parties of Rakhine State are divided into three different attitudes toward this people:

Group (1): Holds a cold, distant attitude toward the Rohingya, wishing to treat them as second-class within Rakhine State and to prioritize only Buddhist Rakhine.

Group (2): Wishes to keep the Rohingya as a separate, self-governed group within Rakhine State, led by a Muslim individual or an Islamic party.

Group (3): Regards the Rakhine and Rohingya as twin brothers and accepts the Rohingya as true sons of Rakhine soil. This group’s view is: if you love the Rakhine, love the Rohingya too; if you hate the Rakhine, hate the Rohingya too — the two should remain together, inseparable, in life and death. This is the National Party’s position.

Respected honored guests,

Since today is also Rohingya National Day, on this blessed day I pray that Rohingya lives may be peaceful, that our motherland Myanmar may be peaceful, prosperous, and progress. I close by wishing that our Rohingya brothers and sisters receive the goodwill of all the national races throughout the Union of Myanmar.

Note: Former Major Tun Kyaw Oo is a Rakhine national who founded the National Party after the 1988 popular uprising and served as its chairman.

Fact-check

• Rohingya National Day = January 3: Confirmed. Rohingya diaspora and advocacy groups commemorate this date annually (e.g. events documented on January 3, 2019 and 2020) as Rohingyas around the world observe Rohingya National Day on this date. Rohingya Khobor
• “43rd Independence Day” in 1991: Checks out mathematically — Burma/Myanmar’s independence was January 4, 1948, so January 1991 would indeed fall just before the 43rd anniversary.
• Post-1988 proliferation of ethnic/Rakhine parties: Consistent with the historical record — the 1988 nationwide uprising led various Rakhine political actors to form legal parties, including the Arakan League for Democracy, alongside smaller and shorter-lived organizations. A small “National Party” founded and later dissolved in this period, without a strong online footprint today, would not be unusual. The Irrawaddy
• “Tun Kyaw Oo” as founder/chairman of this “National Party”: I could not independently verify this individual or party through available sources. This doesn’t mean the claim is false — many minor parties from that era (1988–1991) left little documentary trace — but I can’t confirm it beyond what the post itself states.